Georges St. Pierre Talks Alves-Hughes, Jon Fitch

Saint-Pierre visits Nova Uniao

UFC champ trains with Leo Santos in Rio
by John Tabor

St-Pierre and Wagnney rest and observe training

The accelerated pace of professional MMA training at Nova Uniao headquarters in Rio was even more frenetic than usual, yesterday afternoon, as UFC welterweight champion Georges St-Pierre, who will be in Rio de Janeiro on a "training vacation" for the next two weeks, paid a visit to the gym to reunite with his first Jiu-Jitsu master and friend, IFL champion Wagnney Fabiano, and help with the preparations of his mentor's brother, Jiu-Jitsu phenomenon Leo Santos,for his upcoming Shooto South America bout against Argentine Pablo Paolielo, by getting in the ring with his once-ADCC opponent for a few rounds of MMA training. Such was the excitement surrounding the occasion that fighters, staff and students of the academy went out of their way to find cameras to make endless picture requests, the Brazilian MMA TV channel sent its crew to extract an interview and a couple of hours of footage from the fighting ace and was even paid respects by Jiu-Jitsu legend Paqueta.

St.Pierre, Leo Santos, Eric O'Keefe, Wagnney Fabiano and tv lady relax ringside

A few minutes after 3 pm, the most famous French-Canadian in the fighting world, his physical-conditioning coach, Eric O'Keefe and the first man to honor him with a belt in Jiu-Jitsu, Wagnney Fabiano, his "Yoda," as the fighter himself would later affectionately call the reigning IFL featherweight champion to reporters from Premiere Combate channel, showed up on the sidewalk in front of Academia Upper, headquarters to Nova Uniao fight team, in the Flamengo burrough of Rio de Janeiro. After a minor struggle to have his esteemed compatriots from his adopted homeland of Montreal authorized to pass the gym's reception area, the three old chums climbed the stairs to the fight area and the entire building went abuzz with people clamoring to catch a glimpse of, or - for the less inhibited - have a picture taken with the good-natured undisputed UFC welterweight champion. The man and his master had a task at hand, though, and wasted no time in donning their gloves and getting down and dirty with the score or so of fighters preparing for their upcoming fights in a number of different events.

Saint-Pierre's mission in training on the day was a specific one, though: to help the man who gave him his blue belt in Jiu-Jitsu's brother, once adversary in the ADCC and friend, Leozinho Santos, practice for his upcoming Shooto South America bout. So the two shot in on each other, threw painless punches, attacked each others legs and feet for submission holds and had an overall lively training session for three rounds, to the delight of the different spectator's from the gym's staff and students, leaning against the wall and ring, while MMA practice went on as usual on the two mats on either side of the ring. After their business was complete, the two buddies took to the mat to exchange their thoughts on each others games, make casual talk with all present and horse around just like normal people do at such times, to the surprise of everyone who thought the Canadian would be somehow more distant, have a superstar complex. And even more surprising was that the foreigner had miraculously learned Portuguese during his three days in Rio.

Paqueta pays his respects to the champion

After nearly an hour and a half of training, Saint-Pierre's visit took on a casual nature, as he talked, joked around - speaking a functional blend of Portuguese and English and, with Wagnney Fabiano and Yan Cabral, French - and watched the MMA fight training going on throughout the room, before the trappings of being a superstar would take him back to business again, as a TV crew came in search of an interview, which would take up nearly the entire final two hours of his stay. But just before the chains of fame would again tie him down, he was paid a visit from an illustrious visitor, Paqueta, a legend from Jiu-Jitsu's past, who arrived to pay his respects and present him with a dvd from his vast collection, containing all his upcoming opponent John Fitch's fights. After the old warrior left, the toil began, as Saint-Pierre went off to the corner, under the television crew's lights, for a two-hour interview that didn't seem to phase the good-natured fellow until he was leaving the gym, at nearly 7pm, visibly tired but still graciously posing in pictures with his many admirers.

Visitors St. Pierre and O'Keefe with Team Nova Uniao

(Graciemag.com)