Most frequently recognized by his nicknames, GSP or Rush, George St-Pierre is a mixed martial artist and presently the UFC Welterweight Champion of the world. According to Yahoo Sports, Sherdog, and a lot of other MMA publications, George St-Pierre is pound for pound the top fighter in the world.
Humble Beginnings
Georges St Pierre was born on May 19, 1981 in Saint-Isidore, Quebec. At age seven, after having trouble with bullies at school, St Pierre started his MMA career by learning Karate from his dad and shortly after enrolled in a Kyokushin Karate class.
In a March 2006 interview with Isa Tousignant from Hour, Georges said,”I went to a school where it was pretty rough – I’d get my clothes stolen, my cash. And at home life was pretty hard too. I had a difficult childhood, and I’m not saying that that’s why I do ultimate fighting, but it helped shape my character.
Until age 12, Georges was involved in Ice Hockey as well as Karate and loved both, but had to pick which one to continue with. His mom and dad wanted to keep him in sports because they didn’t want him to hang out with a bad crowd, however they didn’t have a lot of money, so they explained to him he had to decide between Ice Hockey or Karate, because they couldn’t afford both.
Georges liked Karate better because he felt he could decide his own destiny and not have to depend on other players for victory. Around twelve or 13, after earning his second degree black belt in Karate, his Karate instructor died and George began to branch out into different disciplines.
He stopped training in Karate and started training in Muay Thai. He liked Muay Thai, but after seeing UFC 1 with Ken Shamrock, he was motivated to become a MMA fighter and start learning some ground game. But, at the time, there were no Jiu Jitsu schools in Montreal so he continued to train in Muay Thai and later on went back and got his third degree black belt in Karate. When he was sixteen he discovered a great Brazilian Jiu Jitsu school and when he was 18 he began taking wrestling and boxing classes.
Prior to turning pro, George was living in a very unpleasant apartment building, working three jobs, studying at university, plus training for his fights all at the same time. Money was very tight. He even labored as a trash man for six months to pay for university. He also worked as a bouncer at a Montreal night club, and worked in recovery for a store in Montreal. It was a very hard time for him however it helped to shape the man he is today. He’s grateful for his struggles and the things he learned from them. He always knew the hard work would pay off.
In a July 2008 interview with MMA Stomping Grounds, Georges was asked how those struggles helped him and he responded, “When I see some people in the sport say “Oh, I don’t have time to do this” and they complain and not only in the sport but in their life I laugh because I know I’ve done a lot. When you want something, you can go get it, you just have to use the tools and sometimes it’s hard and you need to struggle hard for a couple months or a couple years sometimes like I did, but at some point if you do it well and keep going you will see the light at the end of the tunnel.
Turning Pro
George was fighting in amateur fights around the time he started training in Jiu Jitsu. He took home his first victory at the age of sixteen. However, his first pro fight was on January 25, 2002 when he defeated Ivan Menjivar at UCC 7 with a TKO via punches. He subsequently went on to win three more fights in the UCC. He beat Justin Bruckmann at UCC 10 with an arm-bar submission, Travis Galbraithat UCC 11 with a TKO via elbows to the head, andThomas Denny at UCC 12 with a TKO from punches. His final fight prior to entering the UFC was vs Pete Spratt at TKO 14, who he beat by means of a rear naked choke.
UFC Career
George St Pierre debuted in UFC 46 where he upset Judo Expert Karo Parisyan by a unanimous decision. He then went on to defeat Jay Hieron at UFC 48 by TKO via punches to the head at merely 1:42 of the first round. He was now 7-0-0.
GSP vs Matt Hughes Part 1
UFC 50, The War of 04' George St Pierre would experience his first MMA loss to the hands of Matt Hughes via arm-bar submission. According to George, Hughes had once been one of his hero’s and this caused George to be in awe of him when he stepped into the ring. He did not come into the fight with the confidence he needed to win. He was submitted in 4:59 minutes of round one. This however would only serve as motivation.
If there is one thing that George St Pierre consistently focuses on, it’s getting better. Here is another quote from the interview with Isa Tousignant, “Today I’m doing boxing in the morning, tonight I’ll do my sprints,” explains St-Pierre. “Tomorrow it’s jiu-jitsu in the morning, Olympic wrestling in the evening, and Friday it’s muy thai and then techniques or swimming in the evening, something like that. Every day I’ve got a routine that enables me to diversify my training. In this sport the most important thing is to be as complete a fighter as possible.
St Pierre would recover from the loss to Hughes and come back with a vengeance. He went on to beat a host of top grade mma fighters, including Dave Strasser at TKO 19 with a Kimura submission, Jason “Mayhem” Miller at UFC 52 with a unanimous decision, Frank Trigg at UFC 54 with a rear naked choke and Sean Sherk at UFC 56 with a TKO via punches and elbows. Next Stop – BJ Penn.
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To finish reading the George St Pierre Biography visit, www.georgesaintpierre.com , a news and fan blog featuring a regularly updated blog, FREE Georges St Pierre full fight videos, GSP photos, GSP workout, training and instruction videos and much more! All free!
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