Georges St.-Pierre

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Georges St-Pierre
Nickname Rush
GSP
Nationality Flag of Canada Canada
Date of birth May 19, 1981 (1981-05-19) (age 27)
Place of birth Saint-Isidore, Quebec, Canada
Fighting out of Montreal, Quebec, Canada
Height 5 ft 10 in (1.78 m)
Weight 170 lb (77.1 kg/12.1 st)
Reach 76 in (193 cm)
Style Kyokushin Karate, Wrestling,
Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, Muay Thai,
Boxing
Team Jackson's Submission Fighting
Years active 6 (2002-present)
MMA record
Total 19
Wins 17
By knockout 7
By submission 5
Losses 2
By knockout 1
By submission 1
Other information
Career mixed martial arts record from Sherdog

Georges "Rush" St-Pierre (born May 19, 1981), often referred to as GSP,[1] is a French-Canadian mixed martial arts fighter. He is the current Ultimate Fighting Championship welterweight champion, and is generally regarded as one of the best pound for pound fighters in the world.

He is currently ranked by multiple MMA publications as the #1 welterweight in the world.[2][3]

Contents

[edit] Biography

Born May 19, 1981 in Saint-Isidore, Quebec, Canada, St-Pierre had a difficult childhood, attending a school where others would steal his clothes and money.[4] He started learning Kyokushin karate at age seven to defend himself against a school bully.[5] He took up wrestling and Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu after his karate teacher died, and has also trained in boxing. Before turning pro as a mixed martial artist, St-Pierre worked as a bouncer at a Montreal night club in the South Shore called Fuzzy Brossard and as a garbageman for 6 months to pay for his school fees.[6]

St-Pierre has trained with a number of groups in a wide variety of gyms throughout his fighting career. Prior to his fight with B.J. Penn at UFC 58, he trained at the Renzo Gracie Jiu-Jitsu Academy in New York City. St-Pierre received his brown belt in BJJ from Renzo Gracie on July 21, 2006.[7] after working up to his purple belt with Fabio Holanda at Brazilian Top Team Canada, who cornered many of his earlier fights. St-Pierre is also a former member of the Canadian Top Team. He also spent time training in Quebec City, and has returned to training in Montreal with Brazilian Top Team Canada. He has also trained with The Ultimate Fighter 4's Patrick Côté and former UFC middleweight contender David Loiseau, and spent some time in the Montreal Wrestling Club. St-Pierre also trains in boxing with Howard Grant and Otis Grant at the Grant Brothers Gym in Dollard-des-Ormeaux, Quebec. Here he got the chance to spar with world champ Joachim Alcine and others.

Recently, St-Pierre began training with Rashad Evans, Nathan Marquardt, Keith Jardine and many others at Greg Jackson's Submission Fighting Gaidojutsu school in New Mexico. Some of Jackson's students have also accompanied Georges to Montreal to train at BTT Canada and Tristar Gym including Keith Jardine and Nathan Marquardt. Currently, Georges trains in Muay Thai under Kru Phil Nurse at the Wat in New York City.

In September 2008, St-Pierre earned his black belt in Brazilian Jiu Jitsu under Bruno Fernandes.[8]

Interestingly, George is deathly afraid of heights and does not enjoy flying.[9]

[edit] MMA career

[edit] Early career

St-Pierre had dreamed of becoming a UFC champion since watching Royce Gracie fight in 1993 at UFC 1.[10] St. Pierre had his first amateur bout when he was only 16 years old. He states, "When I won my first amateur (MMA) fight, I was 16 years old and I beat a guy that was 25. I was only a Kyokushin karate fighter and the guy I fought was a boxer. At the time my ground skills were very poor, I didn’t know nothing on the ground.” St-Pierre won his fight by knockout, going low with several leg kicks and then going high with a kick to the head. [11]

St-Pierre's pro debut was against Ivan Menjivar and ended in a first round TKO win. St-Pierre went on to win his next three fights before making his TKO debut against Pete Spratt at TKO 14 (November 29, 2003). St-Pierre defeated Spratt with a rear naked choke in the first round.

[edit] Joining the UFC

St-Pierre made his Octagon debut at UFC 46 where he defeated Karo Parisyan by unanimous decision. His next fight with the UFC was against Jay Hieron at UFC 48. St.-Pierre defeated Hieron via TKO (Punches) in only 1:42.

Following his second straight win in the UFC, he faced Matt Hughes at UFC 50 for the vacant welterweight title. Despite a competitive performance against the much more experienced fighter, St-Pierre tapped out to an Armbar with only 1 second remaining in the first round. The loss was the first of St-Pierre's career, and he has since admitted that he was in awe of Hughes going into the title bout.

[edit] Road to the title

After his loss to Hughes, St-Pierre rebounded with a win over Dave Strasser at TKO 19 with a first round kimura submission. He then returned to the UFC to face Jason "Mayhem" Miller at UFC 52, defeating Miller by unanimous decision.

With momentum behind him, St-Pierre was then matched up against top contender Frank Trigg at UFC 54. St-Pierre controlled the fight and eventually sunk in a rear naked choke with less than a minute remaining in the first round. He then faced future lightweight champion Sean Sherk at UFC 56. Midway through the second round St-Pierre became the second fighter to defeat Sherk, and the first to finish him.

At UFC 58, St-Pierre defeated former UFC welterweight champion,and current lightweight champion B.J. Penn to become the number one contender for the UFC welterweight title. St-Pierre won the match by split decision and was set to rematch then-champion Matt Hughes on September 23, 2006 at UFC 63.[12] However, St-Pierre was forced to withdraw from the match due to a groin injury, and was replaced by the man he defeated in March, B.J. Penn.[13] The UFC had announced afterwards that St-Pierre would have the opportunity to fight for the title when his condition was fully healed

[edit] The Ultimate Fighter

St-Pierre was seen as a trainer on The Ultimate Fighter 4: The Comeback on Spike TV, which featured fighters who were previously seen in UFC events including Matt Serra, Shonie Carter, Pete Sell, Patrick Côté, and Travis Lutter. St-Pierre was seen vocally supporting fellow Canadian and training partner Patrick Côté during the season's airing.

[edit] Winning the championship

At UFC 63, St-Pierre made an appearance to support fellow Canadian MMA fighter, David "The Crow" Loiseau. At that time he was seen pushing Loiseau to "fight his fight" against Mike Swick. At the same event, after Matt Hughes had defeated B.J. Penn, GSP stepped into the ring to hype up his upcoming title fight against Hughes, stating that he was glad that Hughes won his fight, but that he was "not impressed" by Hughes' performance.[14]

According to both commentator Joe Rogan and Hughes' own autobiography, Hughes was unhappy with St. Pierre's statement and that they "had words" off-camera shortly after, at which time St. Pierre apologized, saying he had misunderstood something Hughes had said on the microphone, and did not mean to offend him. St. Pierre challenged Matt Hughes again at UFC 65 for the UFC welterweight title. The fight was almost stopped near the end of the first round when St. Pierre sent Hughes to the mat with a superman punch and left hook, but Hughes managed to survive the first round. In the second round, St-Pierre won the fight via TKO (Strikes) after a left kick to Hughes' head, followed by a barrage of unanswered punches and elbows.[15]

On January 30, 2007, St. Pierre signed a six-fight deal with the UFC.[16]

[edit] Losing the title

At UFC 69 St-Pierre lost the welterweight title to The Ultimate Fighter 4 winner Matt Serra via TKO (Punches) at 3:25 of round one. Matt Serra was an 11-1 underdog going into the bout.[17] St-Pierre has said that he lost the match partially due to a lack of focus because of problems in his personal life, including the death of a close cousin and his father's serious illness,[18] and later parted ways with his manager and most of his entourage. St.-Pierre has since gone on to say that he shouldn't have made any excuses and that Serra was simply the better fighter that night.[19]

[edit] Back into title contention

On August 25th, 2007, at UFC 74 St-Pierre won a unanimous decision against Josh Koscheck (30-27, 29-28, 29-28).[20] His wrestling skills were displayed during the match by outwrestling Koscheck (a 4-time Division 1 NCAA All-American & 1-time NCAA wrestling champion), scoring takedowns, stopping Koscheck's takedown attempts and maintaining top position throughout most of the fight.[21] There was speculation before the fight that Koscheck would out-match St.-Pierre on the ground due to his credentials, but St.-Pierre was confident that he was a better wrestler and striker and was more well versed in submissions than Koscheck.[22]

Before and after the fight, St-Pierre stated his intention to reclaim his lost title, miming the act of placing a championship belt around his waist while still in the octagon. His win over Koscheck had placed him in the number one contender spot for the UFC Welterweight Championship. This fight was to be against the winner of Matt Hughes and Matt Serra. Matt Serra had to pull out of UFC 79 due to a back injury sustained during training[23], and instead St-Pierre faced Hughes in a rubber match for the interim UFC Welterweight Championship. Despite Hughes' best efforts, he was unable to mount any serious offense against St-Pierre, who again showcased his wrestling skills by not only avoiding all of Hughes' takedown attempts, but taking Hughes down at will.[24] In a reversal of their first fight, St-Pierre attempted a Kimura on Hughes' right arm[25], then switched to a straight Armbar with fifteen seconds left in the second round. Hughes fought the extension, but with his left hand trapped between St-Pierre's ankles, was forced to verbally submit at 4:55 of the second round[26], making St-Pierre the Interim Welterweight Champion. After the fight St-Pierre said that the belt was a great honor but meant nothing to him, as Matt Serra was still the real champion.

[edit] Becoming the UFC's Undisputed Welterweight Champion

At UFC 83 on April 19, 2008, St-Pierre fought Matt Serra in a match to determine the undisputed welterweight championship during the UFC's first-ever event in Canada, at the Bell Centre in Montreal, Quebec.[27] Instead of striking, St-Pierre pressed the action early with a takedown and kept mixing up his attack, never allowing Serra the chance to mount a significant offense.[28] In the second round, St-Pierre continued his previous actions, forcing Serra into the turtle position and delivering repeated knees to Serra's midsection.[29] When Serra was unable to improve his position or defend against the strikes, referee Yves Lavigne stopped the fight.[30] St-Pierre was gracious to his defeated opponent and asked the crowd to restrain themselves and show Serra some respect. Serra in turn bowed graciously before St-Pierre. The event was historic in that a UFC championship event had never taken place in Canada before. Georges recently finished up jiu-jitsu training at Gracie Barra and Nova Uniao in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, in preparation for his bout with Jon Fitch. [31]

[edit] Defending the title

In his most recent fight, St-Pierre defeated Jon Fitch by unanimous decision with scores of 50-43, 50-44, 50-44 at UFC 87[32], retaining his UFC welterweight title. He exhibited clear dominance over a durable Jon Fitch, scoring multiple devastating strikes and taking the former Purdue wrestling captain down seemingly at will.[33] After the fight GSP spoke to Fitch about the growth that his own loss prompted and said that Fitch's experience should be no different. The win over Fitch now sets up one of the most anticipated rematches in UFC history, as BJ Penn stepped into the octagon after the fight to essentially challenge GSP to a rematch of their bout at UFC 58 in 2006, which ended in a split-decision victory for GSP. This superfight is tentatively scheduled for the UFC's annual Super Bowl show on January 31st, 2009.

Dana White has recently said that if GSP is able to defeat B.J Penn, then that will set up a big money fight with GSP against Middleweight champion Anderson Silva sometime in 2009; possibly at catchweight. [34]

[edit] MMA titles

  • UFC Welterweight Champion (Twice)
  • UFC Interim Welterweight Champion (former)
  • TKO Canadian Welterweight Champion (former)

[edit] Mixed martial arts record

Result Record Opponent Method Event Date Round Time Location Notes
Flag of the United States B.J. Penn UFC 94: St. Pierre vs. Penn 2 02009-01-31 January 31, 2009 Flag of the United States Nevada, United States
Win 17-2 Flag of the United States Jon Fitch Decision (Unanimous) UFC 87 - Seek and Destroy 02008-08-09 August 09, 2008 5 5:00 Flag of the United States Minneapolis, Minnesota, United States Defends UFC Welterweight Championship
Win 16-2 Flag of the United States Matt Serra TKO (Knees to the Body) UFC 83 - Serra vs. St.-Pierre II 02008-04-19 April 19, 2008 2 4:45 Flag of Canada Montreal, Quebec, Canada Became the Undisputed UFC Welterweight Champion
Win 15-2 Flag of the United States Matt Hughes Verbal Submission (Armbar) UFC 79 - Nemesis 02007-12-29 December 29, 2007 2 4:54 Flag of the United States Nevada, United States Won interim UFC Welterweight Championship; Replaced Matt Serra who was injured due to a back injury
Win 14-2 Flag of the United States Josh Koscheck Decision (Unanimous) UFC 74 - Respect 02007-08-25 August 25, 2007 3 5:00 Flag of the United States Nevada, United States
Loss 13-2 Flag of the United States Matt Serra TKO (Punches) UFC 69 - Shootout 02007-04-07 April 7, 2007 1 3:25 Flag of the United States Texas, United States Lost UFC Welterweight Championship
Win 13-1 Flag of the United States Matt Hughes TKO (Head Kick and Punches) UFC 65 - Bad Intentions 02006-11-18 November 18, 2006 2 1:25 Flag of the United States California, United States Won UFC Welterweight Championship
Win 12-1 Flag of the United States B.J. Penn Decision (Split) UFC 58 - USA vs Canada 02006-03-04 March 4, 2006 3 5:00 Flag of the United States Nevada, United States Became the number one contender in the UFC Welterweight division
Win 11-1 Flag of the United States Sean Sherk TKO (Punches and Elbows) UFC 56 - Full Force 02005-11-19 November 19, 2005 2 2:53 Flag of the United States Nevada, United States
Win 10-1 Flag of the United States Frank Trigg Submission (Rear Naked Choke) UFC 54 - Boiling Point 02005-08-20 August 20, 2005 1 4:09 Flag of the United States Nevada, United States
Win 9-1 Flag of the United States Jason Miller Decision (Unanimous) UFC 52 - Couture vs Liddell 2 02005-04-16 April 16, 2005 3 5:00 Flag of the United States Nevada, United States
Win 8-1 Flag of the United States Dave Strasser Submission (Kimura) TKO 19 - Rage 02005-01-29 January 29, 2005 1 1:52 Flag of CanadaQuebec, Canada
Loss 7-1 Flag of the United States Matt Hughes Submission (Armbar) UFC 50: The War of '04 02004-10-22 October 22, 2004 1 4:59 Flag of the United States New Jersey, United States For vacant UFC Welterweight Championship
Win 7-0 Flag of the United States Jay Hieron TKO (Punches) UFC 48 - Payback 02004-06-19 June 19, 2004 1 1:42 Flag of the United States Nevada, United States
Win 6-0 Flag of Armenia Karo Parisyan Decision (Unanimous) UFC 46 - Supernatural 02004-01-31 January 31, 2004 3 5:00 Flag of the United States Nevada, United States
Win 5-0 Flag of the United States Pete Spratt Submission (Rear Naked Choke) TKO 14 - Road Warriors 02003-11-29 November 29, 2003 1 3:40 Flag of CanadaQuebec, Canada
Win 4-0 Flag of the United States Thomas Denny TKO (Cut) UCC 12 - Adrenaline 02003-01-25 January 25, 2003 2 4:45 Flag of CanadaQuebec, Canada
Win 3-0 Flag of Canada Travis Galbraith TKO (Elbows) UCC 11 - The Next Level 02002-10-11 October 11, 2002 1 2:03 Flag of Canada Montreal, Quebec, Canada
Win 2-0 Flag of Canada Justin Bruckmann Submission (Armbar) UCC 10 - Battle for the Belts 2002 02002-06-15 June 15, 2002 1 3:23 Flag of Canada Quebec, Canada Won TKO Canadian Welterweight Championship
Win 1-0 Flag of Canada Ivan Menjivar TKO (Punches) UCC 7 - Bad Boyz 02002-01-25 January 25, 2002 1 4:50 Flag of Canada Montreal, Quebec, Canada




Preceded by
Matt Hughes		 UFC Welterweight Champion
November 18, 2006 - April 7, 2007		 Succeeded by
Matt Serra
Preceded by
Matt Serra		 UFC Welterweight Champion
April 19, 2008 – present		 Incumbent

[edit] Entrance Music

St-Pierre is famous for using French rap music during his entrance walks.

Event Entrance Music
UFC 58 Tout Le Monde Debout by Neg' Marrons
UFC 65 Samurai by Shurik'n
UFC 69 Samurai by Shurik'n
UFC 74 Dirty Haus by Rohff
UFC 79 Territoire Hostile by Sans Pression
UFC 83 Numero 1 by Sans Pression
UFC 87 Boulbi by Booba[35]

[edit] Acting career

Georges will soon be seen in two films, both written by martial artist Hector Echavarria. He will play "The Crusher" in "Death Warrior" and Georges in "Never Surrender". Never Surrender ( Film) (2009) will be released by Lions Gate Entertainment in 2009 and stars UFC World Champions Anderson Silva and BJ Penn and also stars UFC Fighters Heath Herring and Quinton Jackson.

[edit] See also

[edit] References

  1. ^ Doyle, Dave (February 2007). "Hughes-St. Pierre: UFC's match of the year?", FOXSports.com. Retrieved on 17 May 2007. 
  2. ^ "MMA's Top Ten". MMAWeekly.com (2007-05-09). Retrieved on 2007-05-13.
  3. ^ Sherdog Official Mixed Martial Arts Rankings
  4. ^ Tousignant, Isa. "Georges St.-Pierre leads Montreal to UFC glory. Hour.ca. March 2nd, 2006]". Retrieved on 2007-07-06.
  5. ^ Wickert, Marc. "Montreal’s MMA Warrior. knucklepit.com]". Retrieved on 2007-07-06.
  6. ^ Kelly, Seth. "Gold Rush Complex.com]". Retrieved on 2007-12-24.
  7. ^ "slam.canoe.ca/Slam/OtherSports/2006/07/22/1697789-sun.html". Retrieved on 2007-07-06.
  8. ^ Zuffa Fighters get Belted
  9. ^ Post UFC 87 - Continued
  10. ^ "Getting To Know Georges "Rush" St.-Pierre". Retrieved on 2007-07-06.
  11. ^ "First Bout". Retrieved on 2007-07-06.
  12. ^ CBC.ca. [1]
  13. ^ Gerbasi, Thomas. "St.-Pierre Sidelined by Injury; ‘The Prodigy’ to The Rescue. August 23 2006]". Retrieved on 2007-07-06.
  14. ^ http://mmamania.com/2008/11/07/georges-st-pierre-im-not-impressed-with-your-performance-video/
  15. ^ http://worldfightnews.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=28&Itemid=19
  16. ^ "www.mmaweekly.com/absolutenm/templates/dailynews.asp?articleid=3355&zoneid=13". Retrieved on 2007-07-06.
  17. ^ Davidson, Neil (2007-04-08). "Georges St.-Pierre suffers loss to underdog Matt Serra at UFC 69: Shootout", Canadian Press. Retrieved on 9 April 2007. 
  18. ^ http://mmajunkie.com/news/4171/georges-st-pierres-time-to-shine.mma
  19. ^ http://mmamania.com/2008/01/03/matt-serra-im-definitely-up-for-fighting-georges-st-pierre-in-april/
  20. ^ http://www.mmanews.com/page.php?page=ufc74results
  21. ^ http://www.themmadigest.com/2007/08/st-pierre-indeed-outwrestled-the-wrestler/
  22. ^ http://sports.yahoo.com/mma/news?slug=dm-stpierre112507&prov=yhoo&type=lgns
  23. ^ http://maximus03.wordpress.com/2007/11/23/matt-serra-pulls-out-of-ufc-79-title-fight-with-back-injury/
  24. ^ http://mmajunkie.com/news/3420/ufc-79-round-by-round-updates-and-live-results.mma
  25. ^ http://news.proelite.com/84942
  26. ^ http://www.sherdog.com/news/news/UFC-79-Nemesis-Play-by-Play-10598
  27. ^ http://www.canadastarboxing.com/ufc/2008/ufc83/bout.htm
  28. ^ http://www.sherdog.com/news/news/UFC-83-Play-by-Play-12383
  29. ^ http://www.pointspread.com/Misc/Boxing/content/UFC-87-odds:-Seek-%2526amp%3B-Destroy
  30. ^ http://mmajunkie.com/news/4176/ufc-83-live-results.mma
  31. ^ UFC® : Ultimate Fighting Championship®
  32. ^ http://www.kocosports.com/absolutenm/anmviewer.asp?a=23041&z=2
  33. ^ http://www.sherdog.com/news/news/UFC-87-Seek-and-Destroy-Play-by-Play-13960
  34. ^ http://mmamania.com/2008/10/17/dana-white-bj-penn-vs-anderson-silva-aint-gonna-happen/
  35. ^ http://www.mmafighting.com/ufc/entrance_themes.html

[edit] External links

Sister project Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to: Georges St.-Pierre
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