Post by Sandy on Nov 28, 2009 16:04:30 GMT -5
Got this off of mmanews.com
Georges St-Pierre says path to history doesn't necessarily lead to Anderson Silva
by John Morgan on Nov 27, 2009 at 11:55 am ET
Canadian Georges St-Pierre (19-2 MMA, 12-2 UFC) is already considered among the world's current top pound-for-pound fighters, but that's not enough for the UFC's welterweight champ.
"When I retire, I want to be known as the best fighter in the history of the sport of MMA, pound-for-pound, of all time," St-Pierre recently told MMAjunkie.com (UFC blog for UFC news, UFC rumors, fighter interviews and event previews/recaps | MMAjunkie.com).
And while many fans hope to see St-Pierre take on current middleweight champ Anderson Silva at some point in his career, "GSP" believes he doesn't necessarily need to make the jump to middleweight to secure his spot in history.
"To reach that goal (of being the best fighter in history), of course I'm going to have to beat some of the best guys in the sport," St-Pierre said. "Of course Silva is one of them. B.J. Penn was one of them. But this fight (with Silva) is not written in stone. One of us can lose a fight, and if one of us loses a fight, the interest of the fight will diminish considerably."
A winner of 12 of his past 13 contests, St-Pierre said he believes he can establish his spot in history without moving up from the welterweight class.
"I think I can do it at 170 pounds," St-Pierre said.
A two-part problem
St-Pierre's hesitance to commit to a future date with "The Spider" appears two-fold. One is a simple question of size, while the other is centered around St-Pierre's training partner, Nate Marquardt.
"I'm not afraid of anybody in the sport," St-Pierre said. "I think everything is a question of time. It's all going to be depending on the moment.
"I think, from what I've heard, Anderson Silva wants to fight heavyweight or light heavyweight. He's getting bigger. I'm getting bigger, too, but he's getting bigger."
St-Pierre has added a nutritionist to his training regimen for the first time in his near-eight-year career, and is currently hovering at around 195 pounds. The Canadian said he would want to bulk up to around 215 pounds if he were to compete in the middleweight division, though, "Even then, most of the guys are bigger than that."
But beyond the size issue, St-Pierre is reluctant to do anything that could stand in the way of his good friend, Marquardt, and a potential shot at the middleweight title.
St-Pierre recently made the case at the UFC 105 Fight Club Q&A session for why he wouldn't want to square off with anyone he considers a friend.
"I would never fight a friend or training partner," St-Pierre said. "The reason is simple. You can say, 'Oh, I'm going to play football. I'm going to play hockey. I'm going to play baseball,' but you can't say, 'Oh, I'm going to play fighting.' It's not a game. It's a sport, yeah, but it's a full-contact sport.
"The way I fight my so-called friend, if I fight him, it can affect his well-being. Let's say I'm mounted on top of my friend, and it's time to land this last big elbow that will probably make a scar in the middle of his forehead and knock him out cold and cause him brain damage, if it's my friend, I'm going to think twice before I do it."
Going out on top
So while a future date with Silva still remains a possibility, it seems anything but a sure thing. Instead, St-Pierre seems focused on making his mark as the greatest welterweight champion of all time. And at just 28 years old, how long could that reign last?
"Mixed martial arts is my job," St-Pierre said. "Let's say I wake up one day and I'm not happy with my job, then I'm going to do something else for a living. But right now, I love it. I'm very happy with my lifestyle. I like being a mixed martial artist and champion. I like the lifestyle that it provides me.
"(But) I want to retire on top. I don't want to retire after a couple of knockouts. My No. 1 priority is my well-being. My success is my second priority."
While St-Pierre is currently in his prime, the welterweight champ said it's important not to overstay your welcome.
"It's very hard for a boxer or a mixed martial arts fighter to retire on top," St-Pierre said. "What you need to do is listen to your entourage. When your entourage tells you, 'Georges, you have beaten everybody. I think you're on top now. I think if you lose or if you wait a little bit more, maybe you can take a risk to retire on the bottom or affect your well-being' – when something like that happens to me, when my close friends or people in my entourage start telling me that, I'm going to start thinking about retirement."
Until that day, St-Pierre said he will continue to focus on what's most important to him – not the fame and money that have suddenly appeared – as he pursues his goal of becoming the best fighter in the history of the sport.
"You just have to find different motivation," St-Pierre said. "Money has never been my first motivation. ... I started fighting because I like the art, itself. I like martial arts. I'm a mixed martial artist. I didn't start fighting for the money. When I first started, I didn't have any money. I was working three jobs at the same time. I was studying in school at a university, so I didn't have any money. But I was doing it because of the heart inside, because I loved it.
"I think when you start doing something because of the money or because of the fame, you're doing it for the wrong reason. Of course now the money and the fame is part of it, but the fame, honestly, I don't care about it. Money, it's there. Now it's good because I can use my money to live. ... But outside of it, I think the art, itself, is the most important thing."
Georges St-Pierre says path to history doesn't necessarily lead to Anderson Silva
by John Morgan on Nov 27, 2009 at 11:55 am ET
Canadian Georges St-Pierre (19-2 MMA, 12-2 UFC) is already considered among the world's current top pound-for-pound fighters, but that's not enough for the UFC's welterweight champ.
"When I retire, I want to be known as the best fighter in the history of the sport of MMA, pound-for-pound, of all time," St-Pierre recently told MMAjunkie.com (UFC blog for UFC news, UFC rumors, fighter interviews and event previews/recaps | MMAjunkie.com).
And while many fans hope to see St-Pierre take on current middleweight champ Anderson Silva at some point in his career, "GSP" believes he doesn't necessarily need to make the jump to middleweight to secure his spot in history.
"To reach that goal (of being the best fighter in history), of course I'm going to have to beat some of the best guys in the sport," St-Pierre said. "Of course Silva is one of them. B.J. Penn was one of them. But this fight (with Silva) is not written in stone. One of us can lose a fight, and if one of us loses a fight, the interest of the fight will diminish considerably."
A winner of 12 of his past 13 contests, St-Pierre said he believes he can establish his spot in history without moving up from the welterweight class.
"I think I can do it at 170 pounds," St-Pierre said.
A two-part problem
St-Pierre's hesitance to commit to a future date with "The Spider" appears two-fold. One is a simple question of size, while the other is centered around St-Pierre's training partner, Nate Marquardt.
"I'm not afraid of anybody in the sport," St-Pierre said. "I think everything is a question of time. It's all going to be depending on the moment.
"I think, from what I've heard, Anderson Silva wants to fight heavyweight or light heavyweight. He's getting bigger. I'm getting bigger, too, but he's getting bigger."
St-Pierre has added a nutritionist to his training regimen for the first time in his near-eight-year career, and is currently hovering at around 195 pounds. The Canadian said he would want to bulk up to around 215 pounds if he were to compete in the middleweight division, though, "Even then, most of the guys are bigger than that."
But beyond the size issue, St-Pierre is reluctant to do anything that could stand in the way of his good friend, Marquardt, and a potential shot at the middleweight title.
St-Pierre recently made the case at the UFC 105 Fight Club Q&A session for why he wouldn't want to square off with anyone he considers a friend.
"I would never fight a friend or training partner," St-Pierre said. "The reason is simple. You can say, 'Oh, I'm going to play football. I'm going to play hockey. I'm going to play baseball,' but you can't say, 'Oh, I'm going to play fighting.' It's not a game. It's a sport, yeah, but it's a full-contact sport.
"The way I fight my so-called friend, if I fight him, it can affect his well-being. Let's say I'm mounted on top of my friend, and it's time to land this last big elbow that will probably make a scar in the middle of his forehead and knock him out cold and cause him brain damage, if it's my friend, I'm going to think twice before I do it."
Going out on top
So while a future date with Silva still remains a possibility, it seems anything but a sure thing. Instead, St-Pierre seems focused on making his mark as the greatest welterweight champion of all time. And at just 28 years old, how long could that reign last?
"Mixed martial arts is my job," St-Pierre said. "Let's say I wake up one day and I'm not happy with my job, then I'm going to do something else for a living. But right now, I love it. I'm very happy with my lifestyle. I like being a mixed martial artist and champion. I like the lifestyle that it provides me.
"(But) I want to retire on top. I don't want to retire after a couple of knockouts. My No. 1 priority is my well-being. My success is my second priority."
While St-Pierre is currently in his prime, the welterweight champ said it's important not to overstay your welcome.
"It's very hard for a boxer or a mixed martial arts fighter to retire on top," St-Pierre said. "What you need to do is listen to your entourage. When your entourage tells you, 'Georges, you have beaten everybody. I think you're on top now. I think if you lose or if you wait a little bit more, maybe you can take a risk to retire on the bottom or affect your well-being' – when something like that happens to me, when my close friends or people in my entourage start telling me that, I'm going to start thinking about retirement."
Until that day, St-Pierre said he will continue to focus on what's most important to him – not the fame and money that have suddenly appeared – as he pursues his goal of becoming the best fighter in the history of the sport.
"You just have to find different motivation," St-Pierre said. "Money has never been my first motivation. ... I started fighting because I like the art, itself. I like martial arts. I'm a mixed martial artist. I didn't start fighting for the money. When I first started, I didn't have any money. I was working three jobs at the same time. I was studying in school at a university, so I didn't have any money. But I was doing it because of the heart inside, because I loved it.
"I think when you start doing something because of the money or because of the fame, you're doing it for the wrong reason. Of course now the money and the fame is part of it, but the fame, honestly, I don't care about it. Money, it's there. Now it's good because I can use my money to live. ... But outside of it, I think the art, itself, is the most important thing."
