UFC champion Georges St-Pierre to stop fighting, surrender UFC welterweight title
For the UFC March 15 in Dallas
Montreal’s best and well known fighter GSP – wants to take a back seat to fighting and the UFC.
also cited personal issues, St-Pierre gave no detail nor comments. But clearly they have obscured his obsessive focus in a sport where focus and the mind is key. Athletes spend months preparing for these mega fights.
| GSP St-Pierre 25-2-0 | |
| Summary: | Athleticism, very well rounded, discipline |
so what happens to the Title, Dana White UFC president said Johny aKa Bigg Rigg is No. 1 contender Hendricks will fight No. 3 Robbie Lawler aka Ruthless for the title GPS is giving up.
BIO
Georges “Rush” St-Pierre, also known as “GSP,” is a Canadian professional mixed martial artist and UFC world champion who holds black belts in both Kyokushin karate and Brazilian Jiu Jitsu.
Georges was raised in St-Isidore, Quebec, a town of about 2,000 people. As a child he was bullied for years by older schoolmates. His father had introduced him to Kyokushin karate at age 7, “but life isn’t like a movie,” he said. “You can do all the karate you want, when you’re eight or nine-years-old and they’re 12, when you’re alone and there’s three of them, you can’t do anything. That’s the reality.”
Already a 2nd dan Kyokushin karate black belt at 12, Georges dedicated himself to martial arts and training throughout his teen years. After seeing Royce Gracie (http://www.roycegracie.tv/) fight in 1993 at UFC 1, Georges knew exactly what he wanted to do with his life and how he was going to reach those goals: he invested all his energy and all his time at becoming a better version of himself. When he wasn’t training or at school, Georges worked as a doorman in nightclubs, or hung off the back of a garbage truck, hauling in refuse. He discovered a simple truth: never stopping helps reach goals.
He grew as a person and as a fighter. He added fighting disciplines such as boxing, wrestling, and Brazilian Jiu Jitsu to his karate background and competed in his first amateur bout at age 16. He won that match, and continued his steady improvement. In 2006 he became the UFC Welterweight Champion. He lost the title in 2007 but subsequently regained it in front of his hometown fans of Montreal in 2008 and hasn’t lost a single title defense since then.
Now recognized as one of the planet’s best pound-for-pound MMA fighter and all around athlete, GSP lives in Montreal but travels around the world to train with the best coaches and training partners in all disciplines.
Watch the video to hear directly from GSP
Georges St-Pierre ponders on when it might be time to retire and how he’d like to emulate the example set by boxer, Lennox Lewis.
GSP in facts and figures
Born in St-Isidore, Québec, on May 19, 1981
5 ft 10 inches, 170 lbs
Fighting style: Kyokushin karate (3rd dan black belt), Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu (black belt), Muay Thai, Boxing, Wrestling
Record
25 wins (8 by knock out, 5 by submission, 12 by decision) 2 defeats
Championship
All-time most consecutive welterweight title defenses (9)
Two-time and reigning Welterweight Champion of the World – Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC)
Awards
Canadian Athlete of the Year 2008, 2009, 2010 – Rogers Sportsnet
2010-2011 No.2 Pound-for-pound fighter in the world – ESPN
Fighter of the Year 2009 – Sports Illustrated, World MMA Awards, MMAPayout, Inside MMA, MMAJunkie
Finalist – Best Fighter 2008, 2010, 2011 – ESPY Awards
Most Dangerous Man of the year 2010 – Spike Guys Choice Awards
2008 MMA Fighter of the Year – Black Belt Magazine
