MANILA, Philippines -Having black belts in Kyokushin karate and Gaidojutsu, and a third degree black belt in Brazilian JiuJitsu, Georges St-Pierre didn’t always have ethal arms and legs. As a child, he experienced bullying in school, which eventually led him to take up karate lessons as a means to defend himself. He eventually moved on to other disciplines, and in between learning the craft and turning pro in MMA, St-Pierre became a bouncer at a nightclub, as well as a garbage man, just to be able to pay for school tuition.
Beyond the belts, TKOs and submissions accumulated in less than a decade, the reigning Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) Welterweight Champion, who’s often referred to as GSP, wants to be celebrated not only as the best fighter the world has ever seen, but more as the man who made the biggest impact in mixed martial arts (MMA).
GSP paid Manila a visit last Thursday, Sept. 23 (made possible by Balls Channel and UFC), to come together with a growing population of local MMA enthusiasts. After a slew of meet-and-greets with the press and then training with the country’s very own world champion, seven-division world boxing titlist Manny “Pacman” Pacquiao, the Quebec native showed the crowd at the SM Mall of Asia Music Hall a glimpse of how sessions of Muay Thai and Jiu-Jitsu between him and his trainers go on a regular training day.
On Dec. 11, GSP will be defending his title against American Josh Koscheck in his hometown in Montreal. Other discussions on upcoming UFC match-ups are in the works. However, brewing bouts against American welterweight division fighter Jake Shields and current UFC Middleweight Champion Anderson Silva from Brazil are being set aside by GSP.
“It is very important for me to stay focused on my goal, to not look past Josh Koscheck, but if eventually everything sticks to plan and I beat Josh Koscheck, I know there is Jake Shields,” St-Pierre explained to the hundreds of onlookers at the Mall of Asia last Saturday. “If Jake Shields wins his fight, from there we’ll see what else is going to happen. You know this fight with Anderson Silva is not written in stone. If something happens and I lose, (or) partly lose, the interest in that fight will be lost. So, I want to go up (to) Middleweight, but I want to do it at the right time.”
The 29-year-old champ has nowhere to go but up. And in his ultimate desire to be remembered not just as a strong fighter but “as a good man (and) as a gentleman,” the odds are very much working in his favor.