Q&A with GEORGE ST. PIERRE

This Saturday, at the ARCO Arena in Sacramento, California, George "Rush" St. Pierre will Challenge Matt Hughes for his welterweight title for the second time at UFC 65. Since losing to Hughes two years ago, George has gone defeated a who’s who in MMA, notching wins over Jason Miller, Frank Trigg, Sean Shrek, and, perhaps the biggest feather in his cap, former P4P stud B.J Penn. With a murderer’s row like that, the Montreal native has more than earned another shot against Matt Hughes, the only man to ever beat him and arguably the greatest welterweight in the history of the sport.

In their first fight, George, to the surprise of many, was physically dominating Hughes until he was caught in an arm bar with just seconds left in the first round. George has all the tools needed to become a champion; an abundance of skills either standing or on the ground, frightening athleticism, and strength to match anyone’s—even the preternaturally powerful Hughes. But what makes George stand out from the rest, and has helped him transcend from a popular Canadian champ to an international superstar, is his uncompromising integrity, admirable attitude, and humble demeanor. In a brutal sport, kindness and compassion such as his is a rare commodity. Yet it is these genuine personality traits, showed off time and again, that has made George among the most beloved warriors in the sport.

http://fightbeat.com/article_detail.php?AT=227

 

"JB: Well, there will always be haters, George. But from what I observed, I think people respect you and see you encompass a rare combination of being a genuinely humble, nice guy, along with being a great fighter.

GSP: Ahhh perfect! You are touching me saying such nice things."

:jester:

I hope he beats Matt Hughes on Saturday.

If he does , I doubt it will even be on any sports news up here. Maybe in the French part, but not where I live.

 

GSP has all the tools to beat Hughes as long as he watches the arm bar!
GSP's stand up is light years ahead of Matt's and his ground game is just as good.


WAR GSP!!!

 

ghfjdgs I wonder where JB touched him at?

Cupey we can't have staff feeling up the guest! I think you need to have a talk with JB about fightbeat's sexual harassment policy!

 

Hughes by 2nd Round Submission.


TFK

 

issed: HIFU ghfjdgs Maybe:sulkoff:

 

Hughes is arguably the best fighter of alltime....George, to date, is arguably the fighter with the most promising future in the brief history of modern MMA.

It doesnt get better than this....The first time, George was a little green, maybe he's learned enough to swing things in his favor, maybe Matt will end it even earlier.

my only gripe, BJ Penn did anything but lay a blue print on how to beat Hughes.....No one is going to avoid the Hughes takedown for 5 rounds.


IMO, the way to beat Hughes, which is the way its been done in the past, is to pressure him early, and go for it from the start. He's too strong and too well conditioned to hope to outlast him.

 

Matt Hughes is not the best fighter of all-time.

Besides, that is a silly, mythical title to hand out in a sport which is still in its absolute infant stages.

 

Hughes has as much claim to it as anyone else.

 

It depends on what you're going to call MMA. If its the sport thats been around since the UFC came on board? Maybe. Maybe not. He has bad losses. The kind that would make it hard for me to ever agree he's the best, when there are guys out there who have proved they're better than he is.

Rickson Gracie is the greatest MMA athlete of all-time in my opinion.

 

WTF!?!? fdgdssddw ghfjdgs

 

talking about modern MMA, the sport as we see it today.....He does have some bad losses, but most fighters in the sport have a couple....

How about we call him arguably the most well accomplished fighter?

What about the idea that Penn layed the blueprint for beating Hughes in the second fight? Sound absurd to you?

 

absolutely

 

I finally watched Choke......His muscle control was AMAZING....that shit he did with his abs was just rediculous

 

I guess it's your opinion and your entitled it to.

 

I think Penn layed the blueprint for beating Hughes in the first fight. The one where a fat mudget rolled the supposed "greatest fighter of all-time" in about 3 seconds.

Hughes is a beast, but he is untested outside of a cage and of the USA. No way in hell is a one promotion fighter like Hughes, ever going to acheive that lofty status. The UFC cage and its rules is made for guys like him.

That said, Penn did good things in the rematch even though he didn't train. People have always known that Hughes has trouble on his feet. Actually, people have known Hughes has trouble anywhere where he isn't in a position of absolute dominance. The problem arises when you can't keep him from that position. He is bull strong and he can go hard for 5 rounds. Tito Ortiz used to do the same thing. As a matter of fact, people won't like it, but they're very similar fighters. Or were. Ortiz ain't the best of nothing, but at least he fought a few of the absolute best fighters at his weight. Ever.

Lastly, I don't think GSP will have any trouble in beating Hughes up this time.

 

name someone who was CLEARLY a better fighter P4P than Hughes

 

my point exactly.....which is why I agree with your last statement....St Pierre is even more of a freak that Matt, and should be better than him in all aspects of the game, other than mental....

 

Yeah....that scene freaked me out at first. Fucker was THE modern day martial artist, IMO. He had an absolute zen'ness about him....he was SO much better than anyone else around. Thats special.

 

:nixweiss:

I dunno. We've never seen GSP go five.

 

but do you agree that in the SPORT of MMA, not the art form or the totality of it, that he probably doesnt belong on the short list of best fighters, or at least most accomplished?

 

No, but the few he went against Sherk and Mayhem would lead you to belive another 10 would be a walk in the park

 

Hard to say. What he did was help make MMA. To me, its like saying George Mikan and anyone pre-24 second shot clock can't be considered among the greats, because the sport has changed so much.

What he competed in, was mixed martial arts competitions. Anywhere, anytime. Its not MMA as we know it now...but it was it at the time. Different strokes.

 

True. But tiny ass Sherk and Mayhem are not Matt Hughes. Thats a no brainer though.

I think he'll handle the five ok. But its still an unknown and Matt Hughes has retard stamina.

 

Mikan and such could be considered AMONG the greats, but all serious discussion of them being THE Greatest cant be taken too seriously....There just isnt enough to support it....You can say they were the best of their time period, or the best to that date, but not the best of all time...


and just to be fair, the same argument I am using against Rickson, will probably be useful on Hughes in 10 years

 

Either way, I think the way to beat Hughes is to go for the kill quickly, like Penn and Hallman did (allthough Superman did that shit before Matt knew of anything other than wrestling)....BUT, I think George actually has the goods (especially physically) to beat Hughes....In fact, I think he's the only 170lber in the world capable of pulling off the strategy of stufing Hughes takedowns and beating him on their feet. No one else gets away with that without scoring a flash KO

 

Trigg nearly took Hughes out early too. I agree, I think its a good idea...but more because you'll be lucky if you're going to go the full five with hughes, than because of any real weakness that matt has early in a fight.

I think plenty of people could beat Hughes on their feet. Staying there is the hard part.

 

thats what I meant

 

Gotcha. I should have realised that anyway. I'm fucking sick and hungover.

 

Dennis Holman submitted Hughes twice:nono: