How did you get started in Martial Arts?

I started by doing Karate when I was seven years old. But my karate teacher died when I was fifteen years old, then I started to do wrestling and jiu-jitsu.

You don’t seem like an angry guy… did you ever get involved in street fights when you were younger?

When I was young, yeah… I fought a couple of times, like when I had no choice at school when a guy tried to hit me - you know, but not after that. I’ve always been a good guy!

Who do you train with in Canada?

David Loiseau, Ivan Menjivar, Patrick Cote, Jonathan Goulet… I train with many other guys, but the guys I mentioned have already fought in the UFC, so they are popular fighters! I train wrestling with real wrestlers, I box with real professional boxers… I try to mix everything up.

Taking about wrestling… is wrestling in taught in Canadian schools, like it is in America?

I’d say wrestling’s not big in Canada… it’s bigger in the United States. Some of the guys I wrestle with are Canadian, but most are from Eastern Europe… from like Russia, Ukraine, Georgia… they’ve wrestled since they were young and they’re very good. Most of the Canadian kids don’t wrestle as they grow up… it’s not a very common sport.

As a Canadian, what does the Fleur de Lis tattoo on your leg mean to you?

The Fleur de Lis represents the French society in Canada. When French people from Canada see each other, they recognise each other from this… If I put a maple leaf, they would know I’m from Canada, but Canada is very big country – but if I put the Fleur de Lis, because people know right away where I’m from: Quebec!

Which of your training partners should we look out for to make a great impact on MMA?

I think they can all do well… they all have different styles… I think they can all do well, it depends how they train and how bad they want to be a UFC fighter. You have to make a lot of sacrifices, you might have the skills and the talent, but you have to make sacrifices – and not everybody is ready for that.

What kind of sacrifices do you make?

Everyday I have to make sacrifices, especially when I’m training for a fight. For example, very basic things, I’m a young guy, twenty four years old, like every young guy I like to go out and party at the weekend… when I’m training I can’t. I can’t drink... I can’t go party because I have training the day after and I have to stay in shape. Right now, I’m on vacation, last night I went out, but I was still training this morning… I wasn’t in great shape this morning, but I don’t mind because my fight is not for a while.

Another sacrifice I have to make is to go to New York City to train my jiu-jitsu at Renzo Gracie’s… and I have no choice, because if I don’t do that, my jiu-jitsu is not going to improve. Sometimes I’m alone, you know, I have to pay for a hotel, take my car and I have to drive for seven hours… I have to take care of all these things, go there and train.

How do you find training at Renzo’s place?

Actually, I was there four years ago. I was on vacation with a girl, but I found the school and tried a class… at the time, I couldn’t say a word in English, I was very bad… but I tried a class and I realised that the training for jiu-jitsu over there is much better than what I have in Montreal.

Do you feel that you’ve learned a lot?

Yes, yes of course, my ground game has improved a lot.

Are you going to compete in grappling again?

In grappling? Yeah, for sure! My goals is to have a black belt in BJJ one day, it’s a lot of work…

What belt are you at the moment?

Right now, in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, I’m a purple belt.

You’re known for being very well rounded, but would you rather stand up? – or fight on the floor?

I’d say I’d prefer to fight where my opponent is weak. If I’m fighting a boxer, or a striker, I’m going to try to put him down… if I fight a grappler, I’m going to try and keep it standing. I try to use my opponent’s weaknesses against him.

I saw an interview you gave before a fight where you mentioned that you didn’t think that anyone could ‘handle your rhythm’…  what did you mean by that?

What I mean by that is, you know, when I’m fighting I like to push the pace… I think I’m in very good shape, I have a lot of stamina and I don’t think that anyone in my weight class can follow my pace. Like my fight with BJ Penn… sure, he won the first round, but he wasn’t able to follow my pace for the three rounds and he slowed down and I just kept going. So that’s what I mean, no one can keep the pace that I bring the fight.

Did BJ Penn surprise you at all?

He surprised me, but I was expecting him to be very good. In the first round I got caught… I don’t know whether it was the glove or a finger in the eye and for a good two or three minutes I couldn’t see him well… I saw him in double and he caught me right away. I didn’t want him to know that I was hurt, so I tried to exchange, but with one eye it’s pretty hard… you’re not accurate, so he caused a lot of damage during that time. I think I did the right thing because, otherwise, maybe he would have tried to go for the finish if he’d known I was hurt.

After the fight, you looked quite badly damaged but BJ looked OK. What would you say to someone who thought BJ won the fight based on that?

Yeah, maybe he did more damage to my face, but I think if you score the fight like you’re supposed to I had the advantage. Over the three rounds, his pace was slowing down and mine was at the same level. The damage?… if I poke you in the eye, for sure, your eye is going to swell. I don’t know whether it was the glove or a finger… but after the fight I had an infection in my eye, I had to go to the hospital and they gave me medication for it.

My eyes were swelling and I couldn’t see him well… during that time, he caught me with that uppercut, he just did my nose, but the blood was all over my face… flowing from my nose. It just made it look bad, but worse than it was because I was OK, you know?

Have you got an opponent for your next fight?

Yeah, my opponent is going to be Matt Hughes. I don’t know when, but it’s going to be for the title for sure.

What are you going to do differently this time?

When I first fought Matt Hughes, mentally, I don’t think I was ready. I don’t think I was as strong as I am right now – physically and mentally - I’m a lot different fighter now to what I was at that time. I can’t wait now to have my revenge!

Who do you think is going to win between Matt Hughes and Royce Gracie?

Matt Hughes is going to win. He (Royce) is one of my heroes in mixed martial arts, but if he is the same old Royce Gracie, he’s going to lose… even before the decision… but if he works his stand up and his wrestling, I don’t know, if he did that we might have a surprise, but I would be surprised… I don’t think he’s gonna win.

If the UFC keep asking you back are you happy to stay with them – or would you like to fight on other shows?

No, I would one day like to fight in another organisation like Pride, Cage Rage… those kind of organisations, for sure. The thing is, I have a contract with the UFC and I’m on a mission: I have to win that belt. But if my contract allows me to fight in other organisations, sure, why not? I’m the kind of guy, if I sign something, I respect it…I’m not going to break anything, you know. That’s more important for me than anything else.

Thanks for the interview, do you have you got anything to add?

If I have fans in the United Kingdom, I’d like to say ‘thank you’ for all the support. I hope day I will have the chance to fight in England…

Georges St Pierre has revealed his personal training programme in a brand new Instructional DVD series.
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