interview by Jay Swing (from the January issue of DXL Magazine)
UFC's George St. Pierre has experienced the ups and downs a career in professional sports can bring, but one thing has always remained the same - the former UFC Welterweight Champ is a student of the sport that is Mixed Martial Arts. Going from the ecstasy of winning the belt to the disappointment of being on the losing end of one of the bigger upsets in UFC history can be enough to make any athlete doubt his abilities, but to the man who many believe is the future of MMA that has never been an option. GSP tells it like it is. He wasn't mentally ready to face Hughes the first time they fought. He wasn't the better fighter the night he lost his belt to Matt Serra. But at the same time he will also tell you that he truly feels he is the best fighter in the world. Matt Hughes, BJ Penn, Karo Parysian, Sean Sherk, Josh Koscheck, Frank Trigg... it reads like a who's who of elite fighters in Mixed Martial Arts' 170-pound weight class. GSP has beaten them all. "Rush" is 16-2 in his MMA career with his only 2 losses coming in title fights. The first was to his nemesis, then UFC Welterweight Champ Matt Hughes, when he got caught in an arm bar with only 1 second left in what was a very close first round. His second loss came at the hands of The Ultimate Fighter season 4 winner Matt Serra and remains the only loss he has yet to avenge. After that fight and with the let down of losing his title, GSP parted ways with his manager, as well as most of the people around him, and joined the likes of Keith Jardine and Rashad Evans in training with Greg Jackson's camp in New Mexico. With a 6 fight deal secured, a new and more focused approach to training, and his next fight in the octagon a rubber match against Matt Hughes for the interm Welterweight title, George St. Pierre is on the verge of reclaiming what he feels is his - UFC gold. In a candid interview St. Pierre talks about his career, his training, his feud with Matt Hughes, losing the title, and even steroids in MMA.
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