MMA-URLS

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UFC Tonight’s Kenny Florian discusses UFC welterweight champion Georges St. Pierre’s fear of aliens.

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UFC welterweight champion Georges St. Pierre isn't afraid of much, but training partner Kenny Florian fills us in on one thing the champ is scared of - aliens. Seriously.

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SBNation's Amy Nelson speaks to UFC welterweight champ Georges St. Pierre about his anti-bullying campaign and his recovery.

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Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) Welterweight Champion Georges St. Pierre won't let a little thing like kneehab keep him from making the rounds for his latest sponsor, which is hawking some kind of magic towel that turns your sweat into a cold compress. Just be sure to keep it above the shoulders folks, for your own safety. While "Rush" was out and about, he took some time to update JR Sport Brief on his healing process, which came after the Canadian kingpin tore his ACL in training camp. Could he return at UFC 154 on Nov. 17, 2012 in Montreal? "My knee is good. In two months I'll be back 100 percent. Lots of gymnastics, a lot of training, I was in Los Angeles at SSL, keeping busy." Awaiting St. Pierre when he does finally return is Carlos Condit, who won the Interim welterweight championship after a grueling five round affair against Nick Diaz back at UFC 143 on Feb. 4 in Las Vegas, Nevada. To see GSP's "Road Back to the Octagon" click here.

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Dress to impress? According to Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) Welterweight champion Georges St. Pierre, dressing properly and acting like a gentleman inside and outside the Octagon, are among the primary reasons he has been so financially successful in the world of mixed martial arts (MMA). Of course, his tremendous skills as a complete MMA fighter have helped somewhat, too. St. Pierre, who makes anywhere from $4 to $5 million per fight, also does very well monetarily promoting his major sponsors that he obtained thanks in large part to his gentleman-like attitude that he portrays outside of the Octagon, as well as his GQ-like fashion sense, which can be seen on full display each and every time the champ is present at a pre- and post-fight press conference. With more and more fighters like Light Heavyweight contender Rashad Evans and former UFC lightweight champion Frankie Edgar, just to name a few, following suit (no pun intended) St. Pierre says he was rocking his finest threads to press conferences long before it was cool to do so. At least, that's what he told MMA Fighting: "This is something that I've been doing since the beginning of my career. I wore a suit at press conferences when all the other fighters were making fun of me. (They said), 'Oh, look at St. Pierre, he doesn't wear his sponsor. I'm the one who first started doing this stuff, and I think the image and how you conduct yourself ... because the sponsor, the big companies in corporate America, they're not interested in sponsoring an athlete who is good in his sport but acts like an idiot outside of the Octagon. They want someone who performs well, of course, but acts like a gentleman outside of the Octagon. I understood that more than 10 years ago. That's why I behave the way I do and I do things that I do. That's why I have a lot of sponsors. I do have a lot of sponsors and a lot of money because of this. It brings money to the table. I'm in this business because I want to make it for a living, for money. People don't understand that. They used to make fun of me. Now 10 years after, now they start picking up on it. It's sad to see that it takes a long time for them to understand." It's safe to say, no one is making fun of this French-Canadian these days. "Rush," who is perhaps the biggest name in the UFC today with 205-pound champion Jon Jones not too far behind, has landed some of the biggest endorsement deals with major blue chip sponsors such as Gatorade and Under Armour clothing, two of the biggest, if not the biggest companies in their respective fields. Should the 170-pound king continue his winning ways, expect more sponsors to be knocking at his door, looking to get a piece of the St. Pierre pie. GSP is expected to face Carlos Condit, who is the current interim UFC welterweight champion, once "Rush" is fit to return to action following a string of injuries that have kept him out of action for the last nine months. And he will be rocking his fining suit when it comes time to promote his fight with "The Natural Born Killer," who also has been known to wear his Sundays best at press conferences from time to time.

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Reigning UFC Welterweight champion Georges "Rush" St. Pierre appeared on CNN, talking about his past experienced with school bullies, and the violent image of Mixed Martial Arts. GSP is expected to make his return later this year, facing the interim champ Carlos Condit for the undisputed UFC Welterweight title. Further Reading: Submit your picks for upcoming MMA

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UFC Welterweight champion Georges St. Pierre has long been noted for his professional demeanor and squeaky clean image. He's also been known for having the most lucrative sponsorships in MMA. Now that the UFC is coming under criticism in the business press for the unprofessional behavior of numerous fighters, announcers and executives, St. Pierre has some very definite ideas about how fighters should behave and feels vindicated in his approach. Related Stories: UFC Advertising Backlash An Important Lesson For Zuffa | UFC Advertiser Backlash Story Marred St. Pierre spoke to MMA Fighting's Ariel Helwani and explained his approach and the resistance he's faced from other MMA fighters. We'll hear from GSP after the jump... "I wore a suit at press conferences when all the other fighters were making fun of me. (They said), 'Oh, look at St-Pierre, he doesn't wear his sponsor.' I'm the one who first started doing this stuff, and I think the image and how you conduct yourself ... because the sponsor, the big companies in corporate America, they're not interested in sponsoring an athlete who is good in his sport but acts like an idiot outside of the Octagon. They want someone who performs well, of course, but acts like a gentleman outside of the Octagon. "I understood that more than ten years ago. That's why I behave the way I do and I do things that I do. That's why I have a lot of sponsors. I do have a lot of sponsors and a lot of money because of this. It brings money to the table."

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UFC Welterweight Champion Georges St. Pierre may be out of the Octagon recovering from a knee injury, but he is still filling his role as spokesman for the UFC. St. Pierre is making the media rounds in New York City pushing a sponsor's product, an instant cooling towel, and educating the media about the sport of MMA. In that effort, St. Pierre appeared on CNN's Starting Points hosted by Soledad O'Brien. The Canadian champion talked about being bullied as a child, how that caused his father to begin training him in Karate and that lead the discussion into MMA. The hosts on the show are not knowledgeable about MMA to the point of it being painful. They call it "Ultimate Fighting" on several occasions, ask if the fights are staged and if it is as violent as it looks. St. Pierre handled the questions with all the grace you'd expect from one of the sport's chief ambassadors and does a fantastic job framing MMA as a true sport. From a public relations standpoint starting with bullying is a fantastic way to approach talking about MMA training with large media outlets like CNN. Bullying is a huge talking point in the American media and with suicides attributed to bullying receiving national media attention, there is a constant search for the next big way to help kids overcome bullying. Portraying MMA as the way that St. Pierre dealt with bullying makes him a more human and sympathetic figure in the eyes of the a viewer who might have preconceived notions about MMA. Martial arts training is one of the oldest solutions for parents concerned about bullying and if Mixed Martial Arts can become one of the hot martial arts for parents to enroll their children into it could have a huge impact on the sport moving forward. While this is hardly a new story as St. Pierre has been very open about his childhood, it is still a great method of making both the athletes and sport more acceptable to the general public. video after the jump... Thanks to KatGirl at Gal's Guide to MMA for finding this video.

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What do you do when you're one of the top fighters at your weight class, but you've already dropped two bouts to the champion, each more decisive than the last? It's an uncomfortable limbo that Josh Koscheck found himself in after breaking his orbital bone in a losing effort against Georges St. Pierre at UFC 124. For Koscheck, the knowledge of knowing he probably wouldn't be getting a third shot as long as St. Pierre held the belt was enough to spur on some major changes. "I figured what the hell, why not take some challenges and step up to middleweight," Koscheck reflectively admitted on Thursday afternoon's UFC on FOX 3 conference call. Yet despite public declarations of a move up in weight, nothing came to fruition, leading a frustrated Koscheck to accept two short notice fights against Matt Hughes and Mike Pierce at welterweight. "There was just nobody out there for me to fight at the time," Koscheck explained. "And nobody in the (middleweight) division was stepping up to fight me, saying ‘oh I want to fight Kos.'" But much has changed since that time, and St. Pierre's debilitating knee injury coincided with an influx of new talent storming up the welterweight ranks. Almost overnight, Koscheck has become an elder statesmen, and the usual suspects have begun falling off one by one, replaced by a new guard of athletic young guns who grew up watching the antics of the brash, blonde wrestler on the first season of The Ultimate Fighter. The dramatic role reversal, along with a bittersweet move from AKA to his own gym, Dethrone, has reinvigorated Koscheck's desire to climb back up the 170-pound standings. "Right now, there's a lot of good young fighters in the welterweight division that definitely intrigue me to get fights with," the 34-year-old Koscheck said. "Obviously there's two champions in this division, so hopefully that pans out and gets the division back into the right direction." If Koscheck's role is now to help suppress this new generation, it all starts with Johny Hendricks, a two-time NCAA champion who recently stunned the MMA world by flooring Jon Fitch in twelve seconds at UFC 141. As Fitch is one of Koscheck's closest friends, a simmering revenge factor will inevitably play into their UFC on FOX 3 scrap. However, with the outside possibility of a champion not named Georges St. Pierre soon ruling the division, right now there are more important things on Koscheck's mind. "There's a lot riding on this fight," he concluded. "I think for both of us it's, the winner goes on to a nice path towards the title shot and the loser goes, who knows. So there's a lot at stake for this fight and I feel like I'm ready to roll."

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As part of the UFC Ultimate Insider series in Fuel TV, the show took an in-depth look at UFC welterweight champion, Georges St. Pierre's recovery and rehab from his ACL injury. The footage gives a very interesting look at all the details relating to that serious injury, along with testimonials from his trainers and doctors on the champion's progress. They say GSP is ahead of schedule, but they worry about him pushing himself too much, so they regularly have to stop the champ from over-training and risking re-injuring his knee. Related: George St. Pierre Discusses His Recovery | Georges St. Pierre Gets Attacked By A Mob Of Kids With Samurai Foam Swords During the 5-minute clip, which also showed several workouts and exercises for rehab, St. Pierre made a promise for his return. "I will do it. I will fight in 2012", he claimed. Check out the video after the jump.

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FUEL TV gave fans a behind-the-scenes look at the rehabilitation process Georges St. Pierre has gone through as he recovers from ACL surgery during last night’s episode of UFC Insider. Check out the clip above.

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Video: Georges St. Pierre and UFC 145 fighters get interviewed in an unconventional way. Excellent stuff from the guys at Creative Loafing. HT: KatGirl

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Perhaps it was a caveman who first coined the phrase after a fire burned out, albeit in grunts, but as the timeless saying goes, “You don’t know what you’ve got until it’s gone.” UFC welterweight champ Georges St. Pierre has learned exactly how true those words ring over the past six months while sidelined with a knee injury. In fact, the polished title-holder hasn’t fought in a year and has at least another six months to go before he’s expected to return to the ring. For a fighter in the prime who is used to competing as frequently as St. Pierre, whether in the cage or gym, the time off has been tough mentally and has him itching to get back to business as soon as humanly possible. “Wherever it is, England, United States, wherever, I’ll fight. I’m just going to be happy to be back and fight. When you get hurt for a long time you’re forced to get pulled away from training, and you’re forced to stop doing what you like to do everyday,” explained St. Pierre when asked about his mindset by MMAWeekly. “It makes you see things in perspective and I just want to get back. Wherever the fight will be, I will be glad to fight, I’m very anxious to come back.” GSP Says He’s in “Good Shape” but Not “Fighting Shape” Assuming St. Pierre avoids any setbacks in his recovery process he is targeting November for a fight with interim champion Carlos Condit when the UFC travels to Montreal. Prior to his injury “Rush” had never been on the shelf in his career for longer than a year for any reason. PHOTO CREDIT – UFC Tweet

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UFC welterweight champion Georges St. Pierre won't be entering the octagon for a while, but he's still a polarizing figure and found himself at the center of media attention following yesterday's UFC 145 open workouts. GSP, who is in Atlanta to corner multiple Tri-Star fighters, opened up about his recovery from knee surgery and why he won't jump right back into training. He also totally dodged a question about the UFC 145 main event between Jon Jones and Rashad Evans by saying that he's friends with both men and has trained with both in the past. St. Pierre is expected to return in November to face interim UFC welterweight champion Carlos Condit. Check out the video, or hit the jump to get some quotes from the interview. SBN coverage of UFC 145: Jones vs. Evans When will GSP return to training? "In two months it will be 100 percent," he said. "Now I feel something that it's not 100 percent, but in two months there's no doubt in my mind. I don't want to mess it up. If I try to jump and go too fast, I will have to do it all over again and I don't want to make the same mistake." He talks about how anxious he is to get back in the cage: "Wherever it is, in England, the US, I’ll fight. I'm just going to be happy to be back and fight. When you get hurt for a long time and you're forced to pull away from training and you're forced to stop doing what you like to do everything, it makes you see things in perspective. And I just want to get back. Wherever the fight will be, I will be glad to fight, and I’m very anxious to come back."

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Lesson learned. Top mixed martial arts (MMA) trainer Greg Jackson, who saw one of his biggest stars walk away from his famed gym in Albuquerque, New Mexico, understands that moving forward, teammates may eventually fight teammates. But he doesn't have to be a part of it. By "stepping out of it," he can help prevent a major internal rift, like the one that forced Rashad Evans to skip town after a young phenom named Jon Jones was being groomed to take over the UFC's light heavyweight division -- right in the midst of "Suga's" title run. Evans will have a chance to exact revenge on his former friend and teammate at UFC 145 this Saturday night (April 21, 2012) at the Philips Arena in Atlanta, Georgia. That's where Jackson will corner "Bones," but as he explains to Kimura.se, there are new protocols in place for future fights, including the potential title unification bout between Georges St. Pierre and Carlos Condit later this year. "Me and Georges are still tight. It's always been that way he always lived in Montreal, he's always traveled around. I think people are probing for weaknesses now, anything they can get, but that's business as usual for Georges. He's a great guy. Two of my champions are fighting each other and I just step out of it. Let the other coaches get a lot of credit so we have all these protocols now after this situation. Now I step out and those guys will have a lot of fun and I'll be eating a cheeseburger somewhere. Everything's cool, Georges is great and we're the same tight team we've always been. I'm not gonna help either of them against each other." Hear more from Jackson on UFC 145 and "St. Pierre vs. Condit" after the jump. Get up to speed on UFC 145 right here. For more on Georges St. Pierre vs. Carlos Condit click here.

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Georges St. Pierre offers his thoughts on an up-and-coming Welterweight challenger, his own student Rory Maconald. He believes MacDonald will be champion someday as he gets stronger and better everyday in training. GSP also weighs in on some of the biggger fights in his division such as Josh Koscheck/Jonny Hendricks and Jake Ellenberger/Martin Kampmann. He finalizes the interview by discussing the progress of his ready and when he will be able to return to the

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UFC welterweight champ Georges St. Pierre is working his way back from knee surgery that has kept him sidelined for several months. St. Pierre, who will be in Atlanta for UFC 145 this weekend helping corner training partner Rory MacDonald in the co-main event against Che Mills, feels like the rehab has been long but clearly needed this time around. After pulling out of a planned bout last year with a different knee injury GSP went too hard in practice and injured his other knee, resulting in torn ligaments and major surgery. Now, months removed from the operation, he is starting to feel more like his old self. “It feels very good,” said St. Pierre of his leg in a recent interview with MMA Junkie. “In two months, I’m back to training. I’m in good shape now, but I’m not in fighting shape. In two months it’ll be 100 percent. Now I feel something is not 100 percent. But in two months, it’ll be out of mind.” “Rush” still looks to be targeting November 17 for his return when the UFC has a show planned for his hometown of Montreal. Barring another injury GSP will face Carlos Condit to unify his title with Condit’s interim belt. PHOTO CREDIT – UFC

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So I got this really nice crystal ball from the thrift store yesterday and I thought I would use it to foretell what Georges St. Pierre would say in his black/white pre-fight interview that airs just before his next fight. I can guarantee you that GSP will mention something along the lines of 'I will be the best Georges St. Pierre that I've ever been.' He will also use 'He can't handle my riddum,' then the hard-metal will blast through your television set, and you will run around your living room like a lunatic. I tried using my thrift-store crystal ball to predict what would be the outcome of Georges St. Pierre vs. Carlos Condit, but my neighbor thought it was a giant Gobstopper and tried to eat it whole. He's dead, now. Death by crystal ball. He should have saw it coming. Hopefully your Xbox 360's 'Riddum Handling Abilities (RHA)' will be cranked to the max now that Square Enix has announced Georges St. Pierre will serve as a combat consultant in the action thriller videogame, 'Sleeping Dogs.' I'm not even sure if the game is an action thriller, but I lost a bet with my friend and told him I would use the term in an article today. From what I can discern, the game places you in the heart of Hong Kong as an underground detective hellbent on kicking as much ass as possible while doing the whole 'protect the innocent and solve the case' as a side mission. Apparently you can use anything you find in the game as a potential weapon, including refrigerator doors, phone booths, machine saws, and a couple of things called 'fists.' The official release date of the game is the second quarter of 2012, but in the meantime check out this new trailer for 'Sleeping Dogs' which features some relatively decent action sequences. Props to Minker17 for the find.

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UFC Welterweight Champion Georges St. Pierre will be "contributing his expertise on punching/grappling dudes to Sleeping Dogs," the upcoming crime-drama video game by United Front Games in conjunction with Square Enix London Studios. The game is expected to be released on Microsoft Windows, PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 in September 2012. Props: Joystiq.com

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Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) Welterweight Champion Georges St. Pierre, who recently signed a 12-month deal with 888 Poker that will land him a spot in the 2012 World Series of Poker, is on location in Stockholm, Sweden, to show off his ball-bouncing ability at the Pancrase Gym. "Rush" is part of the cast and crew for UFC on FUEL TV 2, cornering TriStar teammate Francis Carmont against Magnus Cedenblad at the Ericsson Globe Arena on Saturday night (April 14, 2012). Telegraph.co.uk was on the scene: "I'm two months away from starting to train again. There was one move on there I really couldn't go for, because of my knee." The Canadian kingpin was forced to put his 170-pound strap behind glass while he rehabs a surgically repaired knee, but recently told the media and fans his doctor has informed him his knee injury is healing faster than anyone he's ever seen before. Video of his ball bouncing after the jump. St. Pierre is currently targeting a return to the Octagon at UFC 154 on Nov. 17 in Montreal. To see his progress during his "Road to Recovery" click here.

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UFC welterweight champion Georges St. Pierre won't be stepping into the cage for a while, but he will be taking part in another form of competition - the World Series of Poker. GSP has signed an endorsement deal with online gaming company 888 to become one of their "global ambassadors". Poker News passes on the info: Online gaming company 888 announced Thursday that mixed martial arts champion Georges St-Pierre is the company's newest global ambassador. The current UFC Welterweight title holder recently signed a 12-month deal with 888 that will see him participate in the 2012 World Series of Poker Main Event, as well as several other poker tournaments around the globe. The article states that he'll be playing some online poker as well, with the proceeds going to anti-bullying charities, which is a big part of things for him: "I am very excited to become a global brand ambassador for Team 888poker," St-Pierre said. "I have wanted to play poker for a while now as it is a great game of skill. It is not just your cards versus my cards; it is you versus your opponent. However, the most important aspect of my partnership with 888poker is that we are going to generate a great deal of money for my foundation that dedicates its efforts towards anti-bullying causes." A few different MMA personalities including Mike Swick and Bruce Buffer are relatively well-known in the poker world, so this isn't completely unique. It remains to be seen if he'll be allowed to wear 888's gear in the cage though, considering the fact that Full Tilt Poker was dropped as a UFC sponsor before their downward spiral. St. Pierre is expected to return to the octagon in November.

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Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) Welterweight Champion Georges St. Pierre, who was forced to put his 170-pound strap behind glass while he rehabs a surgically repaired knee, gives fans another update on his "road to recovery," featuring a training video that has "Rush" walking on air. The Canadian kingpin was plopped into an anti-gravity treadmill to allow him the ability to ease back into running with out the slam-bang impact of his full weight directly on his tender little knee. St. Pierre recently told the media and fans his doctor has informed him his knee injury is healing faster than anyone he's ever seen before. Does that mean we could see his return at UFC 154 on Nov. 17 in Montreal? "My rehab is going really well. The doctor says it is the fastest they've ever seen. I'm halfway through my rehab and I can't push too much. I have to wait the minimum amount of time that I'm allowed to start training again. I'll be training full out in July and hopefully I'll have a chance to fight in front of my Canadian fans in November." Awaiting GSP when he does finally return is Carlos Condit, who won the Interim welterweight championship after a grueling five round affair against Nick Diaz back at UFC 143 on Feb. 4 in Las Vegas. Stay tuned. To check out episode two of St. Pierre's "Road to Recovery" click here.

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Freddie Roach knows boxing, and he knows Anderson Silva and Georges St. Pierre. Roach has spent time with both men, trying to aid in refining their boxing technique. The other thing that Freddie knows is superfights that don't come together, being one of the central players in the ongoing Manny Pacquiao vs. Floyd Mayweather, Jr. drama. Those are just a few reasons to listen to Roach's reasoning for why he feels Georges St. Pierre vs. Anderson Silva is never going to happen: Quote (transcribed by MMA Mania): Anderson Silva hits harder (than Georges St. Pierre) because he's a lot bigger. But Georges is also a good puncher also. But the thing is, size wise, I think Anderson's a little more fluent at this point. He's a lot bigger than Georges, of course. That's why I don't think that fight, they've been talking about that fight happening, I don't think it will happen. I've talked to Georges about it and (Silva is) just way too big.

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Believe it or not, there are still fans and even pundits who believe a superfight pitting UFC Welterweight Champion Georges St. Pierre against Middleweight Champion Anderson Silva could happen. Someday. Famed boxing trainer Freddie Roach, who has worked with both men and continues to work closely with St. Pierre, has some cold ice to toss on those hopes. "Anderson Silva hits harder (than Georges St. Pierre) because he's a lot bigger. But Georges is also a good puncher also. But the thing is, size wise, I think Anderson's a little more fluent at this point. He's a lot bigger than Georges, of course. That's why I don't think that fight, they've been talking about that fight happening, I don't think it will happen. I've talked to Georges about it and (Silva is) just way too big." Well, gee, that's just downright logical. Traditionalists, of course, will decry this explanation for why the fight will never come to pass. After all, Royce Gracie ran through all comers in the old days, be they 150 or 250-pounds. That's ignoring the obvious point, though, that the game has evolved to a point in which size is one of the few advantages modern mixed martial artists have left. With extensive training and practice, not to mention a proven track record of application in the cage, it's hard to tell who would have the advantage in a fantasy match-up between Silva and St. Pierre. Until one considers their respective size. And therein lies the rub. If Roach is to be believed, even "Rush" knows it may not be worth potentially tarnishing his legacy in an attempt to take down a much bigger foe, even if it would make him the greatest pound-for-pound fighter who ever lived. It's just too bad, really. There is no bigger fight to make right now or in the history of the game than this one. Oh well. Hear more from Roach after the jump.

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According to UFC welterweight champion, Georges St. Pierre, his recovery from ACL surgery is going pretty well. The 30 year old champion is currently aiming for a November return, when the UFC visits Montreal, Canada for UFC 154.

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Mark your calendars, Canadian fans. The UFC announced today they will visit the home and native land of welterweight champion Georges St. Pierre three times in the remainder of 2012. They will start in Calgary on July 21, where Jose Aldo will fight a yet-to-be-named fighter. After that, it's UFC 152 in Toronto Sept. 22, and UFC 154 in Montreal Nov. 17. St. Pierre, who was present at the press conference, announced the Montreal date. GSP also gave an update on his health , saying he is progressing smoothly and is hoping to be back by November. "When you get an injury like I have and you're off for a long period of time, the only thing you wish is to get back fast as possible," he said. "I don't know if it will be in the U.S. or Canada, but I wish and I pray that I have a chance to perform in 2012. No matter where it will be, I want to come back and fight in 2012." St. Pierre is a native of Montreal, and has enjoyed great success when fighting in front of the rabid home crowd Canada can provide. His last two fights were won in Canada, and he exacted revenge on Matt Serra, one of the few men to beat him, in Montreal. Though he isn't likely to rush his recovery from an ACL tear, he also has plenty of motivation to be ready to go on Nov. 17.

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Right now, Georges St. Pierre's only hope is that he can return to the UFC octagon before the end of 2012. He doesn't care where or who he fights, only that he can get back in the cage. According to St. Pierre, the odds of that possibility are looking better by the day. Since undergoing ACL surgery on his right knee in Los Angeles last December, the UFC welterweight champion has remained there to attend to his physical therapy, and the results are encouraging.Speaking via satellite to a Calgary press conference on Wednesday, St. Pierre said that his doctors have told him he's on track for the fastest rehabilitation they've seen for an ACL repair. That means that St. Pierre can begin to think about fighting again even though he's not yet close to resuming full-contact training. "Even though I’m feeling almost 100 percent right now, I’m halfway through my rehab and I can't push too much because my graft is still not fused properly," he said. "Even though my muscle feels good, I have to wait the minimum amount of time that I’m allowed to start training again."The Montreal native said he's expecting to begin his normal training around July. if that time frame holds true, it would make him a real possibility to compete in one of the UFC's Canadian cards. On Wednesday, the promotion announced dates in Calgary for July 21, Toronto for September 22, and Montreal for November 17.Given the work in front of him, the last of those dates seems the most likely of the three. St. Pierre said he will "cross my fingers" for the possibility of fighting in front of his home country fans, as he's done in each of his last two fights, but acknowledged that the decision is ultimately out of his hands."Trust me, we’ll take him as soon as he’s ready," UFC president Dana White said when asked where the UFC would slot him into his next title defense.While interim champion Carlos Condit is first up on GSP's fight agenda, interestingly, he didn't shoot down a potential fight down the road with middleweight titleholder Anderson Silva. Though he admitted many circumstances would have to line up perfectly in order for it to happen, he declined to dismiss the possibility."If everything goes well, like stars are aligned and everything, maybe we’ll see one day in the near future about what’s going to happen," he said. "Am I going to go up? Is he going to come down? It’s too far to think about it right now, but it’s something that can happen, of course."For the near future though, St. Pierre will again leave the spotlight in exchange for the dirty work of getting his knee strong. He hasn't competed since an April 2011 win over Jake Shields, and nothing more can happen for him professionally until he has his health back in order."When you get an injury like I have and you’re off for a long period of time, the only thing you wish is to get back fast as possible," he said. "I don’t know if it will be in the U.S. or Canada, but I wish and I pray that I have a chance to perform in 2012. No matter where it will be, I want to come back and fight in 2012."

Posted in: ufc, fight, pierre, st, st pierre

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UFC Welterweight Champion Georges St. Pierre is, in fact, a freak of nature. He seemed to confirm as much at today's (March 21, 2012) UFC 149 press conference when he told the media and fans his doctor has informed him his knee injury is healing faster than anyone he's ever seen before. That doesn't mean the Canadian superstar is in "rush" to get back inside the Octagon, thought. Indeed, there's still plenty of work to be done and his rehab, while coming along nicely, is not yet close to being complete. And considering the severity of his injury, combined with his age, there's simply no reason to take any chances. St. Pierre is hoping, however, to return in 2012, particularly at the UFC 154 event now scheduled for Nov. 17 in Montreal. At least, that's what he said at today's presser: "My rehab is going really well. The doctor says it is the fastest they've ever seen. I'm halfway through my rehab and I can't push too much. I have to wait the minimum amount of time that I'm allowed to start training again. I'll be training full out in July and hopefully I'll have a chance to fight in front of my Canadian fans in November." Sounds like a plan. But the best laid and all that. Awaiting St. Pierre when he does finally return is Carlos Condit, who won the Interim welterweight championship after a grueling five round affair against Nick Diaz back at UFC 143 on Feb. 4 in Las Vegas. "The Natural Born Killer" opted to sit on the sidelines in lieu of risking his chance to dethrone the longstanding king of the 170-pound division. It's difficult to blame him for such a thing but it will have been nine months of inactivity for Condit if the might gets made for Nov. 17. Then again, St. Pierre will have been riding the pine for well over a year. And so it may come to be that the two best welterweights in the world won't only be fighting each other, but ring rust, as well. Better sooner than later, right?

Posted in: ufc, pierre, st, i cant, st pierre

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Don’t mind Carlos Condit if he sits on the sidelines, waiting for a title-unification bout with Georges St. Pierre. Condit, who defeated Nick Diaz earlier this year for the interim belt, plans to remain true to his word in holding off on fighting again before facing linear champ GSP later this year. “Well, the bottom line is, I have my heart set on fighting Georges St-Pierre,” said Condit, while visiting Inside MMA this week. “I’m waiting for Georges and that would be my next opponent.” St. Pierre remains on track to return in November following his recovery from knee surgery. The Canadian suffered the injury in training to face Diaz, prompting the UFC to create an interim champion in his place. However, Condit is willing to wait forever, as “The Natural Born Killer” added that if St. Pierre is forced to sit out past the end of this year he will entertain the thought of fighting someone else. Check out the complete interview below: PHOTO CREDIT – UFC

Posted in: pierre, st, year, condit, george

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It’s been three months since UFC welterweight champion Georges St. Pierre underwent surgery to report a torn ACL suffered while training for a much-anticipated title-fight with Nick Diaz. In the wake of his injury an interim belt was awarded to Carlos Condit who outpointed Diaz in GSP’s absence, leaving the popular French-Canadian to rehab his knee while working towards an eventual meeting with “The Natural Born Killer”. St. Pierre recently gave fans a glimpse at the recovery process in a series of videos documenting his journey back to the Octagon where the 30-year old can be seen doing a series of strength/conditioning exercises including time in the pool. The severity of his surgery is also still evident in the appearance of his still-raw and scarred knee. St. Pierre Visits with Martial Arts Students in Japan While There for UFC 144 No specific timetable has been put in place for St. Pierre’s return to the ring though he is expected to be ready by November if he avoids any health-related setbacks. See how GSP’s “Road to Recovery” is going below: PHOTO CREDIT – TWITTER Tweet

Posted in: pierre, st, knee, healthrelated setbacks, strengthconditioning exercises

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UFC welterweight champion Georges St. Pierre continues to document his recovery from knee surgery in this video series. See what the champ looks like 90 days after his operation.

Posted in: pierre, george, knee surgery, recovery, video series

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Reigning UFC Welterweight champion Georges "Rush" St. Pierre has officially returned to training, with sights on defending his title against the Interim champion Carlos "The Natural Born Killer" Condit. GSP is expected to return sometime around this November, while Condit made it clear recently that he's not interested in facing any of the current top UFC 170lbs contenders, other than the "true champion" Georges St. Pierre. Further Reading: Submit your picks for UFC

Posted in: ufc, pierre, champion, george, champion carlos

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In part 2 of our interview with the UFC welterweight champ, Georges St. Pierre updates us on his injury, says he's got a renewed passion for MMA and that the sport needs a guy like Nick Diaz.

Posted in: diaz, nick diaz, mma, nick, pierre

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Speaking prior to UFC 143, UFC Welterweight champion Georges "Rush" St. Pierre shared thoughts about his future bout with the reigning Interim UFC 170 champ Carlos Condit, and Nick Diaz's failed drug test. In addition to declaring he's not the champion anymore, St. Pierre revealed he thinks Marijuana cannot be considered as performance-enhancer, also speaking about his hopes to see Nick Diaz returning to the UFC in the nearest future. Further Reading: Submit your picks for upcoming MMA

Posted in: ufc, nick diaz, pierre, st, drug test

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"I have to talk to Carlos about this now. His thing with Ellenberger was that, 'I just fought him. I just fought Ellenberger and I will probably fight him again if I beat GSP.' I don't know, we will see what happens and we got to see what the progression is with Georges. If Georges' recovery doesn't come along like it should, you never know with these things. It could come earlier it could come later. Maybe he (Condit) wants to fight Kampmann now so we will see what happens. He's (Condit) earned the right. When all the drama with Georges St . Pierre and Diaz and this and that. Condit could not have been more of a professional, could not have been more of a stud. I mean I have nothing but respect for this guy. He said anything that we need to do , things were turning on a dime and changing opponents on him, if this guy wants to sit around and wait for Georges. St. Pierre, I'm cool with that, He's earned it. " -- Will he wait or will he fight? That's been the huge question surrounding Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) interim Welterweight champion Carlos Condit. And at last night's (March 2, 2012) UFC on FX post-fight press conference, UFC President Dana White himself could not escape that question. "The Natural Born Killer" earned the right to face UFC 170-pound champion Georges St. Pierre as soon as "Rush" is able to return to action after he defeated Nick Diaz at UFC 143. However, with the uncertainty of St. Pierre's precise return, there are plenty of worthy challengers ready to step up and challenge Condit for his new title. Last night (March 2, 2012) Martin Kampmann , who was the last man to defeat Condit, also threw his name in the hat as a potential opponent by defeating Thiago Alves via submission at UFC on FX 2. The interim champion has stated time after time that he will wait for the return of "Rush" and unify the titles. Now, with the UFC head honcho's blessing to do what he pleases, it seems that other top contenders will have to sit and wait their turn at obtaining UFC gold, or take other fights in the interim. For now, it is good to be the (interim) champ. But, as the fans grow restless, don't be surprised to see Condit pressed into action sooner rather than later.

Posted in: ufc, pierre, st, condit, george

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Though Georges St. Pierre is still sidelined while his knee heels up from surgery to repair a torn ACL the UFC welterweight champ still saw action while in Japan for UFC 144 even if it didn’t necessarily come inside the Octagon. St. Pierre took some time out of his busy schedule last week to visit a pair of martial arts schools in the area including one with children training kendo and another featuring Kyokushin karate. In a video released by the UFC, St. Pierre is seen enjoying himself rather than being overly concerned with his physical health, a good sign for those curious about the champion’s condition. On to of being good PR and an enjoyable experience, the latter stop also held personal significance for GSP based on his own upbringing. “(Kyokushin karate) was the first martial art that I started when I was seven years old and my dad used to teach me. And I’ve kept practicing since then. So for me, to come here to Japan to do Kyokushin…it’s an honor because that’s where it comes from,” explained St. Pierre. “I think karate is very important. Karate is not only about physical and training,” he continued. “Yes, it makes you in great shape and teaches you how defend yourself, but karate is a lot more than this. Karate is also in life. It’s about how you treat people, it’s about respect, it’s about hard work…work ethic…so for kids it’s a very good sport to start. For myself, karate saved my life. I became a better person because of karate and for me it’s more than a sport – it’s a lifestyle.” Check out the endearing clip below including St. Pierre being a good sport during a foam-bat beatdown from a group of young kendo students: PHOTO CREDIT – UFC

Posted in: ufc, pierre, st, karate, life i

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UFC welterweight champ Georges St. Pierre headed to Japan for UFC 144. He visited a school for young kids and was promptly beaten by children wielding swords. Seriously, watch the first two and a half minutes of this video. Your … Continue reading →

Posted in: video, pierre, george, half minutes, japanese children

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Reigning Welterweight Champion Georges St. Pierre, who recently spent time in Tokyo surrounding the UFC 144 event, attends a children's hand-to-hand combat class, and is honored with the opportunity to meet the Mayor of Saitama, Hayato Shimizu. After being attacked by a swarm of sword wielding kids, GSP, alongside Dana White, exchanges gifts with Shimizu.

Posted in: pierre, saitama, kids gsp, exchanges gifts, handtohand combat

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Well, not really. Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) Welterweight Champion Georges St. Pierre returned to his Kyokushin Karate roots this past week when in Japan to help promote UFC 144: "Edgar vs. Henderson" at the Saitama Super Arena in Saitama, Japan, which airs live later this evening (Feb. 25, 2012) on pay-per-view (PPV). "Rush" credits karate for helping him defend himself against bullies in Canada while growing up, as well as serving as the foundation for his successful professional career in mixed martial arts (MMA). While in Tokyo, St. Pierre and UFC President Dana White visited with children from the Kawai Kindergarden School. In addition to getting beaten with sticks by mini fighters, St. Pierre took instruction on how to use a katana (traditional Japanese curved sword), among other things. For more the latest on St. Pierre, his knee injury and recovery click here. And to check out a complete UFC 144 event archive click here.

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Georges St. Pierre visits Japan in the leadup to UFC 144. He gets beaten up by kindergarteners and does some katas at a Kyokushin karate dojo amongst other activities.

Posted in: ufc, pierre, st, visit, kindergartener

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That slow but steady whistling sound you hear is probably the wind getting sucked from the sails of the Georges St. Pierre fan club, who's been lobbying for his speedy return following knee surgery. The longtime Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) welterweight kingpin recently teased that he was ahead of schedule, giving newly-minted Interim Champion Carlos Condit reason to sit on the sidelines and wait for his return. A recent report from Japan suggests he's not in any "Rush" after all. That means Condit could be looking at a title unification bout in November, at the earliest, unless he opts to defend the temporary strap while waiting for the champ to get his ligaments in order. St. Pierre talks about his long road to recovery with The Star Phoenix, after the jump. "You cannot predict the future. So I take only one step at a time. I don't know if it's going to be Carlos or what's going to happen. In mixed martial arts, there's so many things that happen. You never know. I don't even focus on fighting right now. I don't even focus on that. I don't even think about it. I just focus on my knee. That's the most important thing. I don't want to do the same thing again. I pushed too much the first time and it will not happen again. It was the biggest injury of my career. But I did the right thing, surrounded myself with the right people, and I will come back stronger from it." Nick Diaz, who was a 170-pound monkey wrench in the St. Pierre vs. Condit title fight, is now riding the pine following a suspension for marijuana. That means Jake Ellenberger, who established himself as the next in line with a convincing win over Diego Sanchez earlier this month, could help rally the fans to get Condit back into the cage for a rematch of their 2009 tilt. Lots of puzzle pieces here Maniacs ... who's ready to try and put them together? Sort this thing out in the comments section below.

Posted in: pierre, condit, thing, i dont, dont

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Welterweight king Georges St. Pierre was a recent guest on UFC Ultimate Insider where he discussed a number of topics including his knee, Nick Diaz, and interim champion Carlos Condit. In typical form GSP remained cool, calm, and collected except when it came to the topic of Diaz who he still has a strong desire to duke it out with. However, with the Stockton scrapper sticking to his statements regarding retirement it appears the match-up may never materialize. “The thing with Nick, he thinks he’s better than me. I think I’m better than him. I’m sure sooner or later we’ll have a chance to do it,” said a hopeful St. Pierre. “Fighting, that’s what he does best. He should not retire. He’s in his prime. I’m asking personally for him to not retire. For the fans, for me, and also for himself…let’s do it. It has to be done.” Still, St. Pierre knows Diaz is not next in line for him no matter what, adding, “But before that I need to get back to the title. I need to fight Carlos, the #1 guy. Carlos did an amazing job fighting (Diaz). He’s an incredible martial artist. And for me, to go fight him…I take that fight as a great honor. Without a doubt he’s the best fighter that I will meet in my entire career.” Condit earned his crack at St. Pierre’s linear title by outpointing Diaz at UFC 143. As far as when their in-ring meeting will actually take place, St. Pierre is still targeting the final quarter of 2012 for his comeback but doesn’t want to rush things, risking a setback that might sideline him for even longer or worse. “I feel very good. I’m ahead of schedule,” explained St. Pierre. “I feel sometimes I want to do a little bit more but even though I feel good my graft is not fused properly…100%. So I need to remain calm. The danger with a lot of athletes is to push through the pain and try to go too fast (but) if I do so I might loosen up the graft and I might have to start the whole process all over again. And I don’t want to do that.” Check out the full interview with GSP below: PHOTO CREDIT – UFC

Posted in: diaz, i ’m, pierre, st, ’m

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Reigning Welterweight Champion Georges St. Pierre, who is currently sidelined nursing a knee injury, discusses his recovery, as well as the upcoming challenges to his throne. St. Pierre reveals that his rehabilitation is ahead of schedule and says that the division's newest contenders, Nick Diaz and Carlos Condit, have renewed his passion for the sport.

Posted in: nick diaz, pierre, st, carlos condit, knee injury

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Much of the talk about what should happen next with UFC interim welterweight champion Carlos Condit comes down to how much longer "real champion" Georges St. Pierre will be on the shelf after suffering a very serious knee injury. In a recent video put on the UFC's YouTube channel, St. Pierre says that he is currently ahead of schedule, he just needs to be careful to not re-injure himself over the coming weeks and months. The video: From the video: I feel very good. I'm ahead of schedule. I feel sometimes I want to do a little bit more but even though I feel good my graft is not fused properly, 100-percent. I need to remain calm. The danger with a lot of athletes is to push through the pain and try to go to fast. If I do so, it might loosen up the graft and I might have to start the old process again and I don't want to do that.

Posted in: pierre, knee injury, i dont, video i, knee rehab

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I think it's safe to assume that the winner of Diego Sanchez vs. Jake Ellenberger, who battle tonight (Feb. 15, 2012) at the UFC on FUEL TV event in Omaha, Nebraska, will be asking for a welterweight title shot during the promotion's post-fight press conference. They may not get it. That's because Carlos Condit, who was crowned division Interim Champion with a five round unanimous decision win over Nick Diaz at UFC 143, hasn't yet decided if he's willing to put that temporary strap on the line. At least not until he hears from Georges St. Pierre, who may or may not be in a "Rush" to return from knee surgery. If St. Pierre needs until November or December to get back into fighting shape, "The Natural Born Killer" may be willing to accept a mid-year fight to keep the 170-pound contender's pool from overflowing. However, if GSP is ready ahead of schedule, fans could be looking at a title unification bout before anyone else gets their turn. Condit explains his position to Ben Fowlkes of MMA Fighting, after the jump. "Honestly, it depends on the recovery timeline for Georges St-Pierre. If he’s going to be out until November [or] December, then I might consider taking another fight in the meantime just because the timing would work out. I’d have three or four months to train for something mid-year, and then three or four months to train for Georges St-Pierre at the end of the year. If he’s going to be back a little sooner, I’d probably just wait." Condit was expected to rematch Diaz for the right to face St. Pierre, but the fiery Stockton slugger was popped for marijuana metabolites in his post-fight drug test and has since been weed-ed out of the 170-pound title chase. While the winner of "Sanchez vs. Ellenberger" is a likely contender, so too, is the winner of Josh Koscheck vs. Johny Hendricks, who throw hands at the UFC on FOX 3 card in just a few months. In short, there's a lot of clutter to straighten out in this division to get a clearer picture of who is fighting whom -- and when they're going to do it. Mr. St. Pierre, I have Joe Silva on line one ...

Posted in: pierre, st, condit, george, georges stpierre

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It appears the welterweight division will have to deal without a title-defense for the bulk of 2012 after UFC President Dana White came forward to reveal interim champion Carlos Condit will twiddle his thumbs until November when Georges St. Pierre is expected to return from a knee injury. Previously it was believed Condit would face Nick Diaz in a rematch based on the controversial nature of their UFC 143 bout. However, with Diaz’s status still in limbo due to his pending retirement/suspension, it looks like no other opponents are on the table for “The Natural Born Killer” other than St. Pierre. “We don’t know when Georges is coming back yet, but Carlos isn’t going to fight another fight,” said White in a conversation with MMAJunkie. White also cleared the air surrounding a rumor Condit only accepted a second fight with Diaz after hearing from a source that the Stockton scrapper had tested positive for marijuana use. “Condit won the fight. He won the right to fight Georges St. Pierre. He won the title. But I swear to God on my children’s lives, if you think there’s some conspiracy here or something, he accepted the f*cking fight.” In the meantime it appears tonight’s tilt between Jake Ellenberger-Diego Sanchez and the recently announced UFC on FOX 3 fight between Johny Hendricks-Josh Koscheck will simply serve to help set up an eventual opponent for the winner of Condit-St. Pierre barring some sort of setback for GSP keeping him out longer than expected. PHOTO CREDIT – UFC

Posted in: ufc, fight, pierre, condit, george

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Fuel's Ultimate Insider sat cageside with Georges St. Pierre at UFC 143 for the Nick Diaz v. Carlos Condit fight. See how the welterweight champ reacted during the bout.

Posted in: ufc, pierre, welterweight champ, george, cageside

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For months we heard about how badly UFC welterweight champion Georges St. Pierre wanted to fight Nick Diaz. Diaz had been "disrespectful" and Dana White was very quick to talk to anyone who would listen about GSP's desire to hurt Diaz and how he'd "never seen" the champ act so angry. The push was there for St. Pierre vs. Diaz when it was going to be a title fight and the push remained strong even during the build up to Diaz vs. Carlos Condit. Everyone was ready for the Diaz/GSP rivalry to go full force after Diaz won ther interim belt, but it wasn't to happen. Following his mildly controversial unanimous decision loss to Condit, Diaz claimed he was going to retire from the sport. While many didn't believe that it was more than an upset fighter speaking "in the moment," the subsequent positive drug test for Diaz may have pushed it closer to being a reality. GSP went on Bruce Buffer's "It's Time" radio show on Sherdog to say that he hopes Diaz sticks around: "As far as Diaz, of course I would like to fight him because he thinks he's better than me...I think I'm better than him. But I think he should not retire. He did all of the sacrifice in his life to be where he's at right now. He's at the highest point of his career, and if he retires now, he's left a lot of money on the table that could pay for all of the sacrifices he has made during all those years. I think the sport of mixed martial arts needs a guy like him." GSP also said that he may "dislike" Nick, but also appreciates the way that Diaz motivated him to train harder and be better. St. Pierre is more motivated by the sporting aspects of MMA than a desire to beat up those he feels have wronged him. That is why it was always going to be hard for me to believe that GSP was motivated by pure hatred of Diaz or anything of that nature. Does Nick provide some fuel for Georges to want to be better? Certainly. But was/is that likely to ever possess him to operate outside of his style and win first attitude? I seriously doubt it. SBN coverage of UFC 143: Diaz vs. Condit

Posted in: diaz, nick, gsp, pierre, he

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Georges St. Pierre's knee injury and subsequent lengthy rehabilitation process has created quite the conundrum for the UFC welterweight division. Because "Rush" has been (and will continue to be) out for so long, the powers that be felt the need to create an interim championship that Carlos Condit won when he defeated Nick Diaz at UFC 143 this past Sat., Feb. 4, 2012, in Las Vegas. Now, "The Natural Born Killer" is in the unenviable position of deciding whether or not to wait for St. Pierre to get healthy -- which may not be until November -- or to fight a top contender. Someone like, say, Jake Ellenberger. Indeed, "The Juggernaut" is streaking through the 170-pound division, having won five consecutive fights since losing in his debut with the promotion. That loss was a razor thin split decision to -- you guessed it -- Condit. Ellenberger desires a rematch and likely has the best case for a title shot of any welterweight in the weight class right now. There's just one man standing in his way, a man he tells USA Today has all his attention for the time being. "I would definitely like (a rematch with Condit), but right now, I really haven't thought much past Diego at all. He's an extremely tough challenge for me right now and that's really all I've been focused on. After this fight, we can go back and evaluate the situation, but really, Diego's all I've been focused on. ... Diego's always been an exciting fighter and a tough cat too. He's just another guy I have to get past and prove I'm one of the best." Assuming he gets past Sanchez, that would mark six consecutive victories with at least four coming by way of stoppage. His last win was also his most impressive, having knocked out Jake Shields in just 53 seconds. There isn't another welterweight on Earth who can make such a claim and have it actually be true. Of course, it's entirely possible Condit will want to wait for St. Pierre to get healthy because why risk a shot at unifying the belts for a what would promise to be a tough fight against Ellenberger? Again, though, that's assuming "The Dream" doesn't go all "Nightmare" again and spoil the party. Let's assume Ellenberger wins next Wednesday night (Feb. 15, 2012) in Omaha, Nebraska, at UFC on FUEL TV 1. Should UFC try to book a rematch against Condit while St. Pierre gets healthy? Or maybe Ellenberger vs. Johny Hendricks makes more sense? Opinions, please.

Posted in: ufc, ellenberger, pierre, condit, st pierre

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UFC welterweight champ Georges St. Pierre is finally speaking out on the fallout from last weekend’s main event match-up at UFC 143 between Nick Diaz and Carlos Condit. As has been beaten to death, Condit narrowly outpointed Diaz in the bout with many feeling the wrong outcome had been rendered. Plans for a rematch were in the works but quickly scrapped after Diaz tested positive for marijuana use, potentially putting him on the sidelines for a year. Now that St. Pierre has had some time to reflect on things he has re-evaluated how interested he actually is in fighting Diaz, at least when it comes to an expected defense of his title in November. “I want to fight the best man, and the best man is Condit,” said the 22-2 champion in an interview on Bruce Buffer‘s Sherdog show , adding emotion had clouded his judgment beforehand. Still, that doesn’t mean he wouldn’t mind settling the score with Diaz at some point down the road. “As far as Diaz, of course I would like to fight him because he thinks he’s better than me (and) I think I’m better than him,” explained St. Pierre before turning talk to the controversial Californian’s future. “But I think he should not retire. He did all of the sacrifice in his life to be where he’s at right now. He’s at the highest point of his career, and if he retires now, he’s left a lot of money on the table that could pay for all of the sacrifices he has made during all those years. I think the sport of mixed martial arts needs a guy like him.” Diaz has not commented since saying he was retiring from MMA after his disgust with the judges’ decision in his fight with Condit. The 28-year old was the more aggressive, less technical of the two this past Saturday night and paid for it with the defeat. PHOTO CREDIT – UFC

Posted in: diaz, pierre, condit, man, st pierre

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It looks like Georges St. Pierre has finally come around to the idea of fighting Carlos Condit and not Nick Diaz next. During an recent interview on Sherdog Radio, GSP explained that while he hopes Diaz won’t retire so they can fight down the road, he wants to fight Carlos Condit now because he’s the “best man” in the division. “As far as Diaz, of course I would like to fight him because he thinks he’s better than me,” St. Pierre told the Sherdog Radio Network’s “It’s Time” show with Bruce Buffer. “I think I’m better than him. But I think he should not retire. He did all of the sacrifice in his life to be where he’s at right now. He’s at the highest point of his career, and if he retires now, he’s left a lot of money on the table that could pay for all of the sacrifices he has made during all those years. I think the sport of mixed martial arts needs a guy like him.” “I wanted to fight him because of what he was, not because of what he said,” St. Pierre explained. “He was ranked No. 1 before that fight. … As much as we dislike each other, I like the guy in a way that I need a guy like him to motivate me and to make me a better martial artist.” “Of course because of the emotion I wanted to fight Diaz, but now I want to fight Condit,” St. Pierre said. “I want to fight the best man, and the best man is Condit.” That’s good, because it really doesn’t matter now since Diaz got popped for pot. Condit is clearly the number one contender in the division now. The only question is whether or not he will be once St. Pierre is healed up and ready to fight again. Here’s GSP’s cageside reaction to the Diaz-Condit fight in real-time. Image via Esther Lin for MMA Fighting

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UFC welterweight champion Georges St. Pierre doesn’t want Nick Diaz to walk away from MMA.

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UFC welterweight champion Georges St. Pierre doesn’t want Nick Diaz to walk away from MMA.

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Last Saturday night, from the Mandalay Bay Events Center in Las Vegas, Nevada, top Welterweight contenders Carlos Condit and Nick Diaz went head to head for the 170-pound interim title and a shot at reigning division champion Georges St. Pierre.

Posted in: saturday night, diaz, nick diaz, pierre, condit

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Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) Welterweight Champion Georges St. Pierre was sitting cageside at the Mandalay Bay Events Center in Las Vegas, Nevada, on Feb. 4, 2012, when Nick Diaz vs. Carlos Condit battled for five rounds for the 170-pound interim world title. And the camera was by his side all night long to get his immediate in-fight reactions. "Rush" is on the mend from recent knee surgery, meaning the former Strikeforce and World Extreme Cagefighting (WEC) champions, respectively, went toe-to-toe in the UFC 143 main event to determine who would lead the division until the Canadian sensation is ready to return to mixed martial arts (MMA) action later this year. St. Pierre, like many people inside the arena that night in "Sin City," appeared to side with the judges, awarding the controversial decision, reluctantly, to Condit. He made no bones about it that he preferred to fight Diaz because of personal reasons. "The Natural Born Killer" did indeed go on to get the nod from the judges, which set of a firestorm of backlash from Diaz and his supporters. He abruptly retired, his camp called for a rematch, Condit eventually agreed, UFC President Dana White prematurely announced that it would happen, and then Diaz failed his post-fight drug test because of his marijuana use. What a long strange trip its been. There's no word at this time when Georges St. Pierre vs. Carlos Condit will be booked to unify the 170-pound world titles. St. Pierre is expected to return in the fall, which means that Condit could be asked to take another fight -- perhaps against the winner of Jake Ellenberger vs. Diego Sanchez -- before that happens. Stay tuned.

Posted in: ufc, diaz, pierre, st, condit

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UFC Welterweight Champion Georges St. Pierre, who is currently rehabbing a surgically repaired ACL, reacts to the outcome of last weekend's UFC 143 main event and discusses Nick Diaz's possible retirement. Though St. Pierre admits to being disappointed by Diaz's defeat, he insists that he wants to fight the more skilled challenger, and says that Carlos Condit is the "best man."

Posted in: pierre, carlos condit, st pierre, nick diazs, diazs defeat

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When Georges St. Pierre last fought, at UFC 129 in April, he defeated Jake Shields in a performance that had people saying he had cleaned out the UFC's welterweight division. But St. Pierre's long layoff with a knee injury has done something that none of his opponents in the last four years could do: It has made the welterweight division look like it has some real obstacles for the best welterweight on the planet. When I ranked the Top 10 welterweights a year ago, I noted that GSP was just a victory over Shields away from having beaten all five of the guys immediately below him: Jon Fitch, Shields, Thiago Alves, B.J. Penn and Josh Koscheck. But when I ranked the Top 10 welterweights this week, the three guys immediately below GSP -- Carlos Condit, Nick Diaz and Johny Hendricks -- were three guys who have never faced him. St. Pierre says he'll be ready to return to the Octagon in November, and it's still unclear whether Condit will wait for him, or if Condit will take another fight before then. But what is absolutely clear is that when GSP returns, the welterweight division will have fresh challenges that he's never faced before. Condit is first in line for now, Diaz may get back into contention, and I would absolutely not count out Hendricks, who has an outstanding wrestling background and a powerful punch, as a future threat to St. Pierre. Hendricks has only been fighting in the big leagues for three years and has room to improve as an all-around fighter, and he's already plenty good. And it goes deeper than that: Next week's UFC on Fuel main event features a couple of welterweights in the main event -- Diego Sanchez vs. Jake Ellenberger -- who have never had a shot at St. Pierre. The winner of that one will be closing in on title contention. Next month we have another welterweight main event, with Thiago Alves taking on Martin Kampmann at UFC on FX 2. Alves has already been dominated by GSP and probably wouldn't get another shot any time soon, but Kampmann could absolutely make a case for himself as a title contender with an impressive win. The future is also very bright for less experienced welterweights like Rory MacDonald and Mike Pierce, and it's important to note how many of these new challengers are younger than St. Pierre. Condit, Diaz, Hendricks, Sanchez, Ellenberger, Kampmann, MacDonald are all younger than the champion, who turns 31 in May. It's been well established in many sports that athletes on the wrong side of 30 often struggle to get back to form after serious knee injuries. It's going to be a new challenge for GSP to keep up with the new crop of welterweights. Whether he's up to that challenge remains to be seen, but there's no doubt that the welterweight division got a lot more interesting while GSP was away. The last time GSP fought, the rest of the UFC welterweight division looked like a bunch of also-rans, Diaz was still in Strikeforce and no one had Condit in the Top 5. Now there are new, credible challengers to the champion. By the time GSP returns, he'll be returning to a very different welterweight division than the one he left.

Posted in: gsp, pierre, welterweight, division, welterweight division

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Reigning Welterweight Champion Georges St. Pierre, who is currently recovering from ACL surgery, discusses his rehab, as well as his unconventional training methods. St. Pierre also offers his thoughts on the the UFC's crowning of an interim champ, and talks about the upcoming Middleweight title fight between Anderson Silva and Chael Sonnen.

Posted in: pierre, anderson silva, training methods, acl surgery, gsp talks

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Yes, you read the headline correctly. While UFC welterweight champ Georges St. Pierre has not come out to officially say he’d be willing to relinquish his rights to the title in order to fight polarizing rival Nick Diaz, it appears he has mentioned he’s open to doing so in private company. The shocking revelation came Tuesday evening as part of UFC Tonight where host Kenny Florian, who is friends with GSP and trains with him at TriStar, said the currently injured St. Pierre brought it up over dinner after watching Carlos Condit outpoint Diaz last weekend at UFC 143. Condit earned a shot at St. Pierre with the victory though it may be in vain if “Rush” follows through on his comments by giving up his belt to settle the score with Diaz. During the build up to the Diaz-Condit bout GSP expressed his desire to see Diaz win after the Stockton scrapper called him out after beating B.J. Penn in his previous Octagon appearance. PHOTO CREDIT – UFC

Posted in: ufc, diaz, pierre, st, st pierre

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FanPost edited and promoted by MMAmania.com. With UFC 143 in the books, many fight fans are bemoaning the loss of the much-anticipated match-up between UFC Welterweight Champion Georges St. Pierre and former Strikeforce Champion Nick Diaz, but is it because they've been blinded by the emotional build-up and the Diaz mystique? An unbiased comparison of the resumes between the Stockton slugger and new Interim 170-pound champion, Carlos Condit, clearly shows what St. Pierre himself said in the now-infamous Diaz no-show press conference: "The Natural Born Killer" is a tougher challenge for him. And a more deserving contender. Condit may not have the polarizing charisma to sell as many tickets as Diaz, but realistically, he poses a much more serious threat to the throne. This is also a better fight. As a die-hard St. Pierre fan, this fight makes me nervous, whereas the Diaz fight looked like a cakewalk, comparatively. Lets look at some key facts the Diaz bandwagon seems to overlook: Condit has as many finishes as Diaz has total wins. With 13 KOs and 13 submissions, Condit is the most well-rounded guy GSP has fought since Penn, maybe ever, and he's much bigger and more powerful than Penn was. There's nowhere GSP can take this fight and feel safe.Condit's only loss in the last six years was a split decision to Kampman in his UFC debut. Condit finished his last five UFC opponents, all but Hardy are current UFC contenders, not Strikeforce wannabes. Diaz has only one meaningful win over UFC-level talent. And we all know how inconsistent Penn is, especially at anything over 155-pounds. Before that, Diaz's biggest win was over Robbie Lawler EIGHT YEARS AGO! Diaz has NEVER beaten a serious wrestler or takedown artist. In his previous UFC stint, he lost to Karo Parisyan, Sean Sherk, and Diego Sanchez. He hasn't faced a serious wrestler since. Condit finished Dong Hyun Kim and Rory MacDonald, both undefeated before and since they lost to Carlos. He also finished Jake Ellenberger who hasn't lost in four years -- except to Condit. That's three contenders who haven't lost a fight in the UFC to anyone but "The Natural Born Killer."I honestly think Carlos Condit could well be THE MOST DANGEROUS FIGHTER GSP HAS EVER FOUGHT! Add to that the fact that GSP will not have his master game-planner Greg Jackson in his corner and that many of his coaches are currently coaching Carlos, and the fact that GSP will be coming off a VERY long layoff and major surgery that could seriously hinder his explosiveness and power, and I see this as very possibly the toughest test of St. Pierre's career. Agree or disagree? Sound off in our poll. Poll Who is the biggest threat to the title reign of Georges St. Pierre? Jake Ellenberger (5-0 since Condit) Rory MacDonald (12-0 except for Condit) Dong Hyun Kim (15-0 except for Condit) Nick Diaz (1-1 in the UFC) Carlos Condit (who recently beat all of the above)   50 votes | Results

Posted in: ufc, diaz, pierre, condit, carlo

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The one thing that UFC Welterweight Champion Georges St. Pierre seemed to want more than anything else on Saturday night was to see Nick Diaz stand in the center of the Octagon with his hand raised in victory. In the days leading up to the event, St. Pierre made it clear that he wanted to face Diaz in his next bout, however that opportunity was denied him by a Carlos Condit victory. There were many fans that also wanted to see St. Pierre meet Diaz and while that fight may not happen as soon as St. Pierre

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Carlos Condit, who defeated Nick Diaz via unanimous decision at UFC 143 last Saturday night (Feb. 4, 2012) in Las Vegas, Nevada, cleared his final hurdle en route to a Georges St. Pierre title fight later this year. We think. "The Natural Born Killer" secured the Welterweight Interim Championship with his five-rounder in "Sin City," and is now expected to face the Canadian kingpin in November of this year, assuming St. Pierre can stick to his tentative recovery schedule. Regardless of when and where he returns, St. Pierre will do it as a -350 favorite, according to our fiscal friends over at Best Fight Odds. Condit will join him as the +270 underdog. For now. A lot can affect those lines as we move forward. Much of it depends on the stability of St. Pierre's knee, which was recently reconstructed after Georges ruptured his ACL in training camp. Time will tell. In the meantime, let's hear your initial reactions to these preliminary odds. Too high? Too low? Let's talk turkey in the comments section below.

Posted in: pierre, st, odd, condit, george

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So you wanted to see Georges St. Pierre vs. Nick Diaz? Tough. You're getting Georges St. Pierre vs. Carlos Condit thanks to "The Natural Born Killer" hopping on his bicycle and executing a brilliant game plan to defeat the Stockton boxer last night (Sat., Feb. 4, 2012) at UFC 143 in Las Vegas. During the post-fight show on FUEL TV, "Suga" Rashad Evans -- who has trained with both St. Pierre and Condit -- broke down Condit's chances and what he'll need to do to win. "With the fight coming to Georges St. Pierre, Carlos Condit is going to have to work his wrestling. Georges St. Pierre is the master at the transition from the punch to the takedowns and that's where he controls the fight, that's where he controls the pace of the fight. Carlos Condit was doing a very good job ... when he fought Diaz with the in-and-out with the leg kicks but somebody like Georges St. Pierre, he's going to have to do a little bit more. He's going to have to be able to mix it up a little bit more and show that he can bring the fight where he wants to bring the fight." Feelings about last night aside, are we looking forward to St. Pierre vs. Condit? And who wins?

Posted in: fight, pierre, st, condit, george

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Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) just delivered another big time fight card with UFC 143, bringing its "A" game to the Mandalay Bay Events Center in Las Vegas, Nevada. A new welterweight interim champion was crowned as Carlos Condit defeated Nick Diaz in a fight that was just about everything it was promised to be. Unfortunately, the final decision left a sour taste in some fans' mouths, but that doesn't change the results. Condit is now the interim titleholder and has a reservation to fight Georges St. Pierre as soon as "Rush" is ready to get back into the cage. You know the deal. One big UFC pay-per-view (PPV) event is in the books and we're already on to the next one. The mixed martial arts (MMA) world doesn't stop turning and the speculation on the future never stops. With that in mind, let's take a look at what may be next for UFC 143 big winner Carlos Condit: Diaz has been picking a fight with UFC Welterweight Champion Georges St. Pierre for almost a year now. He doesn't like him, he doesn't respect him and the feelings are mutual. Sadly, that fight isn't going to happen now. It may not happen ever. With a win over Diaz at UFC 143, Carlos Condit earned what appears to be the title shot he's dreamed of for a long time. He put up with the trash talk. He trained hard. He followed the strategy and, according to the judges, he did enough to outpoint Diaz and notch the win. Whether you think he deserves it or not, "The Natural Born Killer" is now next in line to fight "GSP." The problem is that St. Pierre looks to be on the shelf until November. Before this event, Condit said he'd need to take some time and consider things before he decided on whether or not he could wait till November to fight again. So where does he go from here? Most fighters would sit and wait and toe the company line. Condit very well may do just that, but what if he gets stir crazy and feels like he needs to stay active? Let's look at the options: He was supposed to fight Josh Koscheck on two separate occasions. The fight didn't come together in either instance. Maybe this would be a good "filler" fight. If Condit wins, he moves on and fights St. Pierre, having another win over a top contender as a feather in his hat. If Koscheck wins, he gets another chance to get his eye socket jabbed out by St. Pierre. Maybe he'd surprise us and do better this time. Crazier things have happened. Jake Ellenberger fights Diego Sanchez at UFC on Fuel TV on Feb. 15, 2012, in Omaha, Nebraska. The winenr of that fight would make for a suitable opponent. I know Codit has beat Ellenberger before, but it was a split decision win and it was also two years ago. Lastly, you could get crazy and host a rematch between Condit and Diaz. Is that fair to Condit? Probably not. Does it sell tickets and get rid of excuses, once and for all? Absolutely. What do you Maniacs think? Got any better ideas for potential match ups? Feel free to play matchmaker in the comments section below. Bring it on!

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It's become a familiar sight. A fighter stands next to a referee, not only battered and bruised, but mentally broken as well. He had just gone through the closest facsimile to hell any Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) title contender could experience. For 25 minutes, he was run through the proverbial grinder as fists, elbows, knees and shins slammed into their body. For five rounds, they had their gameplan shattered and their will broken by one of the greatest fighters the sport has mixed martial arts (MMA) has ever seen. On the other side of the referee stands Georges St. Pierre, beaming and elated as his name is once again -- preceded by "and still UFC welterweight champion of the world" -- called out by Bruce Buffer. Dana White wraps the French-Canadian's belt around the champ's waist and around the Internet, headlines with words like "dominant" begin to pop up. "Rush" lost to Matt Hughes in his third UFC fight, back when losing to Hughes wasn't an anomaly but the standard. Matt Serra ran through St. Pierre but was thoroughly trounced himself in their rematch. Those two missteps aside, "GSP" has ruled the 170-pound division for nearly a decade now. He's now set to take on Carlos Condit who, by winning last night's (Feb. 4) UFC 143 main event, has become the interim title holder while St. Pierre recovers from a knee injury. But considering just how good St. Pierre is, does it matter? Both men in last night's headlining bout have their strengths and flaws. Had Nick Diaz been able to come out on top, we very well could have seen a takedown clinic in November -- or whenever it is St. Pierre returns -- that puts the Stockton native on his back for 25 minutes. Historically, the gameplan has been a tried and true method to win out against Diaz. Condit's biggest asset is his heart. On paper, he doesn't excel at any one thing. No one speaks of Condit and mentions a world-class guard or K-1 level kickboxing. But once he steps inside the Octagon, he's a tough nut -- perhaps the toughest -- to crack. He hasn't been finished in over five years and when he's come close in the UFC -- the first round of his bout with Jake Ellenberger springs to mind -- he's managed to gut through and survive. The problem with Condit -- and to extent Diaz -- is there's just about no avenue towards success in a fight with St. Pierre. Although to be fair, the same could be said for any welterweight. Diaz's boxing is sharp but his takedown defense is a liability and as evidenced last night, he still refuses to check leg kicks, preferring to take them flush. Condit, on the other hand, isn't better than "Rush" at anything. How can the "Natural Born KIller" expect to win and how can we, as fans, expect to get excited for what will likely be another 25 minute shellacking followed by a unanimous decision? From a promotion standpoint, the UFC must be fuming that Diaz wasn't able to pull out the victory. While a loss to St. Pierre would be almost assured, the former Strikeforce champion would have at least made the road to a bout with "Rush" interesting and compelling. Condit doesn't curse into cameras or flip off audiences. He's almost blue-collar in the sense he quietly walks into the cage, does his job and leaves. An admirable trait for sure but when everyone expects him to loss to St. Pierre, a little flair and drama wouldn't hurt. I just can't get excited for a "GSP"/Condit showdown. Of course, the newly crowned interim champion could very well defend his title first against the winner of this month's Diego Sanchez and Ellenberger bout and while the "Natural Born Killer" taking on Sanchez or rematching Ellenberger would be great, my interest in either of those two taking on "Rush" is equally low. It's hard to look at these men as contenders rather than victims.

Posted in: ufc, pierre, st, condit, st pierre

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Georges St. Pierre hasn't lost a fight -- and really hasn't even been tested -- in four years. That's about to change. Carlos Condit, who won the UFC interim welterweight title by beating Nick Diaz on Saturday night at UFC 143, is going to test St. Pierre in a way he hasn't been tested in years. The next time GSP steps into the Octagon, he'll be stepping into the Octagon with the best opponent he's faced. We knew heading into Saturday night how physically tough Condit was. You don't win 27 professional MMA fights and win four in a row in the UFC, as Condit already had heading into Saturday night, without a whole lot of toughness. More Coverage: UFC 143 Results | UFC 143 Post-Fight Press Conference What Condit showed against Diaz is how mentally tough he is. Condit survived 25 minutes against one of the best welterweights in the world and never wilted. Condit didn't change his game plan in the second round when Diaz started to get the better of the striking exchanges and began openly taunting Condit, as Diaz so often has to his opponents. And Condit didn't panic and didn't give in during the final minute of the fight, when Diaz took him down and took his back. A lot of men -- even a lot of great fighters -- would have been ready to break by that point. Condit couldn't be broken. So is Condit good enough to beat GSP? As a striker, I believe he's already better than GSP. And he has a more diverse array of submissions than GSP as well. The big question is whether Condit's wrestling and takedown defense will prove to be good enough that he can stay off his back against St. Pierre. That's a tall order, but I like Condit's chances. St. Pierre is also, of course, coming off a serious knee injury -- the kind of injury that some athletes never fully recover from. And St. Pierre will be battling ring rust when he fights Condit: By the time he's ready to step into the Octagon in November, he'll have been off for a year and a half. St. Pierre is also three years older than Condit. Those are all factors that favor Condit. GSP will be the betting favorite heading into that fight, but Condit has a very good chance to win it. When Condit beat Diaz on Saturday night, we may have seen the man who has what it takes to beat GSP. UFC 143 Notes -- Fabricio Werdum showed off some great muay Thai in his victory over Roy Nelson. Werdum's stand-up has looked ugly in a couple of bad losses to the two best heavyweights in the world, Junior dos Santos and Alistair Overeem, but make no mistake: He's a very good striker in addition to being the best heavyweight grappler in all of MMA. -- Matt Riddle's split decision victory over Henry Martinez gives him a respectable UFC record of 6-3, but let's be honest: Riddle is not a very good fighter. He barely got by Martinez, an undersized opponent who took the fight on short notice, and Riddle's other UFC wins are over DeMarques Johnson, Greg Soto, Dan Cramer, Steve Bruno and Dante Rivera. Not exactly a murderer's row. -- When the 20-year-old Max Holloway stepped into the Octagon with the 23-year-old Dustin Poirier, we got a great look at the future of the featherweight division. Poirier put on a tremendous display on the ground in forcing Holloway to tap out to an arm bar from a mounted triangle, but give Holloway credit for the way he tested Poirier on the feet at the start of the fight. Poirier is a future featherweight title contender, and with work on his ground game Holloway could be too. -- The UFC's new pay-per-view opening is an improvement over the old gladiator opening, but I still think there should be a fresh new opening with each show and the focus should immediately be on that night's main event fighters. UFC 143 Quotes "I know I'm the most hated man in MMA." -- Josh Koscheck, egging on the fans after they booed him following his split decision win over Mike Pierce. "Don't fall for it when he's talking to you."--Greg Jackson telling Carlos Condit not to get sucked into Nick Diaz's style of fight. Jackson's advice was wise; it came after the second round, when Diaz was taunting Condit and trying to bait him into a brawl, but from the third round on Condit seemed comfortable and ready to fight his fight. "Those lead leg round kicks -- we work them a lot in karate -- people don't see them." -- Stephen Thompson, after knocking out Dan Stittgen on the first fight of the night. Thompson was right: Stittgen certainly didn't see that kick coming. Thompson is an exciting new fighter for the UFC. Good Call Referee Kim Winslow stepped in at just the right time to stop the fight in Matt Brown's technical knockout victory over Chris Cope. After Brown knocked Cope down, Winslow gave Cope a chance to protect himself on the ground before stepping in to stop the fight when Brown landed two more punches that Cope couldn't answer. Stopping the fight immediately when Brown knocked Cope down would have been too quick because Cope was still conscious and trying to get into a better position. Stopping it any later would have subjected Cope to too much punishment. Winslow's stoppage was perfect. Bad Call I disagreed with referee Herb Dean taking two points away from Alex "Bruce Leroy" Caceres after his second low blow of the fight. Warning Caceres for the first low blow was the right call, but the second low blow should have only resulted in one point being deducted, not two. A two-point deduction would have been appropriate for an intentional low blow, but both of Caceres's kicks appeared to be accidental low blows. The judges gave the fight to Edwin Figueroa by split decision, 28-27, 28-27 and 27-28, which means that if Dean had only deducted one point instead of two, it would have been a majority draw. Later in the same card, Dean again faced a situation where he warned a fighter about a foul and then that fighter committed the very same foul he had been warned about: Dean warned Josh Koscheck to keep his fingers away from Mike Pierce's eyes, and then Koscheck poked Pierce in the eye after that warning. But this time Dean only warned Koscheck again instead of taking even one point away, let alone deducting two points. Stock Up When Ed Herman lost three of four fights in 2008 and 2009 and then missed nearly two years with a knee injury, it was reasonable to wonder if his career might be coming to an end. Instead, Herman's stock has shot up with three straight wins since returning from that knee injury, and he looked great on Saturday night. Herman is fighting as well as he ever has. Stock Down Michael Kuiper entered UFC 143 as a well-regarded prospect with an 11-0 record, but he wasn't ready for an opponent on the level of Rafael Natal, who beat him by unanimous decision. Kuiper is only 22 years old and may have a good future in the UFC, but he's not there yet. Fight I Want To See Next Carlos Condit vs. Georges St. Pierre. This is going to be fun.

Posted in: ufc, fight, diaz, pierre, condit

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Mandalay Bay in Las Vegas NV has hosted many memorable events in the UFC and tonight is no exception. The main card features veterans, rising stars and former champions all looking to increase their rankings within Zuffa and is the birthing ground for Georges St Pierre, will it be the former WEC champion Carlos Condit [...]

Posted in: ufc, result, pierre, champion, birthing ground

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The underdog status is an unfamiliar place for UFC welterweight champion Georges St. Pierre, but he doesn't appear to be objecting to it. GSP recently told CSN Washington he believes if Diaz defeats Carlos Condit tonight at UFC 143 and he and the Stockton-native square off, the interim champion will be the favorite. "Absolutely, I will be the underdog," said St. Pierre on The Fight Fix. "Everybody will be thinking I'm going to lose this fight. That's perfect. That's what I want. It's perfect motivation for me." St. Pierre has been relegated in recent fights to telling audiences each new opponent he faces is miraculously the most dangerous test of his career. That's typically fight promotion speak. But facing a ready Nick Diaz after an extended layoff from ACL surgery in the prime of his career, St. Pierre may well be right that Diaz will be regarded as the one to beat by oddsmakers as much as fans. As for the ammunition Diaz's less than glowing words about St. Pierre provide, the champion didn't suggest he was taking them too much to heart. "I don't think Diaz is a bad human being," St. Pierre noted. "I just believe maybe he has problems with social skills. It's not personal. He did say personal bad stuff about me, but I just hope we're going to be able to fight each other. It's gonna be good." The welterweight champion also responded to UFC welterweight contender Josh Koscheck's hope that GSP never returns to MMA. "It doesn't go well for Koscheck because my knee is doing better every week," responded St. Pierre with a smile. "I will come back soon." The champion believes he could be back in the Octagon on an accelerated timeline. He's rehabilitating his damaged knee aggressively and without much distraction. So little distraction, in fact, he is completely unaware of tomorrow's Super Bowl, who is playing and what the hoopla is all about. "I don't know anything about football. I don't even know who is in the final," St. Pierre noted. "I hear so much about football and I've been rehabbing with a lot of football players and football fans. So, I'll make sure the Super Bowl is on - because I'm in Vegas and I have to drive back to Los Angeles to continue my rehab - I'll make sure I be on the road listening to some beautiful music while the game is on so I cannot hear about it." Despite being a professional athlete, St. Pierre confesses he's "not a sports fan at all, either hockey or whatever. I don't watch sports too much." "I'm more a nerd."

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"What I believe is, he's a very smart guy. He knows what he's doing. He would not be able to do what he's done in his career if he wasn't smart. I do believe maybe he has some mental issues ... I do not believe he is a bad human being. Truth my eyes, because he has been very disrespectful to me and because maybe we'll fight, he's disrespectful, but to you guys, I'm sure if you saw him and asked him for an autograph he'd give it to you." -- UFC Welterweight Champion Georges St. Pierre tells fans at a Q&A today (via Cagewriter) that thinks Nick Diaz is a smart guy. After all, the Stockton bad boy would not have raised his profile in the manner in which he has without some savvy and know how when it comes to the fight game. I mean, there's no way he just stumbled upon fame, right? His schtick may not necessarily be calculated but he definitely knows how to stir the pot just enough to drum up interest for when he steps inside the Octagon to do what he does best ... kick ass. That said, St. Pierre does believe Diaz has some mental issues. He doesn't elaborate on that point, though, choosing instead to be as complimentary as possible, despite his vocal displeasure with how he's been treated by the former Strikeforce welterweight champion. All told, "GSP" is likely right but it doesn't matter in the end. Diaz has to defeat Carlos Condit at UFC 143 tomorrow night (Sat., Feb. 4, 2012) in Las Vegas, Nevada, to set up a potential match-up but even then it's questionable thanks to St. Pierre's ailing knee. But if Diaz does emerge victorious, and the French-Canadian's knee holds up, we could be in for one of the most compelling showdowns in the history of the sport. Mental issues or not, that's something we can all hope for, including St. Pierre. Is there anyone rooting for Carlos Condit tomorrow night?

Posted in: diaz, nick diaz, pierre, st, he

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Before the UFC 143 weigh ins go live, the UFC is holding a question and answer session with welterweight champion Georges St. Pierre for the Fight Club Members. Bloody Elbow's Matthew Roth is on hand and will provide live updates of the questions as well as the answers from the Mandalay Bay Events Center. St. Pierre was originally scheduled to defend his welterweight title against Nick Diaz before suffering a severe knee injury that required invasive surgery. The champion is in the process of rehabbing his injury and expect to return to action sometime in November. The UFC has decided to make Carlos Condit vs Nick Diaz for the interim welterweight title with a unification bout set for when St. Pierre returns to action. St. Pierre will answer questions from both the fans and media for an hour before weight ins. The Q&A session is expected to start at 5:00 PM ET. Updates will be after the jump... SBN coverage of UFC 143: Diaz vs. Condit

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The winner of Nick Diaz vs. Carlos Condit, who fight for the Interim strap at UFC 143 tomorrow night (Feb. 4, 2012) at the Mandalay Bay Events Center in Las Vegas, Nevada, is expected to unify the division titles by taking on Georges St. Pierre later this year. But they could be facing off much sooner than that. You know the drill by now. A fighter wins and they bring his next opponent into the Octagon as part of the post-fight interview to create drama and tension for their pending showdown. Two recent examples of this are Jon Jones vs. Rashad Evans and Brock Lesnar vs. Shane Carwin. It may be part of the job, but St. Pierre doesn't like it. Probably because the one time he tried to play ball, he ended up forever associated with one of the more popular expressions in UFC history, after admitting he was "not impressed by Matt Hughes' performance." And he may like it even less if Nick Diaz is the winner. "Rush" is already walking around "Sin City" with his fists clenched and looking over his shoulder. GSP explains his position to Neil Davidson of the Canadian Press, after the jump. "I think it's disrespectful (to get into the cage). When a guy wins, I think it's his moment of glory and I don't want to overshadow that. He wins, he deserves that moment. I don't like to be there. I don't like confrontation. But I know it's necessary for the promotion of the sports. The UFC, they force us to do it sometimes. They love it. I'll go with the flow." If Condit emerges victorious on Saturday night, St. Pierre will likely exchange pleasantries with the soft-spoken "Natural Born Killer" and be on his merry way. But if Diaz wins? Well, their post-fight showdown might be worth the price of admission in and of itself. More on the St. Pierre vs. Diaz saga right here.

Posted in: diaz, nick diaz, vs, pierre, st

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Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) 143 is just around the corner, featuring a welterweight Interim title fight between Nick Diaz and Carlos Condit this Saturday night (Feb. 4, 2012) from the Mandalay Bay Events Center in Las Vegas, Nevada. So why is everyone talking about Georges St. Pierre? Well, it was originally the Canadian's event to headline. That is, until he shredded his knee in training camp and had to withdraw in favor of surgery. It also has a lot to do with the well-documented bad blood between "Rush" and the fiery Stockton slugger, who share a professional disdain for one another that can only be settled inside the cage. That's probably why St. Pierre played such a prominent role in hyping this 170-pound match-up, holding court during the UFC 143 media junkets and starring alongside Diaz and Condit in the "Primetime" television special. There continues to be a lot of talk about a St. Pierre vs. Diaz superfight, while the pending bout against Condit has become something of an afterthought. And it makes Diaz sick, according to comments he made at yesterday's UFC 143 pre-fight press conference. "It makes me sick. This is Carlos' time to be here and be part of this main event. Half of this show is built up around me fighting Georges St. Pierre, but I'm fighting Carlos Condit. I don't like it. You're more in danger of losing a decision to Georges St. Pierre. I think you're more in danger of losing your teeth if you're fighting Condit." To his credit, Condit has quietly kept on truckin' with nary a complaint, showing up when he's supposed to and answering his questions with succinct and diplomatic answers. The good news is that Diaz doesn't appear to be overlooking him and recognizes he's not fighting anyone else in the UFC until he gets past Condit, a task that may be easier said that done. Anyone think GSP, who gets the winner of this weekend's headliner, has been a distraction to this event? Or an important piece of the welterweight puzzle? Thoughts?

Posted in: ufc, diaz, pierre, st, condit

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Former Welterweight title challenger, Josh Koscheck, who will face Mike Pierce this Saturday night at UFC 143, discusses his opponent, as well as the current 170-pound title mix. Koscheck admits that there is no real animosity between himself and division champion Georges St. Pierre, but says that he hopes the Canadian "never comes back" from his ACL surgery.

Posted in: title shot, saturday night, title, koscheck, pierre

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UFC welterweight champion Georges St. Pierre will have plenty to say about the UFC 143 main event when he participates in a live chat with MMAFighting.com readers on Friday. The winner of that main event, Nick Diaz vs. Carlos Condit, will earn the interim welterweight title, and our live chat is your chance to ask St. Pierre who he thinks will win, who he'd rather fight, how his rehabilitation from knee surgery is going and anything else you'd like to know. The chat begins at 4 PM ET below. <a href="http://www.coveritlive.com/mobile.php/option=com_mobile/task=viewaltcast/altcast_code=853d5418d7" mce_href="http://www.coveritlive.com/mobile.php/option=com_mobile/task=viewaltcast/altcast_code=853d5418d7" >Georges St. Pierre Live Chat</a>

Posted in: pierre, st, chat, knee surgery, mmafightingcom readers

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UFC welterweight champion Georges St. Pierre will have plenty to say about the UFC 143 main event when he participates in a live chat with MMAFighting.com readers on Friday. The winner of that main event, Nick Diaz vs. Carlos Condit, will earn the interim welterweight title, and our live chat is your chance to ask St. Pierre who he thinks will win, who he'd rather fight, how his rehabilitation from knee surgery is going and anything else you'd like to know. The chat begins at 4 PM ET below. <a href="http://www.coveritlive.com/mobile.php/option=com_mobile/task=viewaltcast/altcast_code=853d5418d7" mce_href="http://www.coveritlive.com/mobile.php/option=com_mobile/task=viewaltcast/altcast_code=853d5418d7" >Georges St. Pierre Live Chat</a>

Posted in: pierre, st, chat, knee surgery, mmafightingcom readers

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Georges St. Pierre is in the worst position of his career, as the Canadian must sit on the sidelines and watch two others fight for the UFC welterweight title. UFC 143 this Saturday night will feature a bout for the interim UFC 170-pound division’s title, as Nick Diaz and Carlos Condit collide. St. Pierre, who has successfully defended the title since 2008, tore a ligament in his knee while training for the bout with Diaz and has since undergone successful surgery. The operation will keep him away from competition for several months, forcing the UFC’s hand in crowning a champion in his place. While technically GSP will still be part owner of the title, he doesn’t feel that way at all. “The way I see it, I am not the champion anymore on Saturday night,” St. Pierre said, in a recent interview with the UFC’s website. “I have not fought since April, against my will, but I understand the champion must fight. Right now I am not the best in the world, I am injured.” St. Pierre added that he feels the winner of Diaz-Condit must beat him to call themselves the world champion, while he has to do the same to feel like the best in the world once again. As for who St. Pierre wants to fight, that’s an easy one, as the soft-spoken fighter said, “I respect Carlos Condit, but I want Diaz to win. I want this fight with Diaz so badly, as badly as I wanted the title shot when I got down on my knees. I have never asked (UFC president) Dana White for anything, but I did ask to fight Nick Diaz.” GSP’s timetable for a return continues to be a mystery, as he said he won’t be able to properly train until July, pushing him back to late in 2012 for an Octagon return. PHOTO CREDIT – UFC

Posted in: ufc, diaz, title, pierre, st

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Georges St. Pierre was present at the today’s UFC 143 open workouts and took some time to discuss a multitude of topics including where he stands in his rehab, the type of training that he is moving toward as he recovers from his ACL surgery, surgery that will prevent him from training until July. St. Pierre also says that he will be rooting for Nick Diaz to defeat Carlos Condit this weekend as Diaz and his trainer, Cesar Gracie have give him motivation to fight him.  St. Pierre also heaped a

Posted in: diaz, nick diaz, pierre, st,   st pierre

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On Sat., Feb. 4, 2012, Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) welterweights Nick Diaz and Carlos Condit will face off in the cage at UFC 143 in Las Vegas, Nevada. The winner will receive the interim title and a chance to fight Georges St. Pierre, once he returns from his injury rehabilitation. It's not the belt either of them were looking for, but they didn't have a choice in the matter. Both were scheduled to fight "Rush" at some point last year, but neither fight came to fruition for different reasons. As St. Pierre waits in the wings, getting his wounded knee back in working order, he has no option other than to watch and see what happens. Regardless of the turnout, he believes (with good reason) that his belt is still the "real belt:" "The way I see it, I am not the champion anymore on Saturday night. I have not fought since April, against my will, but I understand the champion must fight. You have to put the belt on the line in order to call yourself champion, the best in the world. Right now, I am not the best in the world. I am injured. The winner of this fight on Saturday will be more than just the new number one contender, but he won't be the new champion either. The winner of this fight will have to beat me to become the true world champion, and I will have to beat the winner of this fight in order to call myself the best in the world again." At this point, it really just comes down to who will emerge victorious on Saturday night. We know that "GSP" will be cheering for Nick Diaz, in the hopes that he will finally be able to silence the slugger from Stockton. He doesn't just want to beat him, he wants to destroy him. He hates him. But he's not crying about the way the UFC decided to handle things. St. Pierre knows that a champion must defend his belt and stay active. He believes this was the best way to keep the peace: "I like the format where the winner of this fight will have to fight me and I have to fight the winner to truly become the UFC champion. That is what the UFC is about,that is competition. This is fair to all of us, we have to beat each other to be the undisputed champion." Interim belt winners have not fared so well in recent past. Mixed martial arts (MMA) fans are sure to recall Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira winning the interim heavyweight belt at UFC 81 on Feb. 2, 2008 over Tim Sylvia. "Big Nog" went on to immediately lose his next bout to Frank Mir at UFC 92 on Dec. 27 of that very same year. Mir, then, lost his next fight to eventual champion Brock Lesnar by way of a vicious TKO at UFC 100 on July 11, 2009. The very next year, when Lesnar suffered his initial bout with diverticulitis, Mir fought for the interim belt once again, this time with Shane Carwin as his opponent at UFC 111 on March 27, 2010. Carwin went on to win that fight, but lost in his very next contest when Brock Lesnar choked him out in the second round of their match up at UFC 116 on July 3, 2010. St. Pierre actually has a bit of personal experience with interim titles, having defeated Matt Hughes for the interim welterweight belt at UFC 79 on Aug. 25, 2007. Unlike some of the aforementioned unlucky souls, St. Pierre didn't lose his next fight. In fact, almost five years later, he hasn't lost since. Sadly, it doesn't make a big difference who wins the make-believe belt on Saturday night. Everyone knows who holds the real belt -- and he'll be waiting for them. What do you think Maniacs? Are you buying the legitimacy of an interim champion? Do either of these guys have what it takes to eventually dethrone St. Pierre, either way? Opinions, please.

Posted in: ufc, fight, belt, pierre, champion

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Nick Diaz must defeat Carlos Condit on Saturday in UFC 143 to set up a much-anticipated bout vs. Georges St. Pierre.

Posted in: title shot, diaz, pierre, st, carlos condit

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Posted in: ufc, nick diaz, nick, pierre, mattyblayze

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Angry champ is angry. Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) 170-pound kingpin Georges St. Pierre will be watching the UFC 143 welterweight Interim title fight between Nick Diaz and Carlos Condit this weekend with vested interest. And not just because he fights the winner later this year. St. Pierre wants Diaz to win -- at any and all costs. That way, he can get payback for the months of torment the outspoken Stockton slugger has put him though since they were originally booked to throw hands at UFC 137 last October. Hear "Rush" explain his "professional hatred" for Diaz after the jump. "I am very nervous that Carlos Condit will win on Saturday night, and that I won't be able to fight Nick Diaz this summer. I feel bad, it is weird that I want him to lose, but I have never wanted to fight anyone as much as I want to fight Diaz. I don't truly hate him as a person. I don't know that he is a bad guy, but I hate what he brings to the sport with the disrespect and the unprofessional things he says and does. It is sort of a professional hatred. He has been nothing but disrespectful and arrogant towards me. During UFC 137 (week) I felt like I had to walk around Las Vegas with my fists ready (to punch Diaz) because every time I came across him he wanted to fight there and then. Every time the elevator opened (in the hotel) I needed to be ready to fight in case he stepped in. I was on edge all week. This guy is crazy. I am used to hearing (smack) talk from opponents, Matt Serra did it, Dan Hardy did it, and Josh Koscheck did it, but with Diaz he has taken it to another level. He and his coach (Cesar Gracie) have called me a coward and tried to disrespect my accomplishments. All that has done though is make me determined to beat him up. He will bring out the best in me, I will be 100% focused, like a bomb-expert defusing a time bomb. When my back is against the wall and I have no choice but to win, when I cannot lose to this person under any cost, that is when I am most dangerous." St. Pierre was paired off with Diaz on two separate occasions, but a myriad of shenanigans on the part of the 209 bad boy, coupled with the Canadian's brittle knees, forced both pay-per-view (PPV) headliners to be scrapped in favor of opposite bookings. Now, with Diaz and Condit set to establish a true division number one contender at the Mandalay Bay Events Center this Saturday night (Feb. 4) for the UFC 143 supershow in Las Vegas, Nevada, St. Pierre can zero in on his next opponent. But will fighting angry cost him against Diaz? Or not fighting angry enough put him at a disadvantage if he fights "The Natural Born Killer?" There is no question that Nick Diaz is inside GSP's head. How will it affect him when he finally returns to the Octagon?

Posted in: ufc, fight, diaz, pierre, st

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Nick Diaz at lightweight or middleweight? That might happen if he defeats Carlos Condit at UFC 143 this weekend (Feb. 4, 2012) in Las Vegas, Nevada. The "Diaz vs. Condit" winner will be crowned the Interim Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) Welterweight Champion and is expected to take on current UFC 170-pound champion, Georges St. Pierre, once he is recuperated from recent surgery. Cesar Gracie says that should his star pupil defeat Condit in "Sin City," they will sit back and wait for St. Pierre to return from the injured reserves and not take another fight in the interim. If the wait is longer than expected, they may seek a fight in another division. Gracie lays out the teams plans on the The MMA Hour, after the jump: "I'm probably going to get in trouble by saying this, but, we are not taking another fight. There is only one way if we take another fight, I'm not going to get ahead of myself because Nick has not won yet (against Condit). Hypothetically, if we're fortunate and win this fight, I would advise Nick to not take another fight before the GSP fight unless it is at a different weight class. We are going to wait for the Georges St. Pierre fight." A few seconds after Gracie's segment was over, Carlos Condit's manager, Malki Kawa was not too pleased with the comments and called in to express his displeasure: "They are thinking they already won over there. At the end of the day, if people are riding Carlos Condit off it is a big mistake. He is coming to fight. He has not stopped training. If Condit wins the belt, we are going to fight and we are not going to wait around for anyone, not even Georges St. Pierre." Cesar Gracie was respectful and answered a question hypothetically, to which Kawa acknowledged, so what's the beef? After the much anticipated welterweight showdown between Nick Diaz and Georges St. Pierre, arguably the two top 170-pound fighters in the world, was scrapped twice before (UFC 137 and UFC 143), the Diaz camp, apparently, wants to take all measures to prevent from losing out on the dream match-up between the two once again. Of course, not putting the cart before the horse, Gracie knows that Diaz first has to defeat ‘The Natural Born Killer" before they can look ahead to a blockbuster matchup against "Rush." Condit, on the other hand, who also had his title match against St. Pierre scrapped due to injury to the welterweight champion at UFC 137, has no plans on waiting for anyone, according to his manager. What do you say Maniacs, wise planning on the Diaz camp to hold out for Georges St. Pierre, should he be successful this weekend? If he indeed does take a fight at 155 or 185, who would be a good match up for the Stockton slugger?

Posted in: fight, diaz, pierre, st, condit

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UFC welterweight champ Georges St. Pierre is known as a gym rat, as GSP likes nothing more than fine-tuning himself in the training center. However, St. Pierre was forced to stay away from his second home after tearing his ACL and undergoing surgery. Now the champ is back in action, at least in some regards. St-Pierre posted on his Twitter account that he has been cleared to do light gymnastics work back in Montreal alongside one of his coaches. “Great to be back in Montreal and start training again with my gymnastics coach Pat Beauchamp,” St. Pierre posted. In a short video on his official YouTube page “Rush” also explained he is very limited in what he is allowed to do. In the meantime St. Pierre will have to sit by as the UFC crowns an interim welterweight champion this weekend at UFC 143 with Nick Diaz and Carlos Condit squaring off for the honor. While St. Pierre is hopeful to be back early this summer, it is likely that the winner of Diaz-Condit will make at least one title defense before GSP is cleared to fight again. Check out his YouTube video below:

Posted in: ufc, pierre, st, st pierre, gym rat

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Embrace the hate, y'all. Apparently that's what UFC Welterweight Champion Georges St. Pierre has done while he's been on the sidelines rehabbing his torn up knee. And it's helping the process along nicely, according to UFC President Dana White. If he keeps going like he's going, White believes it's entirely possible the 170-pound king can "Rush" back into action this summer, far sooner than the target return date of November St. Pierre pegged recently on an episode of Inside MMA. As White explains to Ariel Helwani, the French-Canadian is motivated by the extreme hate he feels for Nick Diaz. And he's praying every night that he beats Carlos Condit at UFC 143 on Feb. 4 in Las Vegas, Nevada. "GSP's rehab could not be going better. I kid you not, he texts me every day. Tonight during the fight, he was texting me pictures of him kicking, of him doing things. He says, 'I am praying every night when I go to bed that Nick Diaz wins this fight.' I have never seen Georges St. Pierre hate somebody. He hates Nick Diaz. I've never seen him hate somebody. I've never seen him so motivated to fight somebody and to beat somebody as he is Nick Diaz. He's ahead of schedule now, being the freak of nature that he is and the hard worker and dedicated athlete that he is, I think he's going to be back sooner than doctors anticipated. (Perhaps the summer time), yes." So if everything works out over the winter, we could be looking at Junior dos Santos vs. Alistair Overeem for the heavyweight championship, Chael Sonnen vs. Anderson Silva for the middleweight crown and Nick Diaz vs. Georges St. Pierre to unify the welterweight titles. Let's not be hasty, though. St. Pierre's knee injury was such that if he returns sooner than he should and something goes wrong, the results could be disastrous. Career-ending, even. Is that really worth the risk? Then again, he really is a freak of nature and maybe it will all work out in the end. Or maybe Carlos Condit will defeat Diaz and none of this will matter come Feb. 5. Stay tuned, Maniacs.

Posted in: diaz, nick, pierre, st, he

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Filed under: UFC, NewsNick Diaz will fight Carlos Condit for the UFC interim welterweight championship on February 4. But what happens to the interim champ after that? UFC President Dana White says he expects the interim champion to fight the reigning champion Georges St. Pierre sooner rather than later. After UFC on FX 1 on Friday night, White told Ariel Helwani that St. Pierre is in better shape following surgery to repair a torn ACL than doctors expected, and that St. Pierre is already working out and getting himself prepared for a welterweight title unification fight in the summer. That's a more optimistic timeline than previously reported: St. Pierre had indicated he didn't think he'd be able to return to the Octagon until the fall. "GSP's rehab could not be going better," White said. "He was texting me pictures of him kicking, doing everything. ... I think he's going to be back sooner than doctors anticipated." So it sounds like the Condit-Diaz winner will take on St. Pierre next, rather than defend the interim title while St. Pierre continues to rehabilitate. And while St. Pierre has no control over which man he fights next, White said St. Pierre is hoping it's Diaz. "He says, 'I am praying every night when I go to bed that Nick Diaz wins this fight,'" White said. "I have never seen Georges St. Pierre hate somebody. He hates Nick Diaz. I've never seen him so motivated to fight somebody and to beat somebody like Nick Diaz." Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments

Posted in: fight, diaz, pierre, st, st pierre

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If all goes as planned, UFC welterweight champ Georges St. Pierre is positive he’ll be back inside the Octagon before 2012 is over with…but barely. St. Pierre, who was scheduled to meet Nick Diaz on February 4 to defend his title, underwent knee surgery roughly five weeks ago after tearing his ACL while preparing for Diaz. The injury, which has been the most severe of the 30-year old’s career, was kind of a Catch-22 situation as the Canadian was putting more pressure on his right left after injuring his left in training for a bout with Carlos Condit late in 2011. Now, Diaz and Condit will meet for the interim UFC welterweight title with the winner likely facing off with GSP later in the year after an initial defense of the belt. “Hard training will be in July, and I am looking to fight again, for the timing to be back, in November,” said St. Pierre while serving as a recent guest on Inside MMA . “Late October, early November would be good.” “Rush” mentioned that he didn’t take enough time to rehab himself from the first injury, adding, “I tried to come back too fast and I was compensating with my other leg. That’s how I hurt myself.” As for the upcoming Diaz-Condit bout that will crown a champion in his place, St. Pierre started out neutral before offering up his personal preference, saying, “I just hope the best man will win. But if the best man is Nick Diaz, I will appreciate it more, because it will be a better build up for a fight.” When St. Pierre returns it will have been around 18 months since he last set foot in the Octagon, a concern for many who felt he would be back by late summer after news of his knee injury first broke. PHOTO CREDIT – UFC

Posted in: diaz, pierre, st, “ i, st pierre

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If by any case you find yourself jamming out to something on your iPod later today, keep in mind that regardless of whatever tune your head is bopping to, Georges St. Pierre has more riddum than it. The Riddum Collector, in a constant pursuit of capturing riddums on the sole basis that you simply cannot handle it. If riddum was a quantifiable substance that could be extracted and bottled into a plastic container, it would be the only competition 'Rawesomeade' would have. Mircea Eliade once said that throughout the span of a person's life, he/she is constantly confronted with the 'Yes', but we constantly deny this and instead, opt to refuse it. According to Eliade, we only accept the 'Yes' in death. That same statement can be made in regards to Georges St. Pierre. We are always presented with the question of 'Can we handle the riddum' and the answer is always 'Absolutely not', even in death. On Inside MMA this week, the riddum wants Nick Diaz to be its next opponent -- while Georges St. Pierre just wants the best man to win between Nick Diaz and Carlos Condit at UFC 142. Check out the riddum in action in this video below.

Posted in: nick diaz, pierre, carlos condit, george, riddum

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After suffering two serious injuries in a span of only three months, Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) Welterweight Champion Georges St. Pierre has seen better days. "Rush" initially suffered a sprained medial collateral ligament (MCL) injury in October of 2011, which forced him to withdraw from the much anticipated title fight against former Strikeforce champion Nick Diaz, which was set for UFC 137 in Las Vegas. After rebooking the title fight between arguably the two best welterweights in the world for UFC 143 on Super Bowl weekend (Feb. 4, 2012), UFC President Dana White dropped another bombshell that St. Pierre had suffered yet another injury. This time, a blown anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) was to blame. "Rush" went under the knife to repair his ACL on Dec. 13, 2011, in what was deemed a very successful surgery. Now the long road to recovery is St. Pierre's next challenge on his way back to the Octagon. Which could happen in November of this year. That's according to the man himself, who told HDNet's Inside MMA that he expects to resume "hard training" in July and could be ready to compete just four months later. St. Pierre breaks it all down, after the jump. As head trainer at Tristar Gym in Montreal, Firas Zahabi tells Sherdog.com, Georges is "doing great" and his rehab is going well and will soon start the next phase of his recovery. "He's doing great. He's doing fantastic. He's doing the post-surgery rehab, and then after he's done doing that -- it should be done in March -- he's going to start his sports rehabilitation." Zahabi also went on to say his prized pupil will be doing some of his rehab with Gavin MacMillan, who is the founder and head trainer at Sport Science Lab and has worked with top sports stars such as NBA superstar Tyson Chandler and NFL star Troy Polamalu: "He trains Troy Polamalu from the NFL. Tremendous trainer. I've been corresponding with him for the last little bit since Georges got injured. We have complete faith in him. He's been through this process before with NFL players. The doctor was more than happy with the results of the surgery. Things are looking really good. Georges is extremely motivated to come back. He's very excited. He's got that fire roaring now bigger than ever. Everything is lined up for success hopefully. He had an existing injury before the tear. He kept training, and it tore. He realized he was trying to save time and not miss a fight, and it turned out that he's going to miss a whole year. I don't think he'll come back too fast. It was a mistake he did before, and I think he'll be sure not to repeat it again." Firas also touched on comments made by Nick Diaz, who claimed the St. Pierre's training methods are what caused his injuries: "For Georges, working explosively has always worked for him. You can get an injury from any type of training. Anything you do a lot of, you can get hurt at. You've got to manage the risk and do the training that's best suited for you. [Endurance training] works for Nick, and Georges' training has been working for him." The welterweight kingpin has not seen action since defeating Jake Shields at UFC 129 on April 30, 2011, and if all goes well with his training, it can very well be close to a 20 month gap in between fights for St. Pierre. In Georges absence, a couple of stars have stepped up and possibly surpassed him in the mythical pound-for-pound rankings such as UFC light heavyweight champion Jon Jones and UFC featherweight champion Jose Aldo. Also in his absence, an interim UFC welterweight champion will be named as Nick Diaz and Carlos Condit are set to collide at UFC 143 on Feb. 4 in Las Vegas and quite possibly, will determine Georges' next opponent once he is deemed fit to return to action. What do you Maniacs think? Following successful surgery, can Georges St. Pierre return to his old form and maintain his place atop the welterweight division? Or will the devastating injuries hinder his future performances inside the Octagon?

Posted in: ufc, pierre, training, george, he

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On Sat., Feb. 4, 2012, Stockton slugger Nick Diaz will take on Carlos Condit at UFC 143 in Las Vegas, Nevada, to determine who will hold the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) interim welterweight title belt. Whoever emerges victorious will not only own a new shiny accessory for their waist, but will also have a ticket to be the first to fight Georges St. Pierre when he returns from his ACL injury. "GSP" is currently on the shelf for an indefinite amount of time because of surgery on his right knee, which will take significant time and grueling rehabilitation to fully recover. Regardless of who wins the interim title bout at UFC 143, it makes for an interesting match up. St. Pierre was supposed to fight both men on separate occasions, all within the span of a few days. However, because of some missed press conferences by Diaz, and then an injury suffered by St. Pierre, neither fight ended up going down. Tonight (Jan. 16, 2012), St. Pierre appeared on HDNet's "Inside MMA" to discuss his injury, as well as his feelings about "Nick Diaz vs. Carlos Condit." According to "Rush," he'd like to see Diaz come out on top: "I do actually care. There are two guys that are fighting, Nick Diaz and Carlos Condit -- Carlos Condit is a very nice guy. I never trained with him but I have trained in Albuquerque along with some of his teammates, and he's a very nice guy. I like him a lot. But, the reason why I wish Nick Diaz to win this fight is that I want to fight Nick Diaz. I don't wanna fight Carlos Condit. I wanna fight Nick Diaz. But, in another way, I just hope the best man will win. But if the best man is Nick Diaz, I will appreciate it more, because it will be a better build up for a fight." Regarding his injury, St. Pierre said that he feels like it was his own fault for possibly not listening to his body when he suffered a less painful injury to his left knee, sometime last year: "One of the reasons why I got that injury is that I didn't do that (take enough time rehabbing). I didn't listen to myself. I had a first injury to my left knee. I tried to come back too fast and I was compensating with my other leg. That's how I hurt myself." No champion wants to have his belt tossed around or his legacy tarnished by someone else walking around with the "interim" tag. For "GSP," the belt is irrelevant. It's just about winning the next fight: "For me, I try to not think about the belt. When I'm going into a fight, when I fight the winner of that fight, I'm not thinking 'I'm the champion.' I'm thinking I'm gonna fight for the title. Because, if you lose, you're gonna lose the title, even if you had it before or not. That won't matter." St. Pierre also spent a few minutes discussing some of the criticism he's taken during his career. Criticism that has gone so far as to label him as a "boring" or "safe" fighter. He acknowledges the naysayers and had a bit to say about what it's been like to be a champion under the magnifying glass: "The thing is, when you defend the title and do it a few times, there is a routine that comes with it and people expect you to win. And they not only expect you to win, they expect you to do great. Sometimes, it can play on your mind. That's a little bit of what happened to me. I felt like I lost a little bit of motivation. That's the danger that can happen with champions sometimes." At the end of the segment, St. Pierre reiterated just how much he is hoping for a Nick Diaz win at UFC 143. He likes Carlos Condit. He thinks he's a nice guy. But Diaz is, by far, the fight he desires: "That's really the fight that I wanted to have and the fight was going to happen in the beginning. And it didn't happen, because he (Diaz) didn't show up for the promotion. Then after I got hurt and this whole thing happened and -- that's really the fight that I wanted to have happen. Even though I like Carlos Condit better as a person, I would rather fight Nick Diaz." What do you think, Maniacs? Will "GSP" get his wish? Or will he find himself face-to-face with "The Natural Born Killer" next time he enters the Octagon? Opinions, please.

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UFC welterweight champion Georges St. Pierre has begun the process of recovering from a torn ACL and he’s doing well, according to trainer Firas Zahabi.

Posted in: gsp, pierre, champion, zahabi, zahabi gsp

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So maybe Georges St. Pierre is staying in Team Jackson -- and maybe Georges St. Pierre is leaving Team Jackson. This article is published as a rumor because we're not entirely sure, yet we have a slight inclination to believe that it's true. If this rumor is indeed correct, let me fire up my flux capacitor, hop in my Delorean and travel to November 2012 when people on the UG will be creating threads entitled 'Dude, [the winner of Diaz/Condit] only beat GSP because he didn't have Greg Jackson.' Yes, I know if I traveled into the future I would know the winner of Diaz vs. Condit. I would also know if this rumor is true. The flux capacitor is broken today. Sometimes these things happen in MMA. Karim Zidan of 'The Flying Knee' is reporting that Georges St. Pierre has ceased affiliation with Greg Jackson in order to credit his Tristar coach, Firas Zahabi, for the success in his career. Since GSP completes most of his training at Tristar MMA in Montreal, he believed that it was the correct decision to make for his gym. It became clear that people affiliated GSP with Jackson’s MMA and not with his head coach Firas Zahabi, who should take 95% of the credit for building and developing GSP. Although this is now the case, the contractual arrangements may see Jackson in St. Pierre’s next few fights, despite the switch in affiliation. This will only be temporary and soon Jackson’s MMA will have to focus on the stars they have instead of GSP. Since GSP could potentially be facing Carlos Condit on his return, this actually solves the probable issue of dividing camps etc between the two athletes. Team Jackson still has one of the most dominant light heavyweights in UFC history, so I think they're doing alright over there in New Mexico. Breaking Bad. Segue of the year.

Posted in: mma, jackson, gsp, pierre, st

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video platformvideo managementvideo solutionsvideo player TMZ.com recently caught up with Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) Welterweight Champion Georges St. Pierre in a dark alley, peppering him with hard-hitting questions and major fight predictions. "Rush," who is currently recovering from major knee surgery, didn't really take the bait and play along, admitting that he could not fight a bear and win ... even though Chuck Norris has already pulled off the feat. In fact, St. Pierre doesn't even think he can take out a little chimpanzee. Wimp.

Posted in: video, pierre, st, chuck norris, hardhitting questions

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Filed under: UFCJohny Hendricks did at UFC 141 what was once viewed as nearly impossible: He finished Jon Fitch. And Hendricks didn't just finish Fitch, he obliterated Fitch with a knockout punch that completely shakes up the welterweight division in mixed martial arts. Fitch no longer even has a claim for the No. 2 spot in the Top 10, where he has resided for years on many lists (though not on mine), and Hendricks has a strong claim not just to be in the Top 10, but to be towards the top. So how high does Hendricks go? And how far does Fitch drop? And how does the rest of the welterweight division look at a time when Georges St. Pierre is in the midst of an extended layoff? We rank the Top 10 below. Top 10 welterweights in MMA (Editor's note: The individual fighter's ranking the last time we did welterweights is in parentheses.) 1. Georges St. Pierre (1): GSP had demonstrated his dominance over the division so completely that even with a long layoff, he deserves to stay on the top. Unless he has a setback in his recovery from ACL surgery he's expected to face the winner of the upcoming Nick Diaz-Carlos Condit fight in the summer or fall of 2012. 2. Nick Diaz (2): Condit will be the best opponent Diaz has ever faced, but I like Diaz to win the interim welterweight title fight in February. The big question after that will be how long Diaz has to wait for his shot at GSP. 3. Josh Koscheck (4): With two losses to St. Pierre, Koscheck won't get another title shot any time soon, so he's in more of a gatekeeper role in the UFC right now. Koscheck draws Mike Pierce at UFC 143. 4. Johny Hendricks (NR): The quick knockout of Fitch moves Hendricks all the way up to No. 4 in the welterweight Top 10. As an NCAA champion wrestler who hits hard, Hendricks has the right skill set to beat St. Pierre, although he probably won't get the chance to do that any time soon. The UFC should keep Hendricks active against good competition, and if he keeps winning he'll be ready for a title shot once the Diaz-Condit winner has faced GSP. 5. Carlos Condit (5): Condit likes to stay active, so it's disappointing for him that circumstances outside his control led to him fighting just once (and for only half of one round) in 2011. He'll be chomping at the bit for Diaz. 6. Jake Ellenberger (6): The silver lining of the St. Pierre injury is that it has given new contenders in the welterweight division time to establish themselves. It used to be the case that St. Pierre was No. 1 and he had beaten all of the other elite 170-pounders. But now the division has sorted itself out to the point that Koscheck is the only one of the five best welterweights after St. Pierre has previously faced him. Diaz, Hendricks, Condit and Ellenberger would all be new opponents for St. Pierre. 7. Jon Fitch (3): Fitch fought twice in 2011, his draw with B.J. Penn and his loss to Hendricks. Once viewed as a guy who just wins and wins consistently, Fitch hasn't won since he beat Thiago Alves in August of 2010. 8. Rory MacDonald (7): MacDonald should dispatch Che Mills in March, and after that he'd make a lot of sense as a future opponent for Hendricks or Ellenberger. Someone from that group will emerge as a welterweight title contender in late 2012 or early 2013. 9. B.J. Penn (8): Penn is taking some time off following his loss to Diaz, and there's been talk that he just doesn't have the desire to fight anymore. But when he's on his game he's still one of the elite mixed martial artists at either 155 or 170 pounds. 10. Jake Shields (9): With losses to St. Pierre and Ellenberger, Shields went 0-2 in 2011. He should get started with a much better 2012 by beating Yoshihiro Akiyama at UFC 144. Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments

Posted in: pierre, st, welterweight, fitch, hendrick

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(Pic) An uncharacteristically frumpy Georges St. Pierre joins "Haywire" star Gina Carano for the film's big premiere at the DGA Theater on Jan. 5, 2012, in Los Angeles, California. Anyone else going to "Rush" into theaters to see this one? See more pics at Zimbio right here.

Posted in: pierre, st, pic, zimbio right, dga theater

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Even with one leg, it's hard to imagine Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) welterweight kingpin Georges St. Pierre losing a fight against "Weird" author and Comedy Central alum Chris Gethard. But that hasn't stopped the puny comic from talking the talk, most recently as a guest on "Late Night with Jimmy Fallon." "He hasn't been defeated since 2007. I want to challenge him, come on my public access show and fight me, Georges St. Pierre. Gimme a shot at the belt. And I'm not saying I'm gonna beat him, I'm almost definitely not. But yo, what if I did? What if he had the worst day? Imagine if a guy like me beats the champ? It'll be just like Rocky." Hey, anything can happen. After all, who would have thought St. Pierre would have been defeated by a male figure skater? Or ranked one of the "Most Overhyped Athletes of 2011?" Betting line on St. Pierre vs. Gethard?

Posted in: pierre, st, access show, gethard, chris gethard

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After being outclassed by Welterweight Champion Georges St. Pierre in 2008, perennial contender, Jon Fitch, would remain unbeaten for more than three years, posting a 5-0-1 mark over the course of six octagon appearances. Though it had become increasingly difficult to deny that the AKA fighter was the second best 170-pound fighter in the world, a string of lackluster decision wins and draw against B.J. Penn ensured that demand for a St. Pierre vs. Fitch rematch was all but non-existent. And just when it...

Posted in: bj penn, pierre, octagon appearances, johny hendricks, aka fighter

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2011 was a year of massive change for the UFC. They bolstered their ranks substantially, first by offering two new weight classes and then by acquiring their closest competitor in Strikeforce. The company experienced some of their most successful events ever with a record-shattering debut in Toronto, as well as their massively successful return to Brazil this past summer. This all led up to the announcement of a blockbuster deal with the FOX network and the premiere of the UFC on broadcast television. With all this major news there have been plenty of stories that have seemingly fallen through the cracks. One story that has played out over the course of 2011 has been the changing of the guard in the UFC’s welterweight division, as former contenders have continued to fall to up-and-coming fighters throughout the year. Georges St. Pierre continues to hold the championship, but this year has seen him unable to answer the challenge of two new contenders. GSP had another successful title defense at UFC 129 in April, but it was yet another lackluster decision win in a string of five-round affairs from the champ. Sure he’s still the best fighter in the division, but “Captain Canada” has failed to provide much in the way of sizzle for the UFC’s fickle fans. The problem may be one of motivation. In the lead-up to his UFC 129 bout with Jake Shields it seemed as though St. Pierre was going through the motions. GSP constantly made reference to Shields being “the most dangerous opponent he’s ever faced,” which might have more weight if he hadn’t already applied the same label to Dan Hardy not that long ago. As with his previous title defense against Josh Koscheck, St. Pierre kept his opponent at bay with a solid jab and constant footwork. There was little challenge to be had, just as there has been little-to-no challenge in so many of his previous title defenses. It looked like Nick Diaz might be able to provide a tougher test for GSP, but a lack of proper behavior from Diaz left these questions unanswered. There was also the sudden insertion of Carlos Condit into the contender position, but an injury in training took St. Pierre out of the fight. After a vicious beat down on B.J. Penn, some trash-talking from Diaz, and another injury to St. Pierre, we’re now left with an interim UFC Welterweight Championship fight between the last Strikeforce Welterweight Champion and the last WEC Welterweight Champion. St. Pierre isn’t the only fighter at 170 pounds that’s had trouble in 2011, as several of the men who have faced him saw their careers spiral downwards in the last twelve months. Hardy went 0-2 in 2011 to extend his losing streak to four. Thiago Alves was battered for three rounds by Rick Story, and Shields got flattened in under a minute by Jake Ellenberger. Of course this string of top 10 fighters losing to newer competitors was capped off on Friday with Jon Fitch, the consensus #2 welterweight fighter in the world, losing in twelve seconds to Johny Hendricks. On top of that we have former arch-rivals to St. Pierre (and one another) Matt Serra and Matt Hughes seemingly coming to the end of their careers. Serra sat out this last year while Hughes came up short against Koscheck before asking the UFC to “put him on the shelf.” Let’s not forget another former rival of GSP, the two-time two-division UFC champ Penn, who also announced an indefinite vacation from the sport following his loss to Diaz. The times, they are a-changin’ in the UFC’s welterweight division. Diaz and Condit are scheduled for what should be a spectacular fight to crown an interim champ while St. Pierre rests and recuperates. Hendricks has made a pretty good case for himself as the next challenger for the belt, whether it be against the Diaz/Condit winner or the eventual undisputed champion once St. Pierre returns. Ellenberger also has a pretty legitimate claim for a title shot if he can get past Diego Sanchez in February. St. Pierre will have a new challenger to face whenever he returns, but if this past year is any indication it looks like the new blood is taking over. Can GSP retain his dominance against newer and younger fighters? Stay tuned to find out. PHOTO CREDIT – UFC

Posted in: ufc, pierre, st, welterweight, st pierre

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Tough year for UFC welterweight champion Georges St. Pierre. Sure, "Rush" successfully defended his 170-pound title against Jake Shields at UFC 129 back in April, but he also blew out his knee and was named one of the "Most Overhyped Athletes of 2011" by his own countrymen. That's not all. Today (Dec. 28, 2011), it was revealed that St. Pierre was also beat out by figure skater Patrick Chan in the voting for "Canadian Male Athlete of the Year," an award he's bagged and tagged for three straight years. Yahoo! Sports delivers the bad news: Chan, who will turn 21 on New Year's Eve, received 102 points in voting conducted by Canadian sports editors and broadcasters. He easily beat off tennis player Milos Raonic (70) and UFC welterweight champion Georges St. Pierre (66). Hopefully they mean "P-Chiddy" beat out Raonic and St. Pierre. We certainly don't want to reinforce any negative stereotypes surrounding male figure skating. Has St. Pierre's stock reached an all-time low? Despite his nine fight winning streak, GSP is coming off four consecutive unanimous decision victories and hasn't finished a fight early since B.J. Penn threw in the towel way back at UFC 94 in Jan. 2009. Could a violent finish in his next fight -- which may not be until late 2012 -- do anything to reverse his declining popularity? What say you?

Posted in: ufc, pierre, st, year, st pierre

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There’s no question Jon Fitch’s recent accomplishments in MMA are on par with the two individuals fighting for the UFC’s interim welterweight belt at UFC 143, Carlos Condit and Nick Diaz. Fitch is 21-1-1 since 2003 with his only loss coming via decision to Georges St. Pierre and the other blemish involving a draw against B.J. Penn many felt should have gone his way. However, Fitch has been forced to watch both men pass him by due to both a shoulder injury and his sugar-free style of grinding opponents down rather than finishing them. Fortunately, Fitch has a chance to put his name back near the top of the 170-pound pile this Friday night when he faces 11-1 wrestler Johny Hendricks at UFC 141: Lesnar vs. Overeem. And, while he knows the interim champion will have first crack at St. Pierre when he returns in 2012, the former Purdue Boilermaker also thinks there could be a chance the man holding that title is him. “The way I look at it, the winner of the interim belt, that’s like the golden ticket for me. You get to fight for that, and nobody can jump over the guy with the golden ticket. So if you hold that thing, you’re guaranteed that shot with GSP. That’s the way I’m looking at it, that’s the way I approach it, and that’s where the hunger comes from. You get that golden ticket and you get that ride to the chocolate factory,” Fitch joked in an interview with the UFC’s website. St. Pierre is expected to be out until late summer if not fall meaning the necessity for Diaz/Condit to put the interim strap on the line could certainly be a plausible scenario given their bout’s date being in early February. Before Fitch concerns himself with the possibility of sneaking into the mix he has Hendricks in front of him, an accomplished grappler with knockout power. “He’s got a strong left hand, good clinchwork, he’s a good wrestler, good cardio, and he’s a good all-around fighter,” said Fitch of the 28-year old Oklahoman. “I think I excel in a lot of those elements and I think that my experience and ability to blend everything together is what’s gonna overwhelm him and win me the fight.” And even if he has to wait a little longer than desired for a second crack at a UFC championship that’s okay with Fitch even though he feels he deserves the opportunity, knowing contendership is out of his control to a certain extent, adding, “All I can do is keep winning and keep racking up those Ws and start putting some people away again.” Fitch-Hendricks will take place as part of the main PPV card with co-headlining clashes from Donald Cerrone-Nate Diaz and Brock Lesnar-Alistair Overeem. PHOTO CREDIT – UFC

Posted in: ufc, way, pierre, ticket, fitch

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Firas Zahabi is one of the main trainers at the TriStar Gym in Montreal where some of the elite fighters in MMA go to prepare. Zahabi, along with founder Conrad Pla and Bruno Hernandez, currently boast five champions who put in time at their gym including UFC title-holders Jon Jones and Georges St. Pierre. St. Pierre, the UFC welterweight champion, is rehabbing his way back from a torn knee. In the meantime, Carlos Condit and Nick Diaz will meet in early 2012 to crown an interim titleholder, while preparing to meet GSP down the road. “GSP is recovering very well, although it’s only a little over a week since the surgery,” said Zahabi, in a recent interview with MMAFightCorner. “The doctor said the surgery couldn’t have gone any better. Georges will start rehab at The Sports Science Lab, has been in contact with me regularly, and is motivated to start rehabilitation. Everyone is very confident on a full recovery and we are all looking forward to the next training. After rehab its back to MMA training and everyone can’t wait for that.” Zahabi also revealed he and St. Pierre actually started out as training partners, saying, “I was amateur champion at the time and GSP was on his way to becoming a pro, a big prospect. Georges walked into TriStar and we started training together. We got along very quickly and become very close.” PHOTO CREDIT – TWITTER

Posted in: pierre, st, training, george, zahabi

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Typically being ranked alongside the likes of Tiger Woods, Floyd Mayweather Jr., and LeBron James wouldn’t be a bad thing. However, the appeal decreases signifcantly when the group in question relates to a major sports outlet’s “Most Overhyped Athletes of 2011” list. Such is the company Georges St. Pierre found himself in this week with the added sting of the source involving a Canadian publication. According to SportsNet, GSP received a remarkable amount of attention despite accomplishing very little over the past twelve months. The main criticism of St. Pierre’s 2011 campaign had to do with his inability to put Jake Shields away at UFC 129. “It was boring at best and continued a pattern of St. Pierre going the full distance without delivering the knockout blow or submission,” writes the popular MMA source. The 30-year old St. Pierre only fought a single time this year due to injury. PHOTO CREDIT – UFC Tweet

Posted in: pierre, st, st pierre, mma source, canadian publication

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Decisions, decisions. It's been nearly three years since a fight that involved Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) Welterweight Champion Georges St. Pierre ended early."Rush" -- who company president Dana White hails as the promotion's top box office draw -- has competed four times since making B.J. Penn quit on his stool back at UFC 94 in Jan. 2009. And each of those fights -- Thiago Alves, Dan Hardy, Josh Koscheck and Jake Shields -- has ended in his favor via unanimous decision. Besides breaking Koscheck's eye orbital and threatening "The Outlaw" with several solid submission attempts, St. Pierre has turned in solid, albeit safe, performances. It's been described as a "safe" strategy, which, according to Perry Lefko at Canada's SportsNet.ca, leaves much to be desired from one of the supposed top athletes in sports today. So much so, in fact, that St. Pierre has made the not-so-hot "Most Overhyped Athletes of 2011" short list alongside Kris Humphries, Tiger Woods, Danica Patrick, Lebron James, Tim Tebow, Alexander Ovechkin, Floyd Mayweather Jr., Yu Darvish and Andrew Luck. Lefko makes his case for the overhyped St. Pierre after the jump: Ultimate Fighting Championship president Dana White said in December 2011 that St-Pierre is still the most popular athlete in Canada in terms of his international recognition -- we're not so sure about that -- but the welterweight champion is sidelined indefinitely with damaged knee ligaments. And even before his injury, St-Pierre was taking verbal shots from the public, the media and fighters for his inability to put away opponents. He grabbed the international spotlight in April for headlining the first UFC card in Toronto, producing GSP mania. A record UFC crowd of more than 55,000 packed the Rogers Centre to finally see the conquering Canadian hero and he went the full five rounds with Jake Shields in what was more of a clinic on how not to lose a fight than actually win it. Yes, GSP had problems seeing out of one eye because of a shot in the fight, but we've seen fighters with far bigger issues turn it up a notch. It was boring at best and continued a pattern of St-Pierre going the full distance without delivering the knockout blow or submission. Heck, the fight before it on the card was way more entertaining than the main event. St. Pierre only competed once in 2011, defending his 170-pound strap against the aforementioned Shields in the UFC 129 main event before a raucous Canadian crowd in Toronto back in April. He was supposed to fight Nick Diaz -- and then replacement Carlos Condit -- at UFC 137 on Oct. 29, 2011. However, St. Pierre tweaked his knee in training and his return to the Octagon was penciled in for UFC 143 on SuperBowl weekend (Feb. 4) in 2012. He was then recently forced off that card, too, after blowing out the ACL in his knee, which required surgery to repair. St. Pierre will now be on the sidelines for at least 10 months, while Diaz and Condit compete for the interim welterweight title in his absence. He'll fight the winner -- or whoever is champion at the time -- upon his return. Any early predictions on how that fight will end?

Posted in: ufc, fight, pierre, st, st pierre

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Georges St. Pierre may be one of the top draws in the UFC, but he has not been immune from criticism as of late for his risk-averse style while Anderson Silva and Jon Jones continue to finish opponents with flash. Now, sidelined for the rest of 2011 and much (if not all) of 2012, it appears that St. Pierre's time being thought of as one of the two most elite fighters in the sport may be over. St. Pierre's 2011 campaign and inability to get a stoppage win since early 2008 has him on Perry Lefko's list of the most overhyped athletes of 2011 at Sportsnet.ca: Ultimate Fighting Championship president Dana White said in December 2011 that St-Pierre is still the most popular athlete in Canada in terms of his international recognition -- we're not so sure about that -- but the welterweight champion is sidelined indefinitely with damaged knee ligaments. And even before his injury, St-Pierre was taking verbal shots from the public, the media and fighters for his inability to put away opponents. He grabbed the international spotlight in April for headlining the first UFC card in Toronto, producing GSP mania. A record UFC crowd of more than 55,000 packed the Rogers Centre to finally see the conquering Canadian hero and he went the full five rounds with Jake Shields in what was more of a clinic on how not to lose a fight than actually win it. Yes, GSP had problems seeing out of one eye because of a shot in the fight, but we've seen fighters with far bigger issues turn it up a notch. It was boring at best and continued a pattern of St-Pierre going the full distance without delivering the knockout blow or submission. Heck, the fight before it on the card was way more entertaining than the main event. It's hard to not look at GSP's reputation against what he actually accomplished in 2011 and argue that he deserves the hype he gets at this point. The argument isn't over how good he truly is or if he is elite or anything of that nature. It's about hype vs. performance. Similar to how Floyd Mayweather makes an appearance on the list for a year where he did nothing except knock out an overmatched Victor Ortiz with a shot that, while legal, many still consider a suckerpunch. Oh...and get sentenced to a stint in jail.

Posted in: jake shields, pierre, st, welterweight champion, suckerpunch ohand

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Recently, MMA's pound-for-pound universe has been defined by the presence of “the big two,” in the form of Anderson Silva and Georges St. Pierre. However, heading into 2012, It looks like the sport is ready to add a new partner to the pound-for-pound firm.

Posted in: pierre, anderson silva, partner, poundforpound, presence

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UFC Welterweight champion Georges St. Pierre appears to be a fighter who controls his own destiny. He’s the ultimate game planner. If he sees a weakness in his game he fixes it and comes to master it. Case and point would be his wrestling, a skill that usually takes years to develop. While some UFC fighters have been wrestling practically their entire lives, St. Pierre started wrestling much later than most, but today is recognized as one of the best wrestlers in MMA. In short, he took a weakness and

Posted in: pierre, st, ufc fighters, george, game planner

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UFC Welterweight Champion Georges St. Pierre suffered a knee injury while training for his title fight against Nick Diaz at UFC 143 on Feb. 4, 2012, in Las Vegas. His torn ACL was bad enough to require surgery that will reportedly keep him out for around 10 months. "Rush" had surgery roughly one week ago and announced at the time that it was a "huge success." Now, the French-Canadian is already beginning phase one of his rehab. Even laying on his back in bed, "GSP" is working towards a return to the Octagon. From his Facebook: "First phase of rehab: in my room, putting in some work with the CPM (Continuous Passive Motion) machine." Have no clue whatsoever what a CPM machine is or what it's supposed to do? Neither do I. Let's consult Wikipedia to get a better idea of what St. Pierre is doing to get better. Continuous passive motion (CPM) devices are used during the first phase of rehabilitation following a soft tissue surgical procedure or trauma. The goals of phase 1 rehabilitation are control post-operative pain, reduce inflammation, provide passive motion in a specific plane of movement , and protect the healing repair or tissue. CPM is carried out by a CPM device, which constantly moves the joint through a controlled range of motion, the exact range is dependent upon the joint, but in most cases the range of motion is increased over time. Sounds nifty. Currently, there is no timetable for a potential return to the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC); however, it's possible that we won't see the promotion's welterweight champion back inside the Octagon for at least 10 months or more. In the meantime, Carlos Condit and the previously mentioned Diaz will battle for the interim 170-pound belt on Super Bowl weekend to keep the division moving. Upon his return, St. Pierre is expected to face the winner of that bout, or the current interim champion, if the Condit vs. Diaz winner is no longer occupying the top spot. St. Pierre was bit bad by the injury bug recently -- this latest setback was his second in a span of two months, the first of which forced him out of a title fight against the "Natural Born Killer" at UFC 137 back in October. Be sure to check out a great breakdown of all the welterweight drama that has plagued one of the UFC's most celebrated divisions in recent months right here.

Posted in: ufc, pierre, motion, phase, cpm

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Some good news has surfaced on the injury front for UFC superstar Georges St. Pierre, the 22-2 welterweight champion who watched a February title-defense against Nick Diaz go out the window after tearing his ACL while training for the bout. According to the French-Canadian’s doctor, per St. Pierre’s Twitter account, recent surgery to repair the damaged knee was a “huge success,” adding that “Rush” should be back in the ring in less than ten months. Of course, given GSP’s workout routine and reputation for top notch conditioning, chances are the popular 30-year old will be back sooner than expected. St. Pierre Replaced at UFC 143 After Injuring Knee St Pierre’s physician, who performed a “patellar tendon autograft,” is one of the top out there in the field, doing work with a number of professional athletes including his service as the Los Angeles Dodgers’ team practitioner. While he recovers St. Pierre will have to watch as Carlos Condit and Diaz square off over an interim title at the very event GSP was set to defend his belt at. Assuming he is ready to fight in Fall 2012 St. Pierre will have been out of action for approximately sixteen months and no doubt frothing at the bit to get back to business. PHOTO CREDIT – UFC Tweet

Posted in: ufc, pierre, st, st pierre, success ”

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The first leg of Georges St. Pierre’s journey back to the Octagon was deemed an overwhelming success by the involved parties after surgery on the UFC welterweight champ’s knee went off yesterday without a hitch. “My surgery (ACL patellar tendon autograft) was huge success! Ligament very strong. Thanks for support,” wrote St. Pierre via Twitter. GSP tore his ACL while training for a February 4 title-defense against Nick Diaz, then replaced as a result by Carlos Condit with an interim belt being added into the picture. Assuming his rehabilitation goes as planned St. Pierre is expected to be back in action at some point in 2012 between mid-summer and early fall. The 30-year old St. Pierre will no doubt be itching to get back in the Octagon as soon as possible having already been sidelined since April while waiting for an October bout that ultimately fell apart due to a smaller injury to his other knee. “Rush” holds an overall record of 22-2 including wins in his last nine fights and is considered to be one of the top pound-for-pound fighters in MMA. PHOTO CREDIT – UFC

Posted in: nick diaz, pierre, st, st pierre, hitch “

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Speaking via Twitter, reigning UFC Welterweight title Georges "Rush" St. Pierre revealed about having a successful surgery to fix the torn ACL in his left knee. St. Pierre was originally scheduled to defend his UFC Welterweight strap against Nick Diaz at UFC 143 in February, but was forced to pull out of the bout after severely injuring his knee during training. The French-Canadian is expected to stay out of action for at least 10 months, but today, it looks like "Rush" could make his comeback sooner than

Posted in: ufc, pierre, st, knee, knee surgery

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Today was the big day for Georges St. Pierre’s knee surgery. Dr. Neal ElAttrache, who is considered one of the best orthopedic surgeons in sports medicine, performed a complete reconstruction of GSP’s ACL and repaired damage in his meniscus at the Kerlan-Jobe Orthopaedic Clinic in Los Angeles earlier today. According to GSP, the doctor said the operation couldn’t have gone better. Good news! The surgery (ACL patellar tendon autograft reconstruction) was a total success! Dr. Neal ElAttrache, who performed the operation, said it could not have gone better. Ligament is super strong. Thank you for all the messages of support- gave me a lift! St. Pierre’s recovery time is expected to be between 6-10 months depending on how he responds to rehab, so if all goes well, we may see him back in the Octagon late next year. Image via Facebook.com/georgesstpierre

Posted in: pierre, los angeles, today, surgery, year image

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Good news, "Rush" fans. Georges St. Pierre, who blew out the ACL in his knee while training to fight Nick Diaz at UFC 143 on Feb. 4, 2012, today announced that the surgery in Los Angeles, Calif., was a "huge success." His positive reaction (via Twitter.com): Dr. ElAttrache says my surgery (ACL patellar tendon autograft) was huge success! Ligament very strong. Tks for support! Currently, there is no timetable for a potential return to the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC); however, it's possible that we won't see the promotion's welterweight champion back inside the Octagon for at least 10 months or more. In the meantime, Carlos Condit and Nick Diaz will battle for the interim 170-pound belt on SuperBowl weekend to keep the division moving. Upon his return, St. Pierre is expected to face the winner of that bout, or the current interim champion, if the Condit-Diaz winner is no longer in the top spot. St. Pierre was bit bad by the injury bug recently -- this latest setback was his second in a span of two months, the first of which forced him out of a title fight against the "Natural Born Killer" at UFC 137 back in October. Be sure to check out a great breakdown of all the welterweight drama that has plagued one of the UFC's most celebrated divisions in recent months right here.

Posted in: ufc, pierre, st, month, injury bug

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The first step in the process for Georges St. Pierre to return to the octagon was apparently successful. The UFC welterweight champion had been scheduled to have undergo knee surgery sometime this week, and it ended up going down today. Afterwards, he tweeted that everything went well: @GeorgesStPierreGeorges St-Pierre Dr. ElAttrache says my surgery (ACL patellar tendon autograft) was huge success! Ligament very strong. Tks for support! http://t.co/CB2blPAWDec 13 via webFavoriteRetweetReply He also included a picture of himself with the doctor that performed the surgery. St. Pierre was expected to defend his UFC welterweight title at UFC 143, but suffered a partial tear of the meniscus and a full tear of the ACL in his right knee. The initial prognosis by UFC president Dana White was that GSP would be out 10 months, but GSP himself has said that 6-9 months is more realistic. Nick Diaz will now face Carlos Condit for an interim UFC welterweight title at UFC 143.

Posted in: ufc, pierre, knee surgery, surgery, right knee

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With the injury to Georges St. Pierre, UFC 143 needed a little reshuffling and after taking care of the main event, UFC has apparently taken care of one their co-main event fighter. Josh Koscheck, originally scheduled to face Carlos Condit before he took St. Pierre’s spot against Nick Diaz in the headlining fight, will now challenge Mike Pierce on Super Bowl weekend. The fight was confirmed by Pierce on his Twitter account. The two were actually scheduled to fight in January 2010, but Koscheck instead fought Anthony Johnson at UFC 106 while Pierce challenged Jon Fitch at UFC 107. Never one to turn down a fight, Koscheck stepped up on short notice to defeat Matt Hughes at UFC 135 by KO in the dying seconds of the first round. Prior to that, the Ultimate Fighter 1 alumni was on the shelf for nine months due to a orbital injury suffered in his welterweight title bout against St. Pierre. “Kos” will step into the Octagon for the 20th time in his career at UFC 143 and will be searching for his 14th UFC career. He already holds wins over the likes of Diego Sanchez, Chris Lytle, and Frank Trigg. Pierce will be looking for his second straight victory, having notched a win over Paul Bradley at UFC on FOX 1 this past November. The Oregon native made his UFC debut in September 2009, where he upset former WEC stand out Brock Larson. After losing to Fitch, Pierce rattled off three straight victories before falling to Johnny Hendricks by Split Decision at UFC 133. UFC 143: Diaz vs. Condit is scheduled for February 4 at the Mandalay Bay Events Center in Las Vegas, Nevada. The night will be headlined by an interim welterweight title fight between Diaz and Condit. PHOTO CREDIT – UFC

Posted in: ufc, fight, koscheck, pierre, split decision

Read the full article at Five Ounces of Pain

LayzieTheSavage of Middle Easy reached out to Cesar Gracie to get his thoughts on Georges St. Pierre's injury. Gracie is Nick Diaz' long time trainer and manager and has played an important role in Diaz' development from mid-tier UFC fighter to welterweight title contender. As usual with Gracie, he is very honest in his assessment of the situation and doesn't pull any punches when discussing the extent of St. PIerre's injury. St. Pierre has been out of action since fighting Jake Shields earlier this year at UFC 129 and with the news that he could be out for 10 months with a blown out ACL, Georges and the welterweight title will be sidelined for close to two years. The UFC has announced that Nick Diaz and Carlos Condit will be fighting for the interim title while GSP recovers from his injuries. Because of this extended time off, Gracie believes that St. Pierre should be stripped of his title. His reasoning isn't off base either. Fans don't view interim champions as the "real" champion and a champion should be active in his defenses. Gracie believes that Carlos Condit could actually be a tougher opponent for Diaz than St. Pierre. His assessment is that Condit is a more dangerous fighter because he doesn't fight safe. He is a bigger fighter than St. Pierre and has more power in his hands. It should also be commended that Gracie also doesn't allow himself to get baited into calling the injury fake when Layzie attempts to lead the conversation in that direction. HT: Middle Easy Audio after the jump...

Posted in: title, pierre, st, gracie, st pierre

Read the full article at Bloody Elbow

Dana White announced today via twitter today that UFC Welterweight Champion Georges St. Pierre had torn his ACL, required surgery on his knee and would be out of action for at least ten months. In that same tweet, White announced that the February 4th match up of Nick Diaz and Carlos Condit would be for the UFC Interim Welterweight Championship. It is said then when a door shuts a window opens, but in this case for UFC welterweights the window has flown open. The shadow St. Pierre casts over the division is long. When he first became champion, there was no shortage of challengers but as his dominance grew challengers where picked because they represented a new style that could possible give the Canadian troubles. Elite Welterweights who had their chance at St. Pierre and faltered have been relegated to gatekeeper status, but keep scrupulously away from the most promising prospects so not to derail new possible challengers to the Champion. But now those concerns are a thing of the past, at least for a year. Welterweights under UFC contract had extra energy in their training today because they have a chance for UFC gold if they can put a few wins together. On February 5th either Nick Diaz or Carlos Condit will be the defending champion of the division, and then the question of who is next can be addressed. The welterweight schedule is wide open as the majority of high level welterweights are currently still waiting for their next fight. Names like Jake Ellenberger, Diego Sanchez, and Martin Kampmann were already in title talks before this news and now they are almost certainly one big win away from a title shot. I fully expect Jake Ellenberger vs Diego Sanchez fight winner to be matched with the winner of Diaz/Condit. And even after that there is still a long line of possible challengers; Jon Hathaway, Mike Pierce, Johny Hendricks, Mike Pierce and even Rick Story are still present in the title picture. And then there is the laundry list of elite fighters that have already had title shots against GSP. Jon Fitch, Thiago Alves, Josh Koscheck, Jake Shields, and BJ Penn are still top level welterweights who were left searching for their place in a division where a title shot was no longer an option. While they likely will not be the first in line for this interim title because Zuffa brass may fear the image of a man GSP has already beat being hailed as champion, but it is highly likely that the UFC will be less nervous about throwing these elite fighters in against each other and against prospects. This is not meant to celebrate the injury of a great champion and fighter, I wish Georges St. Pierre a swift and complete recovery. One thing is certain, when St. Pierre returns from injury there will be a new cream of the welterweight division chopping at the bit for a chance to face him.

Posted in: ufc, pierre, st, welterweight, champion

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&& As welterweight champion, Georges St. Pierre made obsolete even the most hard-nosed and stalwart of contenders. In light of their disastrous title bids, fighters like Jon Fitch, Josh Koscheck, and Thiago Alves were, in the minds of many, left scrambling for a distant second place. His gentlemanly bearing and congenial nature belied the fact that, upon the UFC welterweight division, the champion imposed a brutal and perfect order: Before all else, Georges St. Pierre. For the foreseeable future, that order has been suspended. In light of St. Pierre's horrendous injury, someone like Jon Fitch appears different, newly relevant. As Chad Raynard wrote of the wrestling juggernaut: He has one of the best records in UFC history, yet a second crack at the belt has eluded him for quite some time. It was unlikely Fitch was going to get a shot at GSP without at least another two or three wins, but now he's found a short cut. Indeed he has. And while the unlikelihood of that second title shot might have had somewhat to do with Fitch's plodding, grinding style, I would suggest that the unprecedented thrashing he received from St. Pierre likewise sticks in everyone's mind. Yet, in the context of the current welterweight title picture, the fact of that beating takes a back seat to Fitch's sterling record and elite rank. Much the same could be said of the aforementioned Koscheck and Alves who, despite the night-terrors they might inflict on the rest of the UFC welterweights, walked away from their title fights much the richer in hematoma and fractures. When it comes to these perennial contenders, what was old is new again. The heightened relevance also extends to newly surging welterweights like Rory Macdonald, Anthony Johnson, and, perhaps most significantly, Jake Ellenberger. Ellenberger might have been a hard sell next to Georges St. Pierre, but now--given his crowd-pleasing style, his highly competitive fight against title contender Carlos Condit, and his KO of Jake Shields, teammate of UFC 143's other title contender, Nick Diaz--Ellenberger is an infinitely more viable challenger for the belt. And without having to worry too much now about the chance of a third match between St. Pierre and Koscheck, any of this new class can be freely matched up against past contenders en route to a championship fight. Georges St. Pierre's hiatus from the Octagon is a huge loss for the UFC, fans, and the man himself. However, for the shark tank that is the UFC's welterweight division, there's blood in the water.

Posted in: ufc, title, pierre, st, welterweight

Read the full article at Head Kick Legend

In case you were living under a rock, Dana White announced earlier today (Dec. 7, 2011) that Georges St. Pierre suffered a knee injury and would be forced to back out of his planned Feb. 2012 title defense against Nick Diaz at UFC 143 in Las Vegas, Nevada. In light of this depressing news, St. Pierre -- along with his friend and doctor Sebastian Simard -- held a conference call with the national media to discuss his injury and to answer questions related to the bad break. MMAmania.com was on the line and has all the details that were released during the call, which included the specifics of the injury, what surgery he'll require, how long he's expected to be out and who St. Pierre blames for his current predicament. We'll begin after the jump with a quote from Dr. Simard, discussing just exactly what went wrong with the talented Canadian's bum knee. It's not pretty: "In the preparation for Carlos Condit, he injured his left knee during a sparring session. The diagnosis at that moment was a sprained MCL, a diagnosis that was confirmed by the MRI. Georges tried to continue his trainign camp even though he had the pain and while doing another sparring session, he had the little injury on the right leg at the time and the diagnosis on his right leg was a pulled hamstring. So, having injuries on both knees, we decided to cancel the fight against Mr. Condit. Georges went on and did his physical therapy and rehab and everything went perfectly. He recovered completely from the injury to the left knee. He started back training and while doing wrestling, he tried to defend a takedown and at that time, he suffered a hyperextension on the right knee. He felt pain and he heard a crack inside his knee at that time. It was terrible to walk and there was not much swelling on the knee so he tried to continue training but in the few days after, he felt the pain and the instability was increasing so he called me, he was in Vegas and we did an MRI on Monday morning. I saw Georges yesterday with the results of the MRI and the physical exam that I did confirmed that Georges suffered a complete tear of his ACL and a small tear of his internal meniscus on the right knee, which is not the same knee that he suffered the sprained MCL in mid-October." St. Pierre chose to simply rest and let his body heal naturally the last time he suffered the sprain to his MCL, but with the severity of the injury this time around, he's going to have to take more drastic measures if he wants to recover fully. Dr. Simard continued: "Considering the instability and the pain, surgery for Georges is mandatory. There's no way he can compete with the problem on the right knee. We're looking at doing an ACL reconstruction with meniscal repair. The technique that's going to be used is the technique of anatomical ACL reconstruction, which is the best technique for this kind of injury." Now the money question, how long will it be before GSP is fully recovered and ready to defend his title once more? Dr. Simard finished his statements by talking about St. Pierre's recovery process and included a potential time table until he returned to the Octagon: "I'm expecting a full recovery for Georges within 6-9 months. The success rate for this surgery is above 95 percent. I've been the treating doctor for Georges for five years now and I did two surgeries on him already for elbow endoscopy. His recovery rate is completely off the charts. He has an amazing genetics and he has extraordinary physical capabilities and I know Georges has the discipline and the determination that's gonna allow him to be back to the same level of competition that he was before the injury." With the doctor out of the way, it was time to hear from the UFC welterweight champion, himself. Georges St. Pierre naturally is frustrated with his situation, but he's going to be optimistic about his recovery and his future. He had a nice message for everyone (including Cesar Gracie) who's been down on him since his injury was announced earlier today. "A few months ago I was on top of the world but now I'm in a downfall, but you recognize a champion by how he comes back from a loss, not how he is when everything goes well. Everybody that says bad stuff about me now, mark my words, I'm gonna tell you right now, right now I'm in a downfall in my life, but in a few months I'm gonna be back stronger than ever and I will be champion again. I promise." Lastly, who did St. Pierre blame for the injury, which occurred a hard training session? The answer may surprise you. "I believe that there is only one person to blame for what happened and it's myself. I'm the kind of guy where sometimes I endure pain and go through it and that's what I do all the time. I learned a big lesson in my life and it's only gonna make me stronger, smarter and more clever. It's nobody else to blame, it's myself. It's a freak accident that happened in training. This injury I have, it's called a 'compensation injury' because I compensate because one of my legs was almost 100 percent healed but I was compensating a little bit more with the other and I think that's what happened. It's all about compensation and I learned the hard way." Coming back to 100 percent from an ACL tear can be a very difficult thing, especially for someone who relies on his freak athletic abilities like Georges St. Pierre. We've seen several fighters who were never quite the same in terms of explosiveness after horrible knee injuries like Mauricio Rua. Will GSP ever be the same? What's your take on the situation, Maniacs?

Posted in: pierre, st, injury, george, knee

Read the full article at MMA Mania

Carlos Condit has had a roller coaster of an autumn with the UFC granting him a shot at Georges St. Pierre's belt after Nick Diaz failed to fulfill media obligations. St. Pierre then dropped off the UFC 137 card with a MCL injury to his left knee and Condit was pulled from the card. After Diaz' performance against B.J. Penn at UFC 137 Condit's shot was taken away and he was set to face Josh Koscheck at UFC 143. This morning the UFC formally announced that St. Pierre had injured his knee and that Condit would be facing Diaz for the interim UFC welterweight title. Carlos and his management team remained silent for much of the day before posting a video on youtube with his quick reactions to the news. So...another change of opponents. It's been kind of a crazy ride the last couple months but you know, just gotta kinda roll with it. The good thing is that I've been training and focusing on what I need to be doing to win a fight no matter who they put in front of me. I'm really excited. I've been wanting to step into the octagon with Nick Diaz for a really long time. Great fighter. Great skill set. I think that we're really going to put on a good show for the fans. I'm sure everybody's excited. Like I said, I'm stoked. I will be the UFC interim champion. And then when Georges gets better I will be the undisputed UFC champion. Video after the jump...

Posted in: ufc, diaz, nick diaz, pierre, condit

Read the full article at Bloody Elbow

Nick Diaz and Carlos Condit will fight for the interim UFC welterweight title, due to Georges St. Pierre's knee injury.

Posted in: gsp, sport, pierre, injury, carlos condit

Read the full article at Yahoo! Sports

Today's shocking news that UFC welterweight champion Georges St. Pierre is injured and out of UFC 143 leaves a lot of questions to answer. How will the Nick Diaz vs. Carlos Condit interim title fight play out? How will the UFC deal with the loss of one of its biggest stars? And I'm sure Nick Diaz will demand we ask if GSP is ducking him. All of these are important questions, but to me the big one is this: Has Georges St. Pierre just lost the best years of his career? According to Dana White, the champion will be out of action for 10 months. Add in training time to get back in shape and we could be looking at early 2013 for a St. Pierre return. He already has not fought since UFC 129 in April and his defeat of Jake Shields. So now, we could be looking at a near two year gap between fights for St. Pierre. In the world of sports, and for a fighter in his prime, those two years are an eternity. St. Pierre will have to come back against either Condit or Diaz (or, potentially, some other challenger who wins the belt in the meantime), which will be a serious test for a fighter with such ring rust. And it is not just time off that is an issue - it's time off with a serious injury. We've seen fighters come back from big, injury-filled lay-offs and just not be the same. Shogun Rua, Frank Mir, Thiago Alves - there's a large list. Can St. Pierre do what he has done so many times before - prove that he is on a different level and win in the face of this adversity? It will be a tough road. Beyond just his immediate return, there is also the question of GSP's long-term run at the top. He fought Shields at the age of 29, and will return at 31 (or 32 if the recovery takes some time). Those are prime years of athletic peak that St. Pierre has had taken away from him. He already has 9 years of experience and 24 fights under his belt. Even without this injury it was fair to ask how much longer he could stay at the very top. Now, the question becomes even more important. As the leg injuries accumulate, and the years stack up, is it possible that we have seen the end of St. Pierre's run of dominance? Will it be that time and injury - those two enemies of all - have dethroned one of the top two fighters of this era? Obviously, it's too early to say. But when he comes back, I know we will all be watching closely to see if the St. Pierre that has dominated the division for 4 years is still here, or if that fighter is a thing of the past.

Posted in: time, fighter, pierre, st, year

Read the full article at Bloody Elbow

An all too familiar revolving door spun again today when it was announced UFC welterweight champ Georges St. Pierre had torn his ACL and would be out for ten months while recovering. As a result, GSP will obviously no longer be able to compete at UFC 143 against Nick Diaz as originally scheduled based on the condition of his knee. Stepping in for the fallen star will be Carlos Condit who himself was believed to be in line for the title-shot, even booked for it at UFC 137 until St. Pierre backed out with a separate injury, but watched Diaz snatch his spot with a dominating performance against BJ Penn at the same event. Condit was already in the midst of training for a fight at UFC 143 with Josh Koscheck and should be in solid condition already as a result. Since St. Pierre’s last championship defense came in April an interim belt will be created for the purpose of Condit vs. Diaz. Diaz Talks his Way Into Title-Shot Both Condit and Diaz are on impressive winning streaks with Diaz’s dating back to 2007 and spanning eleven fights, while “The Natural Born Killer” has put together four victories in a row with success against Dong Hyun Kim, Dan Hardy, Rory MacDonald, and Jake Ellenberger. Each is also known for finishing opponents with Condit putting together 26 stoppages in 27 total wins and Diaz 21 of 26. UFC 143 is also scheduled to feature Erik Koch vs. Dustin Poirier, as well as Amir Sadollah in action. It is not yet known if Koscheck will be given a new opponent at the event though it seems likely given the amount of time involved before the February 4 show. PHOTO CREDIT – UFC Tweet

Posted in: ufc, jake ellenberger, diaz, pierre, condit

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Jonathan Snowden argues that the "loss of Georges St. Pierre is particularly damaging to a UFC in transition." Read it at MMA Nation.

Posted in: ufc, loss, pierre, jonathan snowden, snowden

Read the full article at Bloody Elbow

Georges St. Pierre was set to defend his welterweight belt against Nick Diaz at UFC 137 before Diaz missed a media obligation. He was then scheduled to face Carlos Condit on the same card in a title defense. Then the news broke that he suffered an injury to his knee in practice and would defend his belt against Diaz at UFC 143. It appears that the injury was much worse than originally suspected as St. Pierre will be out for more than 10 months. The UFC is now scheduling Condit vs Diaz for the interim welterweight title. @danawhiteDana White GSP blown acl will be out for 10 mos. Now Condit vs Diaz for the interim welterweight title on Feb 4th in Las Vegas!!Dec 07 via Twitter for iPhoneFavoriteRetweetReply This is terrible news for the UFC as St. Pierre is one of the few fighters on the roster that can carry a card at the box office on his own. The recovery time also suggests that he'll need a ton of rehab which could mean that when he returns, he could be with out some of that explosive movement. The Condit vs Diaz fight should be an early Fight of the Year candidate. Bloody Elbow will have more analysis as news comes in about the extent injury in the coming days.

Posted in: diaz, vs, pierre, condit, st pierre

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Current UFC Welterweight champion Georges St. Pierre will be on the shelf for 10 months after injuring his ACL while training for his UFC 143 title fight against Nick Diaz. Carlos Condit, who had been scheduled to face Josh Koscheck on the same card has been moved into St. Pierre’s spot and the fight will be for the interim Welterweight title, something that Diaz’s trainer/manager, Cesar Gracie is not fully in agreement with.  In fact, if Gracie had his way, St. Pierre would be stripped of

Posted in: ufc, title, pierre, st, gracie

Read the full article at Low Kick

Nick Diaz is great, but Georges St. Pierre is better. At least, that's according to the Welterweight champ, who says Diaz is deserving of a title shot, but will lose come Super Bowl weekend. Initially scheduled to meet in a "Champion vs. Champion" bout at UFC 137, the on-again, off-again showdown between St. Pierre and Diaz was eventually pushed back to February 4th...

Posted in: title shot, diaz, pierre, st, welterweight champ

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Reigning Welterweight Champion Georges St. Pierre, who will put his title on the line when he meets Nick Diaz on Super Bowl weekend, takes time out to attend a meet and greet and sign autographs for fans in Montreal, Quebec, Canada while promoting his fitness DVD, "GSP RushFit", which has already sold more than 250,000 copies.

Posted in: nick diaz, pierre, bowl weekend, rushfit, sign autographs

Read the full article at Low Kick

UFC Welterweight Champion Georges St. Pierre hit Montreal for a meet-and-greet with fans in advance of his upcoming title defense against Nick Diaz at UFC 143 on Feb. 5, 2012, in Las Vegas, Nevada. This video, above all else, highlights some of the perils of autograph signings. Everything from "Can you put me in a headlock?" to "I baked you cookies!" Enjoy.

Posted in: nick diaz, video, pierre, title defense, montreal autograph

Read the full article at MMA Mania

So I got this really nice crystal ball from the thrift store yesterday and I thought I would use it to foretell what Georges St. Pierre would say in his black/white pre-fight interview that airs just before the UFC 143 broadcast. I can guarantee you that GSP will mention something along the lines of 'I will be the best Georges St. Pierre that I've ever been and the worst Georges St. Pierre can beat the best Nick Diaz'. He will also use 'He can't handle my rhythm', then the gladiator will appear on-screen, the hard-metal will blast through your television set, and you will run around your living room like a lunatic. I tried using my thrift-store crystal ball to predict what would be the outcome for the main event of UFC 143, but my neighbor thought it was a giant Gobstopper and tried to eat it whole. He's dead, now. Death by crystal ball. He should have saw it coming. Canada's 'Slam Sports' caught up with GSP to get his take on his upcoming bout with Nick Diaz, which is slated to go down at UFC 143 -- that is if Dana White doesn't pull Diaz from the main event, again. St. Pierre doesn't seem too stressed out by Nick Diaz's smack talk because he can't even understand it. "I’ve seen it all from everyone before, if they’re trying to get into my head and make me fight a bad fight, it’s just mind games and it doesn’t work." "I don’t even understand (or) speak English very well. I don’t understand most of the things that (Diaz) says when he trash talks. I don’t really care." “I’m just going to focus on hurting him.” In the infinite possibilities that can exist in this world, one of these is Georges St. Pierre being stalked by a UFOs and aliens are secretly controlling his actions. It's not my idea, nor could I even invent something so esoteric. It belongs to a guy named Jon Kelly and he so vehemently believes it to be true that he created a twenty-minute documentary where he breaks down phrases from GSP, plays them back, and finds hidden messages of his 'alien abduction'. Among these message is the absurd, 'I'm mad, molest the ass' which is apparently GSP's way of saying that he was violated by extraterrestrials. Too bad these alien intruders still can't convince Georges St. Pierre that he should not 'be scared, homie.'  [Source]

Posted in: diaz, ’t, pierre, st, george

Read the full article at Middle Easy

Our friends at SporTV passed along these pics of Georges St. Pierre and Vitor Belfort training together as both fighters prepare for their upcoming bouts in 2012. From VitorBelfort.com: Alvaro Romano introduced his unique training to GSP and his champion crew. It was a day of full throttle intense training. The introduction was his core principles then followed by BJJ three world time champion Gilbert Durinho showing some inside information. St. Pierre will defend his welterweight title against Nick Diaz at UFC 143 on Feb. 4 in Las Vegas while Belfort welcomes Anthony Johnson to the 185-pound weight class at UFC 142 on Jan. 14 in Brazil. More pics after the jump. Whaddaya think Maniacs, did the best just get better? And does anyone else think "Rush" can make the trip up to 185 based on these photos? See the entire gallery, which also features UFC heavyweight Brendan Schaub (among others) by clicking here.

Posted in: ufc, pierre, belfort, training, pic

Read the full article at MMA Mania

UFC Welterweight Champion Georges St. Pierre heard Jake Ellenberger loud and clear when "The Juggernaut" made the claim that his style matches up well with the French-Canadian's and he thinks he can be the man to finally dethrone St. Pierre. "Rush," of course, has some business to take care of first, in the form of Nick Diaz at UFC 143 on Feb. 5, 2012, in Las Vegas, Nevada. For his part, "GSP" can't wait for that fight to finally happen, as it's the bout he's wanted all along. Why? Because he wants to fight the best. That may very well include Ellenberger if he continues his winning ways while St. Pierre handles his business at the top of the card. Anyone itching to see Ellenberger vs. St. Pierre sooner rather than later?

Posted in: jake ellenberger, ellenberger, pierre, st, card anyone

Read the full article at MMA Mania

Moments after Nick Diaz defeated B.J. Penn at UFC 137 he made it a point to call welterweight champion Georges St. Pierre out, questioning whether or not his knee had actually been hurt to the point it prevented him from fighting on the same night. Within an hour of Diaz’s rant the UFC handed him a title-shot while citing St. Pierre’s anger at the comments. However, to hear GSP tell his side of the story, it looks like Diaz’s challenge didn’t get under his skin at all and that he actually preferred to fight the former Strikeforce star all along. “I’m very happy to fight him,” St. Pierre stated in an interview with QMI. “It’s always been the fight I’ve wanted to have. They only thing is he did not show up at the press conference…so the fight got cancelled – not because of me, but because of him and what he had done. But me, I wanted to fight him. He wanted to have a title fight and he got it. (Talking trash) the best way to do it and it’s not personal.” Drawing criticism from his opponents whether directed at him as a person or fighter is nothing new to “Rush” who dealt with similar smack during the build for bouts against Matt Serra, Josh Koscheck, and a handful of other competitors the 22-2 St. Pierre went on to successfully defeat inside the Octagon. “I’ve seen it all from everyone before. If they’re trying to get into my head and make me fight a bad fight, it’s just mind games and it doesn’t work,” St. Pierre explained before adding in that much of what people say to him gets lost in translation. “I don’t even understand (or) speak English very well. I don’t understand most of the things that (Diaz) says when he trash-talks. I don’t really care.” In fact, St. Pierre says he has a far more worthwhile goal to direct his attention to rather than buy into Diaz’s hate. “I’m just going to focus on hurting him,” the 30-year old concluded. PHOTO CREDIT – UFC

Posted in: fight, diaz, ’t, pierre, st

Read the full article at Five Ounces of Pain

What's that you s-eh? After their first title fight, which was scheduled to headline UFC 137, was scratched after Nick Diaz was yanked from the fight for missing a pair of press conferences, Georges St. Pierre and the Stockton slugger will finally meet in the center of the Octagon. The title fight will headline UFC 143 on Feb. 5, 2012 in Las Vegas, Nevada, to determine the number one mixed martial arts (MMA) welterweight fighter in the world. In the roller-coaster ride that was UFC 137, Carlos Condit was pegged as Diaz's replacement against St. Pierre; however, an injury forced "Rush" out of the fight. Diaz was then bumped back into the main event slot opposite B.J. Penn while "The Natural Born Killer" was forced to hit the sidelines. After Diaz forced Penn into retirement due to a three round beating, the bad boy from Stockton took to the mic in his post-fight speech to call out the UFC welterweight champion by claiming he was ducking him by faking the injury. The speech was enough to force UFC President Dana White to make an executive decision and award Diaz the title fight against St. Pierre instead of Condit, who once again came up on the short end of the stick, missing out on his second title shot.The often humble and reserved St. Pierre doesn't seem to mind the trash talk though, because as he tells the QMI Agency (via Slam.canoe.ca) he doesn't really understand the trash talk of Diaz due to the fact that he does not speak or understand the English language very well: "He did very well (against Penn.) He's the No. 1 contender and he deserves a shot. I'm very happy to fight him. It's always been the fight I've wanted to have. They only thing is he did not show up at the press conference ... so the fight got cancelled - not because of me, but because of him and what he had done. But me, I wanted to fight him. He wanted to have a title fight and he got it. (Calling me out is) the best way to do it and it's not personal. I've seen it all from everyone before. If they're trying to get into my head and make me fight a bad fight, it's just mind games and it doesn't work. I don't even understand (or) speak English very well. I don't understand most of the things that (Diaz) says when he trash talks. I don't really care. I'm just going to focus on hurting him. If I hit him well, he's going to fall. He's a human being. He's not different than anyone else. He's got good boxing and great at Brazilian jiu-jitsu. It's going to be a good fight."  St. Pierre also briefly talked about Carlos Condit's unfortunate situation of losing his title shot for a second time: "I haven't spoken to Carlos, but he's going to have a title fight after Diaz. I know he's mad. If I were in that situation, I would have been mad as well. But in the first place it was always Diaz. He was supposed to have the shot." It's a good thing St. Pierre doesn't mind the trash talk, because he can expect a heavier doseage from Diaz leading up to fight night, though he won't likely engage in a back and forth as he never has been known to be a trash talk specialist. Instead, the UFC welterweight kingpin will have a chance to let his fists do the talking for him in a little over three months. As for St. Pierre's training partner Condit, he won't have to ride the pine much longer as he is penciled in to co-headline the event opposite Josh Koscheck to determine who gets the next shot at the UFC welterweight title. UFC 143 will have no shortage of fireworks as four of the top welterweights on the planet will be in action in the quest to determine the world's number one. Until then, language barriers permitting, enjoy the trash talk that Nick Diaz is sure to deliver. Are you buying Georges St. Pierre's claims that he doesn't understand his upcoming opponents trash talk due to the English language barrier?

Posted in: ufc, fight, diaz, title, pierre

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Not wanting to sit on the sidelines and wait for his crack at the UFC welterweight strap, Carlos Condit will step back into the cage in February to take on former #1 contender Josh Koscheck with his title shot on the line. The two welterweights are set to clash at UFC 143, the night before the Super Bowl. Koscheck Tweeted that he has signed the bout agreement for the fight and posted a picture to offer proof. Condit’s had a roller coaster ride in division over the past couple of months. Originally scheduled to fight B.J. Penn in the co-main event of UFC 137, Condit was moved to the main event against champion Georges St. Pierre in place of Nick Diaz, who remained on the card to fight Penn. Unfortunately for Condit, St. Pierre had to pull out of the fight with knee injury just a week before the event. UFC president Dana White contended that Condit would remain the next challenger for the belt, no matter the outcome of Diaz vs. Penn. The Stockton native went on to dominate the Hawaiian prodigy, winning a unanimous decision, at UFC 137 and after his victory accused St. Pierre of ducking him and faking an injury. The comments upset the champion so much that he asked to fight Diaz instead of Condit in his next bout. With GSP’s decision to take on a different opponent, that left Condit without a fight. Enter Koscheck. The Ultimate Fighter 1 alum was willing to step in for St. Pierre and fight Condit at UFC 137, but nothing ever came of Koscheck’s challenge. Now, with St. Pierre taking on Diaz on the same night, Koscheck will get his wish. Both men are coming off first round Knockout of the Night victories, with Koscheck finishing Matt Hughes at UFC 135 and Condit blasting Dong Hyun Kim at UFC 132. UFC 143 is scheduled for February 4 at the Mandalay Bay Events Center in Las Vegas, Nevada. PHOTO CREDIT – UFC

Posted in: ufc, fight, koscheck, pierre, condit

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Event: UFC 143: "St. Pierre vs. Diaz"Date: Saturday, Feb. 4, 2012, at 10 p.m. ET on pay-per-view (PPV)Location: Mandalay Bay Events Center in Las Vegas, Nevada Main event: 170 lbs.: Georges St. Pierre vs. Nick Diaz Main card (pay-per-view): 170 lbs.: Carlos Condit vs. Josh Koscheck155 lbs.: Erik Koch vs. Dustin Poirier Preliminary card (May not be broadcast): TBA **Fight card and line up subject to change For more on UFC 143: "St. Pierre vs. Diaz" be sure to hit up our event archive right here.

Posted in: vs, event, pierre, st, card

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Immediately following his win over B.J. Penn at UFC 137 back on Oct. 29, Nick Diaz called out Georges St. Pierre in the hopes that he would receive a second chance at the title shot he forfeited for flaking on a few press conference appearances. It worked. That's because UFC President Dana White claimed St. Pierre was angry enough to track him down and outright demand the fight be made for UFC 143 on Feb. 4, 2012. So the bout was put together and now the two will tussle in "Sin City." But "Rush" has had some time to cool off now and he no longer holds any ill will towards Diaz, if he ever did. He still really wants to fight him, but he doesn't necessarily think he's such a bad guy anymore. "I think he's very smart, in a way," said St. Pierre. "I don't think he's a bad person, I think he disrespected me to push me to try to have a title shot. And I just hope he shows up for the press conferences and all his responsibilities that's around the fight to make this fight happen because I want to fight him." I think we can all agree, White will do everything in his power to ensure this welterweight championship fight goes off without a hitch. There's far too much money on the line for any more snafus.

Posted in: fight, title shot, press conferences, pierre, st

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Reigning Welterweight Champion Georges St. Pierre, who will go head to head with Nick Diaz in February, discusses his opponent and provides an update on his knee injury. St. Pierre admits that he's found added motivation ahead of this fight, and says there will be a "different Georges St. Pierre" against Diaz.

Posted in: diaz, nick diaz, pierre, st, george

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submitted by alphahouse44 [link] [2 comments]

Posted in: i wouldnt, nick diaz, pierre, wouldnt, mmamaniacom

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A lot of mixed martial arts fans had a problem with the way Nick Diaz, egged on by his coach and manager Cesar Gracie, called out reigning welterweight champion Georges St. Pierre. Flashback to UFC 137 on Oct. 29, 2011, when Diaz secured a dominant three round unanimous decision win over former division champion B.J. Penn. In his post fight interview with color commentator Joe Rogan, a victorious Diaz declared, "He's scared." Right after Gracie shouted "Call that (expletive) out!" While the tried-and-true call-out is the quickest and easiest way to land a title shot (see Sonnen, Chael), it did nothing to help Diaz overcome the bad-boy reputation he's earned throughout his career. But as the wily Stockton slugger explains to Fight Hype, he wouldn't have had to call St. Pierre out, if "Rush" would have simply asked for the fight. "I had to come out and do what I had to do and fight, and come out all dramatic and act up, and next thing you know, I got a fight, so I'm sure he can't blame me for that. That fight is important anyway because that's the fight that people want to see because I beat all of these important people. I have three Strikeforce belts. If I was him, I would be asking to fight me. If he would have automatically asked for it, then we wouldn't be in this situation he's in where he's not saying nothing. He should have said, 'This is who I want to fight.' It's not about being a challenger; it's about who is champion at the weight. I'm holding three titles, you know? And I got that DREAM champion too, so you can make that four. It's just as important as anything else and I know I would want to fight another champion before I would want to fight a high contender. Even if I know that high contender is better than the champion, I would still want to fight the champion because he's considered the best guy. That's the route I would have took." Diaz will get his shot at the 170-pound title when he locks up with St. Pierre at UFC 143 on Feb. 4, 2012 at the Mandalay Bay Events Center in Las Vegas, Nevada. Anyone have a problem with the way Diaz earned his crack at the crown? Was it St. Pierre's job to ask for this fight? Or Joe Silva's? What say you?

Posted in: fight, diaz, pierre, st, champion

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About $4 to $5 million per fight. That's according to Georges St. Pierre himself, who recently told the Agence France-Presse how much he makes every time he fights on pay-per-view: "I learned that the UFC makes the most money on pay-per-view when I am fighting. That made me smile. For me, a fight is (worth) $4 to $5 million, and in the city where the UFC holds its events, there are economic benefits of between $15 to $20 million. It's huge!" It sure is good to be the king of the welterweight division, huh? While that's certainly a high number, it should come as no surprise. After all, UFC President Dana White recently made it clear that St. Pierre is the biggest pay-per-view star in the business: "Let me put it to you this way: Georges St. Pierre is, by far, the biggest pay-per-view star in mixed martial arts. By far. By far. The biggest pay-per-view star. Big. By far the biggest pay-per-view star in MMA. So, for what it's worth, for people who want to say he's this or that." According to the cold hard numbers, Brock Lesnar sells more pay-per-views on average than St. Pierre. And thanks to his getting a cut of that considerable piece of pie, we can safely say that Lesnar makes even more than "GSP." Who says MMA doesn't pay? Anyone surprised at hearing this number? Or did you expect it to be even higher?

Posted in: pierre, st, st pierre, payperview, payperview star

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submitted by MattyBlayze [link] [1 comment]

Posted in: pierre, st, george, mattyblayze, coin

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FanPost edited and promoted to the front page by MMAmania.com. Georges St. Pierre is the greatest welterweight mixed martial arts (MMA) fighter to ever live. Holding a 22-2 record, and avenging both of those losses, "GSP" has defended his championship six consecutive times, but has come under fire for being a point fighter. Since regaining the 170-pound title from Matt Serra, every one of St. Pierre's title defenses have come by way of decision, not including the corner stoppage of B.J. Penn In fact, until Jake Shields won two of five rounds against him, the champion did not lose a round on all the judges scorecards for 130 consecutive minutes. Let that soak in. "GSP" did not lose for over two hours of professional fighting. That, in itself, is an amazing accomplishment. Many fans still clamor for more, though, and St. Pierre is to blame. He is expected to finish fights. As an up-and-coming fighter, he made his name by finishing fights. When he was 7-0, with six stoppages, he was given a title shot against legendary former welterweight champion Matt Hughes. While St. Pierre did not attain victory, he came back strong after his first professional defeat, going 5-0 with three stoppages, to earn another shot at Hughes, who he subsequently finished by way of strikes. The new breed welterweight champion was born. But then Matt Serra comes along and messes everything up. I won't bore you with the details, but "Rush" did, in fact, tap to strikes. Where am I going with this, you say? Well, St. Pierre fights in arguably the toughest division in MMA. His opponents have been the best fighters available to him. But how tough were his opponents, exactly?  Are these guys getting knocked out or submitted on a regular basis? Should "GSP" be finishing these fighters?  Come with me after the jump to find out.   Before poking St. Pierre in the eye, Jake Shields had not been stopped in a professional fight since 2000.  More than 11 years passed between that stoppage and fighting the welterweight king. Carlos Condit, Dan Henderson, Paul Daley, Robbie Lawler, Yushin Okami, Martin Kampmann, Mike Pyle and Nick Thompson couldn't stop him. Hell, they couldn't even beat him. "Hendo," the guy who just knocked out Fedor freaking Emelianenko, had Shields on Queer Street for the majority of the first round in their fight and couldn't finish, but "GSP" was supposed to? Really?   Josh Koscheck has been finished twice in his career.  Once by a Drew Fickett rear-naked choke in 2005 and once by knockout at the hands of Paulo Thiago in February 2009, which you can see below.   Did anyone really think Koscheck would take anyone that lightly again? He has fought two very accomplished power punchers since. Anthony Johnson thought "Kos" would box with him and got choked out for it. Paul Daley did, as well, and lost his job after Koscheck was unwilling to walk into any of his punches. Yet and still, I don't hear anyone talking about Koscheck's inability to finish fights.  Of course, he gets guys like Trigg and Hughes, both well past their prime, to pad his finishing rate. That's a luxury St. Pierre will never have. Granted, "GSP" broke Koscheck's orbital bone in the first round and probably should have been able to take advantage, but better punchers couldn't knock Koscheck out, so he gets a pass on that.   St. Pierre should have finished Dan Hardy. There is no excuse for not snapping his arm off when he had the chance to do so. That armbar was deeper than the one against Hughes and the French-Canadian had no problem torquing it to submission. Maybe he really is mental.  "Ultimate Submissions" expert AintNoSunshine would call that a great escape. I am not buying it. Thiago Alves has been stopped four times in his career, three by way of submission and one technical knockout at the mercy of a Jon Fitch upkick. Some will say that Alves is tailor made to lose to St. Pierre.  He has subsequently been grinded to decision losses by Fitch and Rick Story, although the latter did trade blows more than the others. Smart? Who knows, but Ricky still won. This fight was a point fight, plain and simple. Greg Jackson repeatedly called for "GSP" to stay in full guard and pass to half with 30 seconds left in the round. St. Pierre did not take any chances at any point in the fight where Alves could have gotten any kind of advantage. Granted, he did so while grappling with a torn muscle in his leg but this fight exemplifies why he's earned the monicker Georges "Safe" Pierre. "GSP" did not stop this fight. Penn's corner did. Would it a finish have occurred had it made it to the fifth round? Maybe. The same conjecture here tells me that Fitch and Diaz would have stopped B.J. had their fights gone to a fourth round, but that's all that is -- conjecture. Both fights went to three round decisions. "The Prodigy" has fought at every weight class imaginable and he's only ever been stopped once. And Penn was dominating that fight until suffering a rib injury. Jon Fitch is a tough bastard. He is also the greatest welterweight bridesmaid MMA has ever seen. Enduring the longest tenure as the number two ranked fighter in any division without winning the belt, Fitch has never lost, let alone get finished, at 170-pounds in his career. His only stoppage losses came at 205-pounds to eventual UFC fighters Wilson Gouveia and Mike Pyle. That was in 2002. There is no reason to believe that St. Pierre should have finished Fitch. Although Fitch did say "Rush" came close with the following flurry and that he was never able to fully recover due to the relentless pressure from the champion: There it is in a nutshell. Six opponents who have had 169 combined fights who have collectively been stopped a total of 17 times. These fighters have only been stopped nine times since entering the UFC, fighting at the highest level. Should St. Pierre have finished more than one of these fights? In my opinion, yes, he should have. Dan Hardy, I am looking at you. So "GSP" should have been 6-0 with two stoppages, maybe three if Koscheck is included. Does that really change the argument?  There are two sides to every coin. Supporters of St. Pierre, like myself, will point to how tough his opponents have been. The numbers don't lie. His opponents are tough guys. "GSP" detractors, on the other hand, will point to failed submission attempts and safe, gameplanned fights that make him so deserving of criticism. Either way, there is no discounting St. Pierre's accomplishments in MMA. He truly is only eclipsed by Anderson Silva as the best fighter in the world. If only he had the same killer instinct.

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Speaking on InsideMMA, number one contender for the UFC Welterweight title Nick Diaz spoke about his returning to the UFC and the famous callout of Georges St. Pierre after beating up BJ Penn at UFC 137. Diaz also declared that he has been inside the UFC Octagon longer than St. Pierre, reflecting on his UFC 44 debut against Jeremy Jackson back on September 23th of 2003. St. Pierre made his Ultimate Fighting Championship debut two UFC cards later, at UFC 46 against Karo Parisyan. Since then, the

Posted in: ufc, bj penn, pierre, st, karo parisyan

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Nick Diaz waxes poetic about his upcoming fight with Georges St. Pierre.

Posted in: diaz, nick, pierre, mmasupremacy, waxe

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Nick Diaz is lined up (again) for a chance to claim Georges St. Pierre's welterweight belt as his own when the two square off inside the Octagon at UFC 143 in Las Vegas, Nevada, on Feb. 4, 2012. Most mixed martial arts (MMA) fans are aware of the circuitous and colorful journey that the Stockton slugger has had to take to get a date with the Canadian on SuperBowl weekend. Tonight (Mon., Nov. 7, 2011), Diaz joined Kenny Rice and Bas Rutten on HDNet's Inside MMA to discuss his recent rollercoaster ride, his upcoming bout with "Rush" and the way he's perceived in the media. According to Diaz, he's just misunderstood: "Well, you know, it's been embarrassing. You don't always come off the way you want to or look the way you want to. You go out there and act up and, you know, just become the evil villain and, you know, calling guys out and stuff, but -- it seemed to have worked. I'm getting the fights I want. So, yeah. I can't complain at this point." After remaining somewhat silent for a large portion of the program, Diaz seemed to light up when the topic of St. Pierre came up. If Diaz is an evil villain, St. Pierre is his nemesis. But, Diaz isn't buying "Rush" as the "hero" he is made out to be: "I was here first. You know, I've been a UFC fighter for longer than St. Pierre has. Not a lot of people realize that. I've been fighting in the UFC before all them. I was here first. I have more fights and I've fought the bigger names. I don't have nothin' against Georges personally but for him not to want the harder fight and for him to think that Carlos Condit's a harder fight -- it may be the case, but not on paper. He's gotta recognize that." Diaz spent a few minutes talking about his strategy for his upcoming championship bout and how he thinks it'll go down. He believes his jiu-jitsu and well-roundedness will be weapons that could give him the edge. "Me and (Jake) Shields have got a lot of similarities. It's good to see what's what. I just fought a guy (B.J. Penn) that he's fought before, so I'm sure that's good for him to see what's what. It's all about how you come out and fight. It can always go different, you know? I could go on the bottom a lot, but are you gonna be able to advance position? Are you gonna be able to do damage from there? Are you gonna stall? Are you gonna fight? There's a lot of different stuff that can happen. It's up to me to kinda make some stuff happen. Five rounds is a lot of time for me to work with in this one. I enjoy fighting five rounds. I work hard to be in good condition to fight for five rounds. It's important to plan for everything. That's what I'm good at. He's fighting somebody who's gonna do everything." Amusingly, Diaz admitted that he's been picking a fight and, if he loses in a one-sided fashion, he may deserve it: "I'm the one that's in this division that's mouthin' off and talkin' the most, so if anybody's in for a good whoopin', I'm probably that guy, you know? And who better to do it than the UFC champion? I'm ready to get this show on the road. I'm not gettin' any younger. I'm ready to fight."  So what do you think, Maniacs? Is Nick Diaz an evil public relations genius or is he just being himself? Are you buying the hype that he can be the first guy in a long time to give St. Pierre a run for his money? Sound off!

Posted in: fight, diaz, pierre, he, im

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"Everyone has a violent side. My job is to win, and in order to win most of the time I need to injure my opponent. It's a violent sport but in real life I'm not a violent guy. I'm an athlete in a full contact sport so it requires violence to win. I've had a lot of criticism about not finishing fights, but if there's anyone who wants to finish fights it's me. It's hard to stay champion and in the welterweight division today's number one can so easily become tomorrow's number two." -- UFC Welterweight Champion Georges St. Pierre tells The Globe and Mail that while he may not actually be delivering finishes in his fights, there's no one competing in the sport today who wants to do so more than him. The 30-year-old French-Canadian has gone the distance in his last four fights and cries from fight fans longing for the days of old grow louder by the day. There may not be a reprieve on the horizon, either, as "Rush" will next take on Nick Diaz at UFC 143 on Feb. 4, 2012, in Las Vegas, Nevada. The game plan for that bout will likely call for St. Pierre to utilize his greatest skill, which is unquestionably his strong wrestling. That means the potential for another 25-minutes of mixed martial arts that will be heavily scrutinized and, more likely, ruthlessly criticized. But, again, St. Pierre wants you to know he'll be trying to finish at all times. What are the odds he actually finishes this fight, Maniacs?

Posted in: fight, pierre, st, st pierre, theres anyone

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submitted by muayguy [link] [comment]

Posted in: ufc, pierre, st, promo, muayguy link

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Former welterweight title contender Carlos Condit can't be too shocked at the events that unfolded at UFC 137 on Saturday night in Las Vegas, Nevada. Despite being dubbed the #1 contender after Diaz no-showed two consecutive press conferences, did anybody actually believe UFC President Dana White would stick by his word that Condit would face St. Pierre next? An impressive beatdown of UFC legend B.J. Penn and the subsequent call-out of St. Pierre during the post-fight interview is all it took for White to reconsider Diaz. White stated that Condit stepped aside during the post-fight press conference, but it was later revealed that St. Pierre was angered by Diaz's remarks and wanted the fight. We can trick ourselves into believing St. Pierre has total control over who he fights next. In reality, the UFC likely sees the potential business this fight could bring, and waiting will only lessen the dollars it could produce for the company. Strike while the iron is hot as the saying goes. Depending on how you look at it, the situation could be construed in a number of different ways. One of the stronger opinions is that Condit was a victim, unfairly tossed from title contention even though Diaz was punished for his incompetence. Diaz's actions outside of the cage aren't relevant, however, when he's stepping into the cage and bombarding a UFC legend. Those actions speak louder to fans than anything else. So here we are. Diaz vs. St. Pierre is happening whether Carlos Condit feels cheated or not. What's the next move for the Team Jackson fighter? The logical choice is a rematch with Jake Ellenberger. Condit holds a split decision win over the Nebraska-native at UFC Fight Night 19 back in September of '09, but Ellenberger's fifty-three second knockout of Jake Shields at UFC Fight Night 25 in September along with a five-fight winning streak has vaulted him into contention talk. Jon Fitch is another option, although he's tied up in December when he battles Johny Hendricks at UFC 141. That leaves Josh Koscheck and Anthony Johnson as upper-tier welterweights basking in the sun waiting for a phone call. Koscheck is likely out if Condit's next fight is for contention. He's already fought St. Pierre twice and lost both encounters by unanimous decision. The UFC won't risk Koscheck somehow derailing a contender they can line up against St. Pierre and sell as fresh blood. 'Rumble' Johnson remains, but does he have the resume to stake a claim at fighting for contention? After losing to Koscheck at UFC 106 in November of '09, Johnson was shelved for sixteen months due to injuries, returning in March to defeat Dan Hardy via unanimous decision. He most recently crushed Pennsylvania-based wrestler Charlie Brenneman at UFC on Versus 6 on October 1. In my mind, Johnson's accomplishments aren't enough, nor has he been in the eye of UFC fans long enough after the layoff to produce any buzz for a showdown with Condit. While both Condit and Ellenberger are far from popular, recognizable fighters, a rematch between the two makes the most sense. Their past engagement can serve as a storyline to build hype around the fight, and it is considered a fight between the two clear cut frontrunners. Make it happen.

Posted in: ufc, fight, pierre, condit, st pierre

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Following UFC 137, UFC President Dana White made the announcement that Georges St. Pierre was going to fight Nick Diaz and not Carlos Condit when he recovers from the injury that knocked him from the October 29 card. St. Pierre, according to White, was incensed by Diaz’s actions after Diaz had defeated BJ Penn in the main event of UFC 137. According to White, Condit agreed to step aside so that the St. Pierre versus Diaz fight could take place. Condit’s manager Malki Kawa appeared on

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"It's five rounds with Nick Diaz. That's a long time to have that guy in the cage with you. Three rounds is long enough, five rounds is very tough. I know GSP is a great athlete, he's a great black belt but Nick Diaz is an animal. I think that's going to be the biggest fight in the history of the UFC, I really do." Whether or not you think Nick Diaz never even should have been removed from his UFC 137 main event title shot against Georges St. Pierre to begin with, the two are set to scrap once again on Feb. 4, 2012. That's Super Bowl weekend and thanks to some well-timed trash talk from Diaz that has St. Pierre as animated as he's ever been, Cesar Gracie believes this will be the biggest fight in UFC history. Agree or disagree? For more on St. Pierre vs. Diaz click here.

Posted in: ufc, diaz, nick diaz, nick, pierre

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"(Carlos) Condit's in. He's sitting and waiting." -- UFC President Dana White this past Tuesday on whether the outcome of B.J. Penn/Nick Diaz would affect Condit's impending title shot.How quickly a decision can change, huh?After Diaz' stirring victory over Penn to close out UFC 137, the question was not if, but when he would get his shot at Welterweight Champion Georges St. Pierre and atone for his previous anti-press conference sins.But according to White, Diaz would have to wait. The shot had been given to Condit after Diaz' wacky no-show antics and if not for a knee injury to St. Pierre, that title fight would have happened last night. Unless there was a draw, we would have had a nice clean road to another good championship clash next year with deserving competitors.What's that saying about the best laid plains? They didn't just go astray last night. They went off the road into the abyss.At the post-event press conference, White said he had a big announcement and was going to wait for Diaz to appear before he said it. At that point, everyone knew what was up. It was just a question of him saying it. Then he did."Georges St. Pierre flipped out tonight after Nick Diaz was in the ring. Nick needs motivation...he's got it. He's going to fight Georges St. Pierre. Carlos Condit has agreed to step aside and get the next guy," White told the media. The light that started burning the fuse was Diaz' post-fight comments about how St. Pierre (sitting cageside) wasn't injured but he was scared to face him. According to White, he has never seen St. Pierre that upset and had to put together the fight. Amazingly by pure coincidence, the battle for the belt will take place in February during Super Bowl weekend -- generally one of the UFC's biggest PPV weekends of the year.But according to Condit's manager Malki Kawa, Condit didn't step aside at all and that St. Pierre "is choosing to fight Nick", adding the following on Twitter: @malkikawamalki kawa last I checked "carlos is the harder fight." So I guess now he'll fight nick. Wasn't our choice and def not happy about it, BUTOct 30 via UberSocial for BlackBerryFavoriteRetweetReply   Kawa followed up by saying the situation is what it is and that he was sure White would "make it worth his while" for Condit to not take the fight. But if he doesn't. what is Condit's recourse? He has no leverage. But fear not! Condit will get a fight on that Super Bowl card against that "next guy". If he wins, he gets the next shot…unless someone else irritates St. Pierre and leapfrogs him again, I guess. At this point, I would assume Fitch or Jake Ellenberger would be Condit's opponent.Real TalkListen, we all know what the deal is here. For a promotion that is being heavily questioned about its dropping pay-per-view buy rates, they need heavy hitters on the docket. St. Pierre vs. Diaz does just that. St. Pierre vs. Condit doesn't. So if you're White, simply say that. Explain how even though it's sport, the game is still show business and you have to give the people what they want first while always keeping competitive fights in mind. But don't come out and say that Condit stepped aside and that GSP demanded Diaz instead. Condit is a competitor that got a crack at the biggest prize in his division. Remember the story of when Condit broke down in tears upon being told about being given the title opportunity? I do. You're telling me he simply said, "Sure…give Diaz a shot."? Hell, no. He was told, not given an option. To think otherwise is lunacy. And If you're in the camp of thinking Condit didn't earn this shot to begin with, you're crazy. Aside from Jon Fitch, take Diaz out of this equation and there was no one else you could justify getting a crack at GSP. Food for thought: if Fitch had finished or decisioned Penn in a rematch Saturday, would he have leapfrogged Condit as well? Perhaps he just needed to call St. Pierre scared all along? White needs to be careful about promising things, supporting those promises and then changing his mind. There are times I wish he would simply say that title shots are given on a 'what do we need' basis. It's been that way for a while, we all know it and have benefited from that attitude. Drop the pretense of rankings or that shots are earned. They are given and can be taken away based on simple business needs.The fight promotion has been a shady place since the first time someone knew they could make money off it. Perhaps I'm too idealistic to think that word is bond these days, but myself and others took White at his word and you can see where that got us. It's not the first time it's happened and unfortunately, it probably won't be the last.   SBN coverage of UFC 137 Results: Penn vs. Diaz

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MMA Fighting’s Ariel Helwani caught up with Cesar Gracie, Georges St. Pierre (before the fight), Roy Nelson, Donald Cerrone, Tyson Griffin, Hatsu Hioki, Bart Palaszewski and Ramsey Nijem following UFC 137 to get their thoughts on the fights. MMA Heat’s Karyn Bryant spoke with Cheick Kongo.

Posted in: kongo, pierre, roy, ramsey nijem, cesar

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The crazy ride that is Nick Diaz‘ return to the UFC continues. Originally scheduled to face welterweight champion Georges St. Pierre for the title at UFC 137, Diaz was pulled from the fight and put in the co-main event against BJ Penn after missing some media appearances. His title shot was given to Carlos Condit. When St. Pierre pulled out of the event with an injury, Diaz vs. Penn was bumped up to the main event while Condit would have to wait for his title shot. At UFC 137, Diaz dominated Penn, winning a clear unanimous decision and retiring the Hawaiian legend. Following his victory, Diaz called out St. Pierre saying that the UFC welterweight king was “scared to fight him” and that claimed that he was faking an injury. The comments upset St. Pierre and had him begging to fight Diaz. UFC president Dana White, who was adamant that Condit would get the next title shot no matter what happened at UFC 137, granted GSP’s request. Condit has agreed to step aside for Diaz, although his manager Malki Kawa states, “St. Pierre chose to fight Nick instead of Carlos.” While no date has been announced for St. Pierre vs. Diaz, UFC is hoping to have the fight headline their Super Bowl weekend event. *PHOTO CREDIT – UFC*

Posted in: ufc, diaz, pierre, st, st pierre

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Believe it or not, those are the words of soft spoken UFC Welterweight Champion Georges St. Pierre. The French-Canadian king of the 170-pound mountain will put up with quite a bit without losing his cool but apparently being called out by Nick Diaz in the center of the Octagon was enough to send him over the edge. Enough so, in fact, that St. Pierre "rushed" to find UFC President Dana White to tell him to put Carlos Condit on hold, he wants Diaz and he wants him now. Here's how White described it at the UFC 137 post-fight press conference: "I've known Georges St. Pierre since 2004. He's one of the nicest guys I've ever met, and he's always exactly the same no matter what the situation is, no matter who he's fighting. Since 2004, I've never seen him like he was tonight. Georges St. Pierre flipped out tonight after Nick Diaz was in the ring, and Nick needs motivation, he's got it. He's going to fight Georges St. Pierre. (St. Pierre) said, and I quote -- you're going to think I'm full of sh*t but this is the truth -- I quote, 'He's the most disrespectful human being I've ever met, and I'm going to put the worst beating you've ever seen on him in the UFC.'" Following his incredible win over B.J. Penn in the main event of UFC 137 last night (Oct. 29, 2011), Diaz went after St. Pierre, who was ringside, in the post-fight interview with Joe Rogan. "I don't think St. Pierre's injured, I think he's scared." "GSP" wants to prove he ain't scared, homie, by locking horns with the California native sooner rather than later. In fact, the champ released an official statement declaring his intentions: "This is what I wanted since the beginning. Let's do what was supposed to be done originally. I've always wanted this fight. Now I want it even more. I can't wait for Super Bowl weekend." An unfortunate casualty in all this is Carlos Condit, who's gone through an absolute roller coaster ride that just didn't stop. He was originally scheduled to fight B.J. Penn in the co-main event of UFC 137 until Diaz squandered his title shot and Condit was asked to move up to the headlining slot opposite St. Pierre. Then the champion went down with a knee injury, so "The Natural Born Killer" decided to wait and was taken off the card altogether. Now, he's been pushed to the side for Diaz. While White claimed he did so willingly, apparently that's not the case. Either way, he's been promised a number one contender bout on the same Super Bowl weekend fight card the St. Pierre vs. Diaz bout will take place on. And the fact is, you'd be hard pressed to find a large contingent of fans that feel bad for Condit. It's not often Georges St. Pierre shows any emotion other than happiness. Nick Diaz lit a fire under his ass and the world wants to watch it burn until we see if he can extinguish it on Feb. 4 in Las Vegas, Nevada. It's early and emotions are still high, Maniacs, but what do you think of the new, pissed off version of St. Pierre?

Posted in: ufc, diaz, pierre, st, he

Read the full article at MMA Mania

UFC President Dana White announced that Nick Diaz will be next in line for Gerges St. Pierre's UFC Welterweight title, in a fight that will take place at the long anticipated Superbowl weekend. According to White, Georges St. Pierre was furious after Nick Diaz's post-fight interview, labeling the UFC 137 main event winner as "the most disrespectful human being I've ever met" and claiming that he will put on him the worst beating ever seen inside the Ultimate Fighting Championship Octagon. White also

Posted in: ufc, nick diaz, pierre, superbowl weekend, event winner

Read the full article at Low Kick

Filed under: UFCThe UFC made the right call: Nick Diaz vs. Georges St. Pierre needs to happen. Right away. Diaz showed in beating B.J. Penn on Saturday night at UFC 137 that he's the best man to fight St. Pierre for the UFC welterweight title, and there's no reason for the UFC to wait to book that fight. Sorry, Carlos Condit, but Diaz vs. GSP is the fight to make. Obviously, the UFC knows that, because UFC President Dana White announced after UFC 137 that Diaz-GSP is happening next. This is a great development for those of us who think GSP has grown too comfortable over the last couple of years. Stylistically, Diaz is the welterweight who can give St. Pierre the most problems: Diaz's high-volume striking style could frustrate St. Pierre in much the same way it frustrated Penn on Saturday night, and Diaz is good enough off his back that St. Pierre won't be able to simply take him down and dominate him on the ground. More Coverage: UFC 137 Results | UFC 137 Post-Fight Press Conference Diaz was smart to call out St. Pierre immediately following the fight, accusing St. Pierre of being scared to fight him. The reality, of course, is that St. Pierre is a tremendous fighter who wouldn't be afraid of anyone, but it worked: UFC announcer Joe Rogan reported that St. Pierre was begging White after the fight to let him get a shot at Diaz, and before the night was over White made the call that Diaz would get the title shot. The only reason not to book GSP vs. Diaz right now is that it would be unfair to Condit, who had been promised the next shot at the welterweight belt. White said Condit "agreed to step aside," although I'm guessing White didn't give Condit much choice. Condit has been nothing but a great fighter in the cage and a classy guy outside the cage, and it's a shame that giving Diaz the next fight essentially means punishing Condit even though Condit did nothing wrong. But those are the breaks of the fight game. The UFC needs to make the best fights, and right now the best welterweight fight it can make is Georges St. Pierre vs. Nick Diaz. UFC 137 Notes -- Two legends of the sport, Mirko Cro Cop and B.J. Penn, said after their UFC 137 losses that they're going to retire. For Cro Cop, I think that's entirely appropriate: He's 37 years old and hasn't had a really big win since he beat Josh Barnett in the Pride Open Weight Grand Prix more than five years ago. For Penn, I think he'll reconsider: He's only 32 and can still compete with the best in the world at both lightweight and welterweight. -- Brandon Vera probably saved his job in the UFC by refusing to tap out to Eliot Marshall's arm bar in the closing seconds of their preliminary fight. If Vera had lost to Marshall, he almost certainly would have been cut, but his unanimous decision victory will earn him another fight inside the Octagon. Vera suffered a serious enough arm injury that he wasn't able to have his hand raised, but he gutted out a tough win. -- Good for UFC announcer Joe Rogan for mentioning Bellator featherweight champion Joe Warren, who was in the corner of Scott Jorgensen, and good for the UFC's production people for showing Warren talking to Jorgensen between rounds. The easier thing for the UFC to do would simply be to pretend that Bellator doesn't exist, but it's to the UFC's credit that they're willing to mention fighters from other promotions. UFC 137 Quotes -- "Oh, my God, it's a dream come true. ... I think I broke both my hands, but it was so worth it." -- Bart Palaszewski after knocking out Tyson Griffin. -- "Even though we are in a tough situation, Japanese MMA is not dead." -- Hatsu Hioki after his split-decision win over George Roop. Good Call -- I love that one judge gave Ramsey Nijem a 30-25 scorecard in his unanimous decision victory over Danny Downes. Nijem completely dominated the fight, and Downes did next to nothing, and giving Nijem a couple of 10-8 rounds was completely appropriate. We don't see 10-8 rounds as often as we should, and we hardly ever see 30-25 scorecards at all. Kudos to the judge (whose name wasn't read) who recognized how thoroughly Nijem had whipped Downes. %VIRTUAL-Gallery-137903% Bad Call -- In hindsight, the decision to get the card started with Dustin Jacoby vs. Clifford Starks was a mistake: The two fighters were making their UFC debuts, both men looked nervous and tentative, and it turned out to be a thoroughly dull 15-minute affair. Starks won 30-27 on all three judges' cards and did just enough to earn another UFC fight, while Jacoby will surely be cut. This was not a good fight at all, and it got the night off to a terribly slow start. Stock Up -- Donald Cerrone is now 4-0 in the UFC in 2011, and he said after beating Dennis Siver that he's hoping to get a fight in December. If he gets that fight and wins it, a 5-0 calendar year would be a truly extraordinary achievement -- that hardly ever happens in the modern UFC. Stock Down -- Tyson Griffin is a fan favorite who's won the Fight of the Night award five times in his UFC career, but he probably doesn't have a place on the UFC roster after his knockout loss to Bart Palaszewski. Griffin moved down to featherweight because he lost three in a row at lightweight. Now he has a loss at featherweight -- and he failed to make weight for this one. He'd be a natural fit for Bellator. Fight I Want To See Next Nick Diaz vs. Georges St. Pierre. Dana White made the right decision to make it happen. Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments

Posted in: ufc, fight, diaz, pierre, st

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"Carlos Condit didn't just step aside. GSP is choosing to fight Nick. Last I checked 'Carlos is the harder fight.' So I guess now he'll fight Nick. Wasn't our choice and (we're definitely) not happy about it, BUT it is what it is, and we'll figure some things out. In the meantime, I'm sure Dana White is going to make it worth his while." -- Following the main event of UFC 137 last night (Oct. 29, 2011), which saw Nick Diaz blast his way past B.J. Penn, UFC President Dana White announced at the post-fight press conference that Carlos Condit had agreed to step down in favor of Diaz getting an immediate title shot against Georges St. Pierre over the Super Bowl weekend early next year. Well, Condit's manager, Malki Kawa, wants to make it clear (via Twitter) that this is not the case ... at all. "The Natural Born Killer" didn't agree to just step aside, he simply had no choice but to move out of the way. St. Pierre was reportedly so upset at being called out by Diaz during his post-fight interview that he wants to give the bad boy from Stockton his comeuppance sooner rather than later. Unfortunately, that means Condit has to once again take a back seat. He has been promised a spot on the very same card in what will be a guaranteed number one contender bout to the winner of St. Pierre vs. Diaz. Anyone feeling bad for Condit right now? Or is this just the way it had to be after the events of UFC 137? Opinions, please.

Posted in: ufc, diaz, pierre, condit, carlo

Read the full article at MMA Mania

Nick Diaz took out B.J. Penn and took aim at welterweight champion Georges St. Pierre.

Posted in: ufc, diaz, bj penn, pierre, penn

Read the full article at Sherdog

Tonight (Oct. 29, 2011), UFC 137 will invade Mandalay Bay Events Center in Las Vegas, Nevada. The event was originally slated to be a massive card, headlined by a "unification bout" (of sorts) between UFC Welterweight Champion Georges St. Pierre and Strikeforce Welterweight Champion Nick Diaz. It was going to be epic. St. Pierre was said to be facing one of the biggest tests of his career. But before fans could "rush" out and place their wagers on the fight, Diaz, staying true to form, missed an important press conference, ticked off his new boss, Dana White, and was pulled from the main event. We were left with a new main event between "GSP" and former WEC Welterweight Champion Carlos Condit, who had previously occupied the co-main event slot opposite B.J. Penn. That left "The Prodigy" out in the cold, of course, until White made him an offer he couldn't refuse, setting him up in a new fight with Diaz, the former co-star of the original main event.  Head spinning yet? Well, hold on, it gets better (or worse, depending on your perspective). Shortly after the new fight card was announced and finalized, St. Pierre suffered a sprained knee in training. The injury forced him to withdraw, which subsequently forced Condit to do the same, leaving Penn vs. Diaz as the new main event. If you're a fan of "musical chairs," have we got the pay-per-view event for you. In addition to the aforementioned changes to UFC 137, we've also witnessed the following occur: - Sam Stout decided to pull out of his fight with Denis Siver to take some time to mourn the loss of his trainer, brother-in-law and close personal friend, Shawn Tompkins. Donald Cerrone decided to "Cowboy Up" and take his spot, thus adding some new repercussions to the lightweight division, in general. - The loss of the Georges St. Pierre vs. Carlos Condit fight and the promotion of the Nick Diaz vs. B.J. Penn to "main event" status caused the Cheick Kongo vs. Matt Mitrione bout to be moved up to the "co-main event" slot.  - Brad Tavares suffered an injury which forced him off the event and his opponent, Dustin Jacoby, off the main card. (It was later announced that Jacoby would be taking on Clifford Starks in one of the Facebook preliminary fights.) - Due to the Tavares injury, the Scott Jorgensen vs. Jeff Curran fight was bumped up from its previous Spike TV preliminary fight spot to the pay-per-view main card. This new card barely resembles the original lineup. Clear comparisons could be drawn between this card and the UFC 108 card on Jan. 2, 2010 in Las Vegas, Nevada (which featured a total of nine fights that had been pulled from the card or modified in some way). UFC fans are certainly hoping for better results this go-round. Different doesn't always mean worse. UFC 137 is still set to showcase a multitude of potentially very exciting fights. By all rights, this event could shape up to be full of fireworks. One can only hope.

Posted in: ufc, fight, event, pierre, card

Read the full article at MMA Mania

submitted by tbolts48 [link] [1 comment]

Posted in: pound, nick diaz, nick, pierre, george

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Georges St. Pierre discusses the injury that forced him to withdraw from UFC 137, whether or not he would ever move to lightweight, his pick for Penn vs. Diaz and much more. See it all at MMA Nation right here.

Posted in: ufc, pierre, st, injury, george

Read the full article at MMA Mania

Luke Thomas interviewed Georges St. Pierre yesterday. Read it at MMA Nation. The champ talks about moving down to 155 pounds and makes his pick for B.J. Penn vs Nick Diaz.

Posted in: mma nation, pierre, champ, luke thomas, champ talks

Read the full article at Bloody Elbow

Reigning Welterweight Champion Georges St. Pierre, who was forced to withdraw from his UFC 137 title defense against Carlos Condit, discusses the injury the forced him out of the fight, as well as the newly scheduled main event, B.J. Penn vs. Nick Diaz. St. Pierre also talks about recent remarks made by his coach, Firas Zahabi, recommending the Canadian cut down to 155-pounds.

Posted in: nick, pierre, st, carlos condit, george

Read the full article at Low Kick

If Georges St. Pierre could have finished up his training camp for Carlos Condit, he would have fought him Saturday at UFC 137, according to trainer Firas Zahabi.

Posted in: pierre, st, carlos condit, training camp, zahabi

Read the full article at Sherdog

Carlos Condit’s place as the number one contender is safe.He was set to face Georges St. Pierre at UFC 137 this weekend before the champion pulled...

Posted in: ufc, pierre, weekend, contender, safehe

Read the full article at Fighters Only

Would Georges St. Pierre moving to lightweight be "awesome?" One former champion seems to think so. Find out who right here.

Posted in: right, pierre, st, champion, george

Read the full article at MMA Mania

Oh how quickly things can change. In early September the UFC was gearing up for what promised to be a battle for the ages. The good guy champion, Georges St. Pierre, against the bad guy challenger, Nick Diaz, over the Halloween weekend. "Rush" was respectful throughout the build to the match-up, always considerate of his opponent. The Stockton slugger, though, held no such compunction. He had respect for his foe's skill-set, sure, he just despised the way he utilized his talents. Lay-n-pray, anyone? Whether or not that's true is irrelevant. That's the angle Diaz took then and it's the angle he maintains to this very day, despite the fact that he's now squaring off against B.J. Penn at UFC 137 on Oct. 29 in Las Vegas and St. Pierre is no longer on the card, out until early next year with a knee injury. It's certainly not Diaz's job to put over "The Prodigy," but his obvious admiration for the Hawaiian's abilities coupled with his dislike for the French Canadian's style of fighting, has led him to dish out quite the complement: "B.J. Penn is a much more dangerous fighter than Georges St. Pierre. If I lose a fight to Georges, it's him holding me and not fighting the whole time. If I lose to B.J. Penn, he's probably going to take me out with a right hand or he's going to get on top someway and end up in position, probably get mount, take the back, put on a choke and finish the fight, you know? Georges is just going to look to do enough to win the fight. Every fight that he does. I doubt that would have worked out with me the same way that it does with a lot of the other fighters. I think I have the tools to do what it takes to make something happen in those five rounds." That chip Diaz carries around has clearly remain nestled right there on his shoulder, again, despite the fact that he's no longer fighting an enemy. Now he's fighting a friend. That's likely why he's heaping such praise on Penn. When the two step inside the Octagon with each other there will be a mutual understanding that whoever walks out the victor will have earned it the hard way.  No lay-n-pray here, folks. That's good news for fans and even better news for business. But let's be real, Maniacs. Is B.J. Penn a more dangerous fighter to Nick Diaz than Georges St. Pierre would have been? Opinions, please.

Posted in: diaz, pierre, penn, george, he

Read the full article at MMA Mania

submitted by MarkEffed [link] [1 comment]

Posted in: pierre, markeffed, move, fira, ’d

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Fans still clinging to the notion of a Georges St. Pierre vs. Anderson Silva superfight could have one "small" problem: St. Pierre might make a better lightweight than he would a middleweight. That's according to the Canadian's head trainer, Firas Zahabi, who recently told Sherdog's "Beatdown" radio show (via Bloody Elbow) that he's in no "Rush" to send his star pupil into a 185-pound warzone when his body type is actually better suited for the 155-pound weight class. "Well to be honest with you, I have recommended to Georges, you know...the only reason I don't recommend it now is because Frankie Edgar is the champion, but I'd want him to move down to 155 if Frankie was not the champion. Obviously we're part of the Renzo Gracie team and we'd never fight Frankie Edgar, because obviously we're all Renzo Gracie fighters. But if it wasn't the case, you know, I'd rather him go down to 155 because Georges is not a very big welterweight. People might think he is, he's actually not very big. And him making 170 is extremely easy for him. Honestly, it's probably one of the easiest weight cuts from all that I coach, and I coach a lot of professional fighters. Georges making 170 is getting a little too easy for him, so I'd recommend to him in the future, who knows what the cards hold, but if we don't have a team member that's champion or anything like that, I would recommend him to go down first before going up. Georges' body type, he's actually ectomorph, he's very lean. He doesn't put on a lot of muscle unless we make do a lot of lifting, and I do make him do a lot of lifting. That's one of the reasons why I wanted him to start doing Olympic lifting, and just a high volume of weightlifting is what will keep him muscular. Because Georges doesn't really put on fat and muscle very easily, and I really think he could lose a little bit of muscle. He doesn't have much fat on him, and a lot of water and a lot of electrolytes. Just doing the weight cut from like 175, he would make it down to 155 quite easily." While the idea of St. Pierre dropping a weight class is an intriguing one, he's likely staying put for at least another year. Carlos Condit is next in line for a 170-pound title shot when GSP gets off the injured reserves and Nick Diaz may have dibs on the belt if he's able to defeat B.J. Penn at UFC 137 on Oct. 29. Time will tell. It's also unlikely that "Rush" would move down to lightweight while fellow Renzo Gracie pupil and reigning division champion Frankie Edgar is ruling the roost. Aside from that, does anyone think St. Pierre could actually make the 155-pound weight limit? And if so, what kind of impact could he have in that division? Would he lose power? Or gain speed? Plenty of fantasy match-ups if he ever headed south for the winter. How would he fair against Gray Maynard? Or B.J. Penn in "The Prodigy's" natural weight class? Alright Maniacs, let's hear some feedback on this potential change in weight. For it or against it?

Posted in: pierre, weight, lot, george, he

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Georges St. Pierre talks to Sportsnet.ca about the injuries that knocked him out of UFC 137.

Posted in: ufc, pierre, st, injury, george

Read the full article at MMA Convert

Initially scheduled to square off with B.J. Penn at UFC 137, Carlos Condit was promoted to the main event opposite Welterweight Champion Georges St. Pierre when the Canadian's original opponent, Nick Diaz, was stripped of his title shot on short notice.

Posted in: title shot, bj penn, pierre, george, carlo

Read the full article at Low Kick

Carlos Condit has time on his side. That's because the UFC welterweight number one contender will be riding the pine until early 2012 following an injury to reigning division champion Georges St. Pierre, who was forced to withdraw from their UFC 137 title fight originally booked for Oct. 29 in Las Vegas. There are, perhaps, two schools of thought moving forward. Instead of cramming for the big exam, Condit can now revisit several different aspects of his training camp that may have been glossed over during initial preparations. Then again, it's been said that a knife can only be sharpened for so long before it becomes dull. "The Natural Born Killer's" striking coach, Mike Winkeljohn, is choosing the former (via Sherdog.com): "Maybe it’s a blessing in disguise. We had a game plan. We felt real good with it, but Chris Luttrell and I were talking about some things we’d like to see Carlos do, but we figured it was too late to even try to implement those things because the fight’s coming up and you can only fill your fighter’s head with so much information. In a way, now we can come up with a couple of more things to put us in a couple of better positions for this fight." Condit's biggest hurdle to clear will be the Canadian's wrestling. St. Pierre has baffled many had-hitting sluggers en route to easy unanimous decision wins, including Thiago Alves at UFC 100 and Dan Hardy at UFC 111. He's also demonstrated a superior jab when paired against another offensive wrestler in Josh Koscheck at UFC 124. Can the extra time to prepare give Condit the necessary skills to upset the champ? Or is St. Pierre just too good to be defeated by the former WEC titleholder? What are your thoughts on St. Pierre vs. Condit, take two?

Posted in: ufc, pierre, st, condit, st pierre

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The dreams of a “superfight” between UFC Welterweight Champion Georges St. Pierre and UFC Middleweight Champion Anderson Silva seemed to dim even further today when St. Pierre’s trainer Firas Zahabi dropped a bomb on Sherdog Radio. Zahabi was asked if a move up to 185 seemed possible and his response was a bit shocking, “I have recommended to Georges – the only reason I don’t recommend it now is because Frankie Edgar is the champion, but I’d want him to move down

Posted in: pierre, champion, george, frankie edgar, reason i

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Step aside, Carlos Condit, your services are no longer necessary. After Welterweight Champion Georges St. Pierre suffered a knee injury that was bad enough to knock him out until early February, "The Natural Born Killer" had the chance to take another fight at UFC 137 on Oct. 29 in Las Vegas or sit and wait for his shot. Speaking on MMA Live, Chael Sonnen proclaimed it was a mistake to choose the latter because a bigger and better fight will be available for St. Pierre by then. "I don't think this fight's going to come back for quite some time. Listen: if you're the champion, you remain champion until you lose the title. If you're the number one contender, you absolutely are not ingrained in any type of stone. As a matter of fact, not only do I believe he has lost this opportunity, I believe the winner of Nick Diaz vs. B.J. Penn will get the next opportunity against GSP." Far be it from me to speculate but the UFC has pulled the old switch-a-roo in the past. If it means bigger business then cold decisions have to be made, right? Then again, this is all almost surely contingent on Diaz defeating Penn. That's because "The Prodigy" isn't likely to ever square off against St. Pierre again after losing to him twice, the second time decisively. But the Stockton slugger has generated enough buzz since coming over from Strikeforce that if he wins, there will be a hard decision to make for the powers that be. Would it be fair? Of course not, but this is a business and cash is king. Hear more from Sonnen, along with the rest of the MMA Live crew, on the upcoming slate of action at UFC 137 after the jump. MMA Live:

Posted in: pierre, st, chael sonnen, sonnen, st pierre

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Reigning Welterweight Champion Georges St. :Pierre, who was recently forced to pull out of his UFC 137 title defense against Carlos Condit, discusses the injury the led to his withdraw, as well as the difficulty that he faced in making the decision. St. Pierre apologizes to Condit and says that he feels he owes it to both his fans and legacy to show up for the fight at 100%.

Posted in: fight, pierre, st, carlos condit, george

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For MMA fans living under a rock, UFC welterweight champ Georges St. Pierre was scheduled to face Carlos Condit next weekend at UFC 137 but sprained his knee while training and is no longer fit to compete. St. Pierre has now spoken publicly for the first time since word of his withdrawal trickled down from above earlier this week, expressing both his heartbreak over having to pull out and his expectation of returning to the ring at some point in early 2012. “I’m not going to lie, I cried yesterday,” the 30-year old Canadian revealed in a conversation with SportsNet. “I had a ton of pressure falling off my shoulders, because for the last few days I was in the mindset that I was nervous for the fight. I was excited for the fight but I was also nervous to know if I was going to be able to fight. Now all the pressure is off, I feel much better. I’m going to do some rehab, maybe take a vacation because I went through a lot. It’s not only the fight, it’s all the training camp, I went through a lot of stuff. I need to reset the whole thing again and I’ll be ready for the next one.” In terms of when exactly the “next one” will be, GSP pointed to the possibility of fighting on February 4 at the UFC’s annual Super Bowl Weekend extravaganza. “I want to do (the recovery) well. I don’t want to do it too fast, because (this time) I had an injury and I tried to train on it and maybe made it a little bit worse. I need a good four weeks to do my (physiotherapy) and do it right,” St. Pierre explained. Though still too far out to predict with any accuracy, presumably Condit would still serve as St. Pierre’s opponent after being told by the UFC he was still next in line for a crack at the championship. PHOTO CREDIT – UFC

Posted in: ufc, fight, pierre, st, weekend

Read the full article at Five Ounces of Pain

“(Initially), I knew (the injury) was bad but I thought I had the chance to be 100 per cent the night of the fight if I trained light and conserved myself. But the reality was I was not able to recover (fast enough). I want to fight my best when I’m at my best… I’m not going to lie, I cried yesterday. I had a ton of pressure falling off my shoulders, because for the last few days I was in the mindset that I was nervous for the fight. I was excited for the fight but I was also nervous to know if I was going to be able to fight. Now all the pressure is off, I feel much better. I’m going to do some rehab, maybe take a vacation because I went through a lot. It’s not only the fight, it’s all the training camp, I went through a lot of stuff. I need to reset the whole thing again and I’ll be ready for the next one.” — Georges St. Pierre talking to Sportsnet.ca about the injuries that knocked him out of the UFC 137 main event As it turns out, Georges St. Pierre actually sustained two injuries that forced him out of UFC 137. He told Sportsnet.ca that he actually “strained” his MCL last Saturday, but tried to fight through it. Then on Tuesday, he ended up injuring the hamstring on his other leg while trying to compensate for the MCL injury. The two injuries were just too much to overcome in a week and half, so he reluctantly withdrew. St. Pierre added that he wants to recover the right way and doesn’t want to rush it. Right after news broke on Tuesday, Dana White was hopeful that they could reschedule the fight before the end of the year, however GSP says it’s probably going to be sometime around Super Bowl weekend before he’s ready to step back in the Octagon. The photo seen above was tweeted out on Tuesday right before Georges sustained the hamstring injury.

Posted in: fight, pierre, st, injury, george

Read the full article at MMA Convert

Earlier this week we were informed that UFC welterweight champion Georges St. Pierre suffered a MCL sprain that forced him to withdraw from his UFC 137 bout with Carlos Condit. Mike Fagan explained a little more about the injury yesterday and explained that, given trainer Firas Zahabi's timeline, it appeared that we should see a GSP return to the cage some time in the first few months of 2012. In an interview with Sportsnet, GSP confirmed that exact target for his return: "The recovery I want to do it well, I don't want to do it too fast. Because now I had an injury and I tried to train on it and maybe made it a little bit worse. I need a good four weeks to do my physio and do it right. "I would say maybe end of January, possibly the beginning of February (for my return) ... Super Bowl, around this time." It can't be stressed enough that a sprain is a ligament tear. For some reason there is a segment of the population that hears "sprain" and thinks this is something an athlete should compete through, see the reaction to Jay Cutler's second degree sprain in last year's NFC championship game. St. Pierre suffered a partial tear to a vital and structurally important part of his knee. St. Pierre's is a grade one sprain which is good in terms of being a fairly short recovery but the biggest thing with muscle and ligament damage is to be careful not to rush back as you can end up doing more damage. To tie it back to the NFL again, we see running backs every year suffer high ankle sprains (sprains of the syndesmotic ligaments) and attempt to rush back to action only to re-aggravate the injury and end up on the shelf for even longer. The UFC is in a bad position with one of their few major drawing stars out of action, I just hope they don't put any pressure on GSP and his team to rush back before his body is ready.

Posted in: ufc, pierre, st, return, sprain

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UFC Welterweight Champion Georges St. Pierre has been forced out of his upcoming title fight against Carlos Condit at UFC 137, which was scheduled for the Mandalay Bay Events Center in Las Vegas, Nevada, on Oct. 29, 2011. Yesterday it was revealed that a knee injury sustained in training over the weekend was the cause for the last-minute scratch, as "Rush" sprained his medial collateral ligament and put on the shelf for four to six weeks. As a result, the Canadian sensation won't see the inside of a cage until "the first quarter of 2012." Bad (and sad) news that apparently did not sit well with St. Pierre, who today told SportsNet.ca that he was reduced to tears:  UFC Welterweight Champion Georges St. Pierre has been forced out of his upcoming title fight against Carlos Condit at UFC 137, which was scheduled for the Mandalay Bay Events Center in Las Vegas, Nevada, on Oct. 29, 2011. Yesterday it was revealed that a knee injury sustained in training over the weekend was the cause for the last-minute scratch, as "Rush" sprained his medial collateral ligament and put on the shelf for four to six weeks. As a result, the Canadian sensation won't see the inside of a cage until "the first quarter of 2012." Bad (and sad) news that apparently did not sit well with St. Pierre, who today told SportsNet.ca that he was reduced to tears:  "I knew [the injury] was bad but I thought I had the chance to be 100 percent the night of the fight if I trained light and conserved myself. But the reality was I was not able to recover (fast enough). I want to fight my best when I'm at my best.... I'm not going to lie, I cried yesterday. I had a ton of pressure falling off my shoulders, because for the last few days I was in the mindset that I was nervous for the fight. I was excited for the fight but I was also nervous to know if I was going to be able to fight." St. Pierre went on to say that "he had been through a lot" during the training camp and that in addition to rehabbing his knee, he planned to take a litte vacation before doing it all over again. He hopes to be ready in time for the traditional SuperBowl weekend show in "Sin City" at the beginning of Feb. 2012. On the other hand, his opponent, Carlos Condit, is still next in line to attempt to dethrone the 170-pound deity. However, the former World Extreme Cagefighting (WEC) champion has opted to ride the pine until GSP is all patched up and ready to go. In the meantime, the welterweight fight between B.J. Penn and Nick Diaz has been promoted and will serve as the new UFC 137 headliner while the titanic tilt of Cheick Kongo vs. Matt Mitrione will take over as co-main event. Brad Tavares vs. Dustin Jacoby will also enjoy a new spot on the Oct. 29 pay-per-view fight card, leaving the Facebook prelims and taking over the empty slot left by Kongo vs. Mitrione. There's been a lot of changes to the UFC 137 fight card in the last 24 hours. Find out what they are right here. Also remember to tune in to Sportsnet Connected Wednesday night to watch the exclusive interview with Georges St. Pierre.

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The UFC has a scheduled conference call at 2 p.m. ET today to promote UFC 137: Penn vs. Diaz. Headliners B.J. Penn and Nick Diaz are listed as particpiants in the UFC's press release, and new co-main eventers Cheick Kongo and Matt Mitrione have been confirmed for the call too. UFC welterweight champion Georges St. Pierre and challenger Carlos Condit were supposed to participate as well, but an injury to St. Pierre's knee has forced him out of the bout and, probably, out of the conference call. The news may force UFC President Dana White, who tweeted that he was in New York City yesterday, to call in as well. Follow Mike Fagan on Twitter for live updates. Check back to this post at 3 p.m. ET for a full recap of the proceedings. UFC 137 has already gone through its share of turbulence. Diaz was St. Pierre's originally scheduled opponent, only to find himself removed from the main event after no-showing back-to-back press conferences in Toronto and Las Vegas. Condit was pulled from his co-featured bout with Penn to step into the main event. That left Penn without an opponent. The UFC decided not to release Diaz for his transgressions, and instead slotted him in against Penn in an attempt to ease him into the UFC's PR machine.  

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Yesterday, UFC President Dana White announced on Twitter that welterweight champion Georges St. Pierre suffered an injury, forcing him to pull out of his UFC 137 title defense against Carlos Condit. The details are murky. Even in the information-saturated world of professional football, injury details are often vague, contradictory, or both. St. Pierre's injury is no different. For instance, Firas Zahabi, St. Pierre's head trainer, describes the injury as a "bad sprain." UFC CEO Lorenzo Fertitta, however, told the L.A. Times that St. Pierre had not torn his medial collateral ligament. The issue here is that a sprain, by definition, involves tearing of a ligament. I imagine what Fertitta likely means is that the MCL did not rupture, i.e. suffer a complete tear. The other issue is the timetable for St. Pierre's return. The number being quoted by everyone from White to Fertitta to Zahabi is that St. Pierre will need four weeks to rehabilitate the injury. That would place the injury in the grade 1 category. Grade 1 sprains consist of damage to less than 10% of ligament fibers, and require a minimum of three weeks away from sports-related activity. While no sprain is a "good" sprain, Zahabi's description of it as a "bad sprain" is an exaggeration, unless the injury will keep the champion out for longer than a month. The good news is that St. Pierre, with proper treatment, should expect a full recovery. St. Pierre's actual timetable for a fight will be interesting as well. USA Today reports Dana White saying St. Pierre could return in two months. That seems awfully optimistic, and Zahabi told TSN that St. Pierre would need a month to heal and then another two months to prepare for a fight. Given Zahabi's timeline, that would put the earliest date for St. Pierre-Condit sometime in the middle of January, though it's likely the UFC would want to schedule him on the February 4 Super Bowl show. That's the same date that Chael Sonnen wants to fight middleweight Anderson Silva. While it's unlikely the UFC would schedule St. Pierre and Silva on the same show, the prospect is highly intriguing.

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Georges St. Pierre vs Nick Diaz Carlos Condit is just the latest of at least six UFC PPV headliners to be cancelled in a very tough 2011. Kid Nate runs through the rubble at MMA Nation.

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(Pic) Georges St. Pierre training (and kicking) moments before the knee injury that derailed his UFC 137 main event against Carlos Condit. "Rush" captioned the photo, which was uploaded to Twitter, "Very focused right now." Five hours later, St. Pierre updated his account with, "Went straight from Tristar to the doctor this afternoon, very frustrated. Can't wait to get back at it. Tks for all the support, means a lot."

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"He was sparring today and he hurt his knee. I had a feeling it was bad, but then, once he cooled down, he started limping. There's no way he would be able to fight.... It was a weird thing. I can't really explain it.... Of course, everybody is disappointed. We made a lot of sacrifices. We had a lot of people come in to help us train. We put a lot of man hours into getting ready for this fight. But it's not going to waste, it's just being put on hold." -- Firas Zahabi, who trains UFC Welterweight Champion Georges St. Pierre at his Tristar Gym in Montreal, Quebec, Canada, talks to ESPN.com about the "bad sprain" that "Rush" suffered to his knee while training for his upcoming fight against Carlos Condit. The unfortunate injury came less than two weeks from fight night (Oct. 29, 2011) at the Mandalay Bay Events Center in Las Vegas, Nevada, forcing the promotion to postpone the 170-pound championship clash until a later date. Zahabi claims that St. Pierre was involved in a "shoot boxing session" when St. Pierre tweaked his medial collateral ligament, a drill that comprises "standup sparring but also incorporates takedowns." No immediate date for St. Pierre's return is known at this time because the injury is so fresh; however, UFC co-owner Lorenzo Fertitta expects St. Pierre to return against Condit before the first quarter of 2012 expires. In the interim, the welterweight fight between Nick Diaz vs. B.J. Penn has been promoted to the UFC 137 main event. For more on Georges St. Pierre's knee injury click here, here and here. 

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UFC welterweight champion Georges St. Pierre injured his knee doing “a weird thing” according to his coach Firas Zahabi.The French-Canadian...

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Carlos Condit has issued a statement regarding the cancellation of the UFC 137 fight with Georges St. Pierre.St. Pierre suffered a ‘bad sprain’...

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UFC President Dana White revealed Tuesday that welterweight champion Georges St. Pierre had withdrawn from the main event of UFC 137 due to a knee injury.

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In the spirit of the season, UFC 137 dealt with a nightmare earlier today when it was announced welterweight champion Georges St. Pierre had withdrawn from the October 29 show after suffering a knee injury in training. As a result, BJ Penn’s bout with Nick Diaz has been bumped up to headliner status while St. Pierre’s scheduled opponent, Carlos Condit, has also been removed from the October 29 card. No timetable has been given on St. Pierre’s return to the ring though it his injury has been labeled as a “bad sprain” and will likely keep him out of action for at least a few months. The unfortunate news was first revealed through Dana White’s Twitter and has since been confirmed by all involved parties. “I am greatly disappointed for both myself and UFC fans that I will no longer be fighting for the welterweight title at UFC 137, but I also understand that injuries are a part of this business,” said Condit in a prepared statement from his management team. “As a professional fighter, it is my job to be prepared for any and all circumstances, positive and negative, that come my way during training and the actual fight. Georges is a great competitor and I know that he will want to return to 100 percent health as soon as possible so that this fight can be rescheduled. “I have trained for over a decade in MMA with the clear goal of becoming the best fighter in the world at my weight class. I have worked this long to become the UFC Welterweight Champion. I will work a little longer,” he concluded. Condit is the Best He’s Ever Been as Title-Fight Approaches Nothing official has been announced regarding what bout will fill the vacancy created by the removal of St. Pierre/Condit, though potential candidates currently on the preliminary portion of the card include Eliot Marshall vs. Brandon Vera, Ramsey Nijem vs. Danny Downes, and Scott Jorgensen vs. Jeff Curran. PHOTO CREDIT – UFC Tweet

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UFC Welterweight Champion Georges St. Pierre was today forced out of his upcoming title fight against Carlos Condit at UFC 137, which is scheduled for the Mandalay Bay Events Center in Las Vegas, Nevada, on Oct. 29, 2011. Company president Dana White explained that a knee injury sustained in training over the weekend was the cause for the last-minute scratch. However, the extent of the damage to the promotion's biggest box office star was not immediately clear. UFC co-owner Lorenzo Fertitta, however, recently shed additional light on the case, telling the Los Angeles Times that St. Pierre sprained his medial collateral ligament (it's not torn) and that the Canadian sensation will be on the shelf for four to six weeks. The report indicates that St. Pierre is still scheduled to undergo additional tests; however, it makes no mention of a potential surgery to correct the problem. Despite the mild diagnosis, Fertitta expects St. Pierre to return to action "during the first quarter of 2012." White has already stated that Condit will not compete at UFC 137 and will wait until St. Pierre is fully recovered. In the meantime, the welterweight fight between B.J. Penn vs. Nick Diaz has been promoted and will serve as the new UFC 137 main event.

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Georges St. Pierre vs. Carlos Condit is the latest in a string of big-money UFC fights that have fallen out in 2011.

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Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) is bringing another round of prelims to its official Facebook page, this time for UFC 137: "St. Pierre vs. Condit" on Oct. 29 from the Mandalay Bay Events Center in Las Vegas, Nevada. You know the deal by now: "Like" the UFC on Facebook, watch free fights. It really is that simple. This feels like the umpeenth consecutive event UFC has offered each and every fight on the card, starting with the mega-show that was UFC 129: "St. Pierre vs. Shields" back on April 29. And while no announcement has been made to say this will be the norm from here on out, it certainly appears as though the free Facebook preliminary streams aren't going away anytime soon ... or at least not until the FOX deal kicks in next January. No complaints here, right? Here's what's in store for Facebook "friends" on Oct. 29: 185 lbs.: Brad Tavares vs. Dustin Jacoby135 lbs.: Scott Jorgensen vs. Jeff Curran205 lbs.: Brandon Vera vs. Eliot Marshall155 lbs.: Ramsey Nijem vs. Danny Downes185 lbs.: Chris Camozzi vs. Francis Carmont "St. Pierre vs. Condit" will feature a reworked main event pitting Welterweight Champion Georges St. Pierre making his seventh consecutive defense of his title against number one contender and "Natural Born Killer," Carlos Condit. The man who was initially set to tussle with St. Pierre, Nick Diaz, will hook 'em up in the co-main event of the evening in a 170-pound showcase against "The Prodigy," B.J. Penn. That's not to mention the other stellar match-ups on the main card, which include Matt Mitrione vs. Cheick Kongo and Roy Nelson vs. Mirko Filipovic. For all the latest news and notes on UFC 137  be sure to hit up or event archive right here.

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Georges St. Pierre is out of UFC 137.He has suffered a knee injury in training and will be sidelined for at least several months, according to UFC president...

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Those are Carlos Condit's words, not mine. UFC Welterweight Champion Georges St. Pierre may catch flak from the media and fans for being a "decision fighter" but it's created a certain mentality in his opponents that they have to finish him in order to defeat him. St. Pierre's two career defeats both came in the first round, one by way of knockout and one by way of submission. Condit knows he needs to emanate one of the two in the main event of UFC 137 on Oct. 29 in Las Vegas, Nevada. "I would like to finish. I feel like if it goes to decision I'd probably be on the losing end of the scorecards. Hopefully not, you know. In a perfect world I can get in there and win rounds and be able to stop takedowns. But I think my best chance in this fight is my stopping ability, my striking and my submissions." "The Natural Born Killer" is nothing if not a finisher; 26 of Condit's 27 career victories have come without assistance from cageside judges. That's an insane finishing rate but will he be able to end St. Pierre's night early when the two square off later this month? Hear more from Condit on the biggest fight of his life after the jump.

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Carlos Condit challenges Georges St. Pierre for the UFC welterweight title on Saturday, Oct. 29, at UFC 137.

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We're a few short weeks away from UFC 137 and the return of welterweight champion Georges St. Pierre to the cage. St. Pierre will face off with the dangerous Carlos Condit in a title fight in the main event of that show with his next challenger possibly being decided in the co-main event fight of the card between Nick Diaz and B.J. Penn. The promo videos for the card are ramping up with the latest entry on the UFC YouTube page being a brief interview with Georges St. Pierre: From the video: I'm going to have to deal with a guy who has knockout power, very technical striker and a great ground game as well. Unpredictable fighter. I've seen a lot of improvement in Carlos' game but I believe I'm a more improved fighter than Carlos is. I have a game plan to take care of Carlos and I will execute it. He's not my friend and I don't put any emotion in but I believe I will have the key to victory. I do believe I will be able to knock him out or submit him. I will remain the welterweight champion. Keep your browser locked in to Bloody Elbow for more information as we head toward this big night of action.

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When Carlos Condit was named as a replacement for Nick Diaz in a headlining title-fight against Georges St. Pierre at UFC 137 it may have initially felt like a step down in competition for the welterweight champion given the hype surround Diaz. However, according to the one opinion mattering most in the equation – St. Pierre’s – Condit is far from being a lesser opponent. In fact, GSP feels he may be the toughest adversary he’s faced off against to date. St. Pierre recently offered up his thoughts on “The Natural Born Killer” in a promotional video for the event where he explained Condit’s polished attack is the best he’s encountered. “I believe Carlos poses more problems for me than I’ve ever seen,” said St. Pierre. “I have to deal with a guy who has knockout power, a very technical striker and great ground game as well – an unpredictable fighter.” Considering Condit has finished 26 of the 27 fighters he’s beaten with an even split between TKOs/submissions it’s hard to argue against the French-Candian’s assessment, especially when looking at the number of “specialists” St. Pierre has faced over his seven-plus year career in the UFC. You can watch the entire GSP interview clip below: PHOTO CREDIT – AP Tweet

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Georges St. Pierre puts his UFC welterweight title on the line on Saturday, Oct. 29, at UFC 137.

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Who needs friends when a legacy is on the line? Despite both men having trained together in the past and both having ties to Greg Jackson's gym down in New Mexico, Georges St. Pierre wants you to know that Carlos Condit, his opponent at UFC 137 on Oct. 29 in Las Vegas, is not his friend. "I'm going to have to deal with a guy who has knockout power, very technical striker and a great ground game as well. Unpredictable fighter. I've seen a lot of improvement in Carlos' game but I believe I'm a more improved fighter than Carlos is. I have a game plan to take care of Carlos and I will execute it. He's not my friend and I don't put any emotion in but I believe I will have the key to victory. I do believe I will be able to knock him out or submit him. I will remain the welterweight champion." St. Pierre was originally set to battle Nick Diaz over Halloween weekend, but a series of unfortunate events prevented that highly anticipated fight from occurring.  Condit just so happened to be in the right place at the right time -- with the right resume -- to slide right into the main event slot for the opportunity of a lifetime. And, of course, become the next man who presents "Rush" with his toughest challenge to date. Video of St. Pierre talking about his upcoming title defense, which will be his seventh in a row, after the jump.

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UFC 137 “St. Pierre vs. Condit” takes place on Saturday, Oct. 29, at the Mandalay Bay in Las Vegas, Nevada and will air live on pay-per-view at 9pm ET/6pm PT. The official UFC 137 fight card can be found in our fight cards section.

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Reigning Welterweight Champion Georges St. Pierre, who will look to make his seventh consecutive title defense when he meets Carlos Condit at UFC 137, discusses his opponent, as well as Nick Diaz's withdraw from the fight. St. Pierre says that while he was looking forward to facing Diaz, he believes that his new opponent, Condit, is the true number-one contender.

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UFC Welterweight Champion Georges St. Pierre is calling on a former foe to help get him ready to rumble against Carlos Condit at UFC 137 on Oct. 29 in Las Vegas, Nevada. Dan Hardy, to be specific. "The Outlaw" knows a thing or two about fighting Condit, as the two 170-pounders made hay while the sun shined at UFC 120 back in October 2010. He also knows a thing or two about getting knocked clean out, which is what happened at the hands of "The Natural Born Killer" when they traded blows last year across the pond. The defeat to Condit was loss number two in his current four-fight skid, which makes Hardy's addition to the TriStar training camp an unusual choice. Then again, St. Pierre said he was adding "intensity." Hardy, who was submitted by Chris Lytle at UFC on Versus 5 just last month, struggled against the wrestling-based attack of Anthony Johnson prior to that in his UFC Fight Night 24 bout earlier this year. In fact, he hasn't won a fight since taking a judge's decision from Mike Swick at UFC 109 back in 2009. How about it fight fans, what do you make of the newest addition to the St. Pierre training camp? Can the talented but down-on-his-luck Hardy help "intensify" the daily operations? Or was this a miscalculation at a critical point in the "Rush" camp? Opinions, please.

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"I've always been a big fan of Georges, I've admired his style and kinda of the way he carries himself and I'm honored to get in their and challenge him for the belt and step in the cage with him. With all that aside I think that I'm the best welterweight in the world and I've been trying to prove that every single time I get in their and this fight is going to be no different. It's a great opportunity for me, but I think whether Nick did what he did or he didn't, I still think I deserve the title shot. I didn't get it by default or anything like that. With that being said it's unfortunate for him. At this stage of the game it's not just fighting. It's selling the fights, you got to show up and do the P.R. It's not always fun but it's part of it. So it is unfortunate for Nick, he kind of blew his opportunity and I think he would have been a tough challenge for Georges. But you got to do the footwork and sell the fight." Carlos Condit will be challenging Georges St. Pierre for the Canadian's 170-pound title at UFC 137 on Oct. 29 in Las Vegas -- and he has Nick Diaz to thank for that. The former Strikeforce Welterweight Champion was bounced from the "Sin City" headliner after failing to uphold his media obligations, paving the way for "The Natural Born Killer" to step in and take his place. But Condit tells Buddha Sport he deserved the championship bout anyway and the promotion didn't "Rush" him into a St. Pierre title fight just to plug the hole. Any fight fans out there disagree?

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Reigning Welterweight Champion Georges St. Pierre announced via Twitter today the arrival of a brand new training partner ahead of his UFC 137 title clash with Carlos Condit."Guess who landed in town yesterday night to come train with me? For sure he'll bring the much needed intensity to get prepared...Dan Hardy!!!" (via @GeorgesStPierre)Hardy, a one time title challenger, is a peculiar choice for St. Pierre, who dominated the Brit for the duration of their five-round affair back at UFC 111. Though "The

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Brock Lesnar has headlined four UFC events and they've all drawn more than one million buys on pay-per-view (PPV). Impressive? You bet. But is he the biggest PPV star in MMA today? Nope. That honor goes to Welterweight Champion Georges St. Pierre, at least if you're asking UFC President Dana White. This despite a style of fighting that is, perhaps, the least aesthetically pleasing. And the most sleep inducing. What he may lack in excitement, though, he more than makes up for in charisma. There's no doubt the French-Canadian wrestler has an invisible quality that naturally draws fans in, enough that they shell out considerable amounts of coin to see him fight each time he's inside the Octagon. While White admits "Rush" doesn't fight with the same sense of urgency he once did, he reconciles with that fact when he goes to bed on his mattress made of cash, as explained to MMA Nation: "Does Georges St. Pierre fight like he fought back when he fought B.J. Penn the first time? No. I have nothing to do with their training or their camp or their strategy or how they fight. Let me put it to you this way: Georges St. Pierre is, by far, the biggest pay-per-view star in mixed martial arts. By far. By far. The biggest pay-per-view star. Big. By far the biggest pay-per-view star in MMA. So, for what it's worth, for people who want to say he's this or that." It's interesting, to say the least, to hear White make such a claim, especially when the cold hard numbers simply don't back him up. Let's look at the pay-per-view buys for the last three events headlined by each man (all numbers provided by MMAPayout's Blue Book): St. Pierre: UFC 129 -- 800,000 UFC 124 -- 785,000 UFC 111 -- 770,000 Lesnar: UFC 121 -- 1,050,000 UFC 116 -- 1,160,000 UFC 91 -- 1, 010,000 These two have actually shared two separate cards, most notably the landmark UFC 100 show that drew a record 1,600,000 PPV buys. Perhaps White is referring less to actual numbers and more to what the future may or may not hold. After all, St. Pierre is still in his prime and as healthy and unstoppable as ever. Lesnar, on the other hand, has had two separate bouts with diverticulitis, the second of which forced surgery to remove 12 inches of his colon. Both men are in action before the year is out with "GSP" taking on Carlos Condit at UFC 137 on Oct. 29 while Lesnar will square off against Alistair Overeem at UFC 141 on Dec. 30. Not that it will be the definitive indicator of whether or not White is correct in his assessment but whose show draws more buys? St. Pierre or Brock?

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UFC welterweight champ Georges St. Pierre recently opened up again on the possibility of a future “super-fight” pitting him against pound-for-pound peer Anderson Silva, again expressing his interest in the match-up but also leaving a hint of doubt in terms of it ever actually taking place. One of GSP’s key points in the fight’s potential for reality had to do with what it would take to physically prepare for facing someone of Silva’s size. “It just depends on the amount of time I have to do it. If I do it, I have to do it well, it takes time,” St. Pierre said to UFC Connected while adding he would need the UFC to give him an extended break from fighting to do so. St. Pierre also stated he feels Silva is currently the greatest UFC fighter of all time, stating, “Regarding what he has done and the way he has done it I think it’s fair to say he’s the best right now,” while also expressing how impressed he was with the Brazilian’s handling of Yushin Okami at UFC 134. Silva Has Night’s Top Performance at UFC 134 Of course, before the humble 170-pounder has a chance to compete against “The Spider” he has a date, and title-defense, on October 29 against former WEC champ Carlos Condit at UFC 137. PHOTO CREDIT – UFC Tweet

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