Georges St-Pierre Breaks Down Why He Hates Fighting
It turns out that former UFC middleweight and welterweight champion Georges St-Pierre is not a fan of fighting.
GSP returned to competition in November after four years away from the sport to win the middleweight title with a submission victory in the third round over Michael Bisping at UFC 217.
However, shortly after the fight, he had to vacate the title as he is dealing with colitis. The biggest question this year is if GSP will fight again and if that does actually happen, who would the UFC book him against.
A few weeks ago, Dana White came out and stated that they had plans for GSP to fight Nate Diaz at the upcoming UFC 227 pay-per-view event. Although the fight did not make much sense, the promotion is in need for super fights and this one would deliver as a PPV draw.
However, the former UFC champion has already come out and shot down speculation of this fight happening. During a recent appearance on Joe Rogan’s MMA Show, GSP explained why he hates fighting.
“I hate fighting. I really do,” St-Pierre told Joe Rogan (transcript courtesy of Bloody Elbow). “I know a lot of people don’t believe me, but I’m going to try to explain the best I can.
“In every job, there’s no perfect job, do you agree? There’s no perfect job that you like everything about it. It’s impossible,” he continued. “My job, as a professional athlete in Mixed Martial Arts, I fight normally — when I was very active — twice a year.
“In 365 days, there are two days that I hate the most: The days that I’m fighting,” he said. “It’s freaking unbearable. The feeling of uncertainty. You don’t know if you’re going to be humiliated, you’re going to be the victor, or you’re going to be the loser. I care so much about it, that it’s freaking unbearable. As much as I try to dismiss it, it’s unbearable.”
“I like the fact that I’m a free man, I’m my own boss. I do whatever I want, I have access to certain things, VIP stuff, that most people don’t. My quality of life, the money, I didn’t have it before, now I do,” he explained. “I love my job, and I’m very happy about my job, but there’s this thing I hate about my job that I hate the most… It’s fighting. I hate it.”
St-Pierre is one of the most decorated fighters in UFC history. Also, he’s only the fourth fighter in UFC history to win belts in two weight classes. GSP also spoke about what he does love about the fight game.
“I love the study of fighting. I love the science of it. The tactical, the physical. I love to train, I love to walk in the room, and feel strong. I know if something happens, I’m the man — even if it’s an illusion, with a bullet, nobody is faster than this,” he said. “I like the lifestyle. I don’t do it for the fight, I freaking hate the fight.”
“I had this talk with Rory MacDonald at one point,” St-Pierre recalled. “I was like ‘hey why do you like fighting?’ He said ‘I guess I like to fight, you (don’t) like to fight?’ I was like ‘F—k no! I don’t like to fight!’ and everyone in the room turned around and looked at me like I was crazy.
“‘You guys are all crazy, if you think I like to fight in a cage in front of millions of people! Maybe humiliated, knocked out, or die? Are you crazy?! I don’t like to fight, are you nuts??’,” he said. “I like to win! When you win, the feeling is unbelievable! It’s so good, that it’s worth… this. But I hate it, man!”
