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New-look Georges St. Pierre weighs in on bulking up, Anderson Silva and his 2012 Olympic wrestling dreams

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The Manchester crowd at UFC 105 got a chance to see welterweight champion Georges St. Pierre at the Fight Club Q & A, prior to the weigh-ins yesterday.

"Rush" commented on everything from his successful title defenses against B.J. Penn, Thiago Alves and Jon Fitch, to a potential super fight against middleweight champion Anderson Silva or even Strikeforce middleweight champion Jake Shields.

"My toughest fight I think was against either Jon Fitch or Thiago Alves. Jon Fitch because he was very well-rounded and was the type of guy who you can try to finish him as much as you want, but he’s always going to come back. And Alves because he was a huge, huge welterweight. This guy walks around at 215. And when I fought him, I was walking around at 185."

Size and weight was a focus for a large part of the Q & A session.

Since his last title defense against Alves — where GSP injured his groin that forced him to sit out the remainder of 2009 — St. Pierre has hired a nutritionist as part of his effort to bulk up. The move hints that a super fight against middleweight kingpin Anderson Silva might be on the horizon.

Star-divide

"I’m not afraid of nobody in the sport. I think everything is a question of time … From what I’ve heard now Anderson Silva wants to fight heavyweight or light heavyweight. He’s getting bigger. I’m getting bigger too, but he’s getting bigger. But maybe one day. Depending on the UFC, depending on what the public wants … one day, if there’s a possibility for a catchweight or something like that happens, then I am up for it."

Of course the effort to bulk up might just be the welterweight champion’s strategy to compete against a younger crop of heavier and heavier welterweights.

"I think it’s a question of two things. The first, size, the weight. That’s physics … It’s proven that somebody with more weight behind the punch normally hits harder than someone who’s smaller. That’s physics. And of course the skill too. I do believe that skill always beats strength and always beats size. That’s a fact. I proved it in my last fight. I was smaller than my opponent and I did very well."

St.Pierre says he used to walk around at between 185 – 187 even as recently as his last title defense, but today weighs 196. He says there is a limit, of course, to how much muscle mass he can put on, because he still has to be able to make the cut to 170 lbs. at weigh-ins.

While St. Pierre has been on the sidelines while the welterweight division figures out its next number contender, he hasn’t stopped training. He’s identifying areas he can continue to improve.

"There is no such thing as an invincible man. Everybody can lose, everybody is beaten, everybody can be beat."

One area he admits he could improve is his Brazilian jiu-jitsu and admits he’d like the opportunity to test his skills against Jake Shields, although he thinks the Strikeforce middleweight champion’s jitz might be on another level. When asked if his jiu-jitsu is better than Shields, St. Pierre held nothing back.

"I don’t think so, and I’m total honest. If you put me in a grappling match with Jake Shields on the ground, he would probably beat me. If you put me in a mixed martial arts fight against Jake Shields, I’m confident that I might beat him. But there is only one way to find out."

Prior to the UFC 105 weigh-ins, St. Pierre also told reporters that he’s eyeing a potential shot to join the Canadian Olympic wrestling team for the 2012 Summer Games, as reported by Slam! Sports.

"It’s something in my mind, but the thing is I’m on contract with the UFC … So I have to be very careful in what I’m saying, but we’ll see."

UFC president Dana White, though, expressed his support for St. Pierre’s Olympic goals, saying, "It would be great if he won a medal." White’s a master marketer for a reason -- an Olympic wrestling medal for one of the faces of MMA only adds legitimacy on a global scale for the sport that’s not yet "mainstream."

Still, St. Pierre, who routinely trains at the Montreal Wrestling Club against some of his country’s top amateurs, is realistic about his chances.

"There is a big difference between saying I want to go to the Olympic Games and actually going to the Olympic Games … It’s very hard. To do the tryouts and everything it’s very hard. You have to pass through a bunch of obstacles before you get there." If he does make the team, St. Pierre plans to compete in the 84-kilogram class.

You can catch the complete UFC 105 Fight Club Q & A video at UFC.com.

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Go Georges!

IMO Georges is the classiest champion in MMA! It would be great to see this guy in the Olympics! I’m not sure if he’s good enough to even make the team at pure wrestling, but I bet he could beat any gold medalist if they fought in an MMA match.

Hope he’s not bulking up too much to make 170. He was already rediculously lean. Don’t understand how guys like Alves and Anderson can cut such rediculous amounts of weight.

GSP QUOTE OF THE WEEK!

“I tink Hardy prove that he’s deserve the title.” Hold on, there, Georges! Lets give him a title fight before we give him a belt! Georges is always so generous.

by (shonuff) on Nov 14, 2009 10:14 PM EST reply actions   0 recs

HAHA

I noticed he said that too. Sometimes English is too much for him. Can’t wait for Hardy/GSP. If Georges does somehow make the Olympic team I will be shocked.

by jay. on Nov 15, 2009 9:37 AM EST up reply actions   0 recs

Jake Shields last fight was boring as hell. Many rounds of tying up jason miller and not doing anything else. Yawn.

by Curse of Yig on Nov 14, 2009 10:22 PM EST reply actions   0 recs

gsp would murder shields

i cant believe a reporter would put jake shields and gsp in the same sentence….

look at gsp’s resume of competition hes faced and then look at shield’s resume of competition….you cant compare them…

shields is the highest ranked fighter to have never beaten a highly ranked fighter…the dude is a complete joke….he just gay porn’d a victory over an unranked miller…the dude has had 30 fights and hes faced no one….

gsp has beaten matt hughes twice, bj penn twice, thiago alves, koscheck……who the fuck has shields beaten???

bj penn would murder shields, so would matt hughes, so would thiago, so would kos, i dont even need to say gsp, that would be a joke…

shields is the most one dimensional champion in the history of mma….

he would never stand and go toe to toe with any of the fighters i listed above and there is no way in hell he holds them down and gay porns a victory hump for 25 minutes over them….can u imagine him holding thiago down for 25 mins? much less gsp…cause he sure as hell isnt gonna stand and trade with gsp

by HellaHectic on Nov 14, 2009 11:34 PM EST reply actions   0 recs

most one dimensional champion ever? are you sure you dont want to take a second and think about that?

by an8yr0ldboi on Nov 15, 2009 4:45 AM EST up reply actions   0 recs

GSP P4P #1

As stated in the title!

by MMAKilla on Nov 15, 2009 12:17 AM EST reply actions   0 recs

GSP is the best

This was a funny Q & A interview of GSP. How can you not like this guy. He respects his opponents and he respects the sport. He said the most arrogant fighter in the UFC is BjPenn He disrepect George. He even said the Bj. Penn has plateau since He is looking at what did George do to beat him. Saying He use steroids to get bigger, and even accused him of greasing, making excuses to convince himself why did He lose instead of looking into himself and look for techniques He needed to improve to be a better fighter. GSP is the classiest champ in the UFC and I really hope he can pull it off and win a Gold Medal that would be great for the sport.

by GSP #4# IS #1 on Nov 15, 2009 6:12 AM EST reply actions   0 recs

check out the entire interview at ufc.com For those of u who say that He has no personality you guys should check this Q & A out.

by GSP #4# IS #1 on Nov 15, 2009 6:21 AM EST reply actions   0 recs


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