Georges St-Pierre (born May 19, 1981), often referred to as GSP, is a French-Canadian mixed martial artist and the current Welterweight Champion of the UFC. St-Pierre is ranked as the top "pound for pound" fighter by Yahoo Sports. St-Pierre has been praised by many media outlets for his well-rounded skill and he is currently ranked by multiple MMA publications as the number-one welterweight in the world. In 2008 and in 2009, he was named the Canadian Athlete of the Year by Rogers Sportsnet, as well as the 2008–2009 Most Outstanding Fighter by the Wrestling Observer Newsletter. Georges St-Pierre also won the Fighter of the Year award by the 2009 World MMA Awards.

Biography

Georges St-Pierre was born May 19, 1981 in Saint-Isidore, Quebec, to Jim and Louise St-Pierre. St-Pierre had a difficult childhood, attending a school where others would steal his clothes and money.He started learning Kyokushin karate at age seven by his father and later by a Kyokushin Karate Master to defend himself against a school bully. He took up wrestling and Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu after his karate teacher died and also trained in boxing. Before turning pro as a mixed-martial artist, St-Pierre worked as a bouncer at a Montreal night club in the South Shore called Fuzzy Brossard and as a garbageman for six months to pay for his school fees.

St-Pierre has trained with a number of groups in a large variety of gyms throughout his fighting career. Prior to his fight with B.J. Penn at UFC 58, he trained at the Renzo Gracie Jiu-Jitsu Academy in New York City. St-Pierre received his brown belt in BJJ from Renzo Gracie on July 21, 2006.In September 2008, St-Pierre earned his black belt in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu under Bruno Fernandes.

St-Pierre began training with Rashad Evans, Nathan Marquardt, Keith Jardine, Donald Cerrone, and other skilled MMA fighters at Greg Jackson's Submission Fighting Gaidojutsu school in New Mexico. Some of Jackson's students accompanied St-Pierre to Montreal to help prepare him for his fight at UFC 94 against B.J. Penn at the Tristar Gym, including Keith Jardine, Nathan Marquardt, Donald Cerrone and Rashad Evans. Georges' strength and conditioning coach is Jonathan Chaimberg of Adrenaline Performance Centre in Montréal. Georges' Head Trainer is Firas Zahabi of Zahabi MMA, out of the Tristar gym. The two have cornered all of St-Pierre's most recent bouts and remain as his close friends. Currently, St-Pierre trains in Muay Thai under Phil Nurse at the Wat in New York City. He also trains with renowned boxing coach Freddie Roach at the Wild Card Gym.

Early career

St-Pierre had dreamed of becoming a UFC champion since watching Royce Gracie fight in 1993 at UFC 1. St-Pierre had his first amateur bout when he was only 16 years old. He said, "When I won my first amateur (MMA) fight, I was 16 years old and I beat a guy that was 25. I was only a Kyokushin karate fighter and the guy I fought was a boxer. At the time my ground skills were very poor, I didn't know anything on the ground." St-Pierre won his fight by knockout, going low with several leg kicks and then going high with a kick to the head.

St-Pierre's pro debut was against Ivan Menjivar and it ended by TKO due to punches at 4:50 secconds of the first round . In only his second fight, St-Pierre's challenge for the UCC belt against Justin Bruckmann. He won by an arm bar in the first round. He then went on to defend his title twice. The UCC aka Universal Combat Challenge was then converted to TKO Major League MMA and he was named the champion. He fought on November 29, 2003 against Pete Spratt in a non-title bout at TKO 14. St-Pierre defeated Spratt with a rear naked choke in the first round.

Joining the UFC

St-Pierre made his UFC debut at UFC 46, where he defeated Karo Parisyan by unanimous decision. His next fight in the UFC was against Jay Hieron at UFC 48. St-Pierre defeated Hieron via technical knockout in only 1:42 of the first round.

Following his second win in the UFC, he faced Matt Hughes at UFC 50 for the vacant UFC Welterweight Championship. Despite a competitive performance against the much more experienced fighter, St-Pierre tapped out to an armbar with only 1 second remaining in the first round. The loss was the first of St-Pierre's career and he has since admitted that he was in awe of Hughes going into the title bout.

Road to the title

After his loss to Matt Hughes, St-Pierre rebounded with a win over Dave Strasser at TKO 19 by a first-round kimura submission. He then returned to the UFC to face Jason Miller at UFC 52, defeating Miller by unanimous decision in a bloody battle.

St-Pierre was then matched up against top contender Frank Trigg at UFC 54. St-Pierre controlled the fight and eventually snuck in a rear naked choke with less than a minute remaining in the first round.He then faced future lightweight champion Sean Sherk at UFC 56. Midway through the second round, St-Pierre became the second fighter to defeat Sherk and the first to finish him.

At UFC 58, St-Pierre defeated former UFC welterweight champion B.J. Penn to become the number-one contender for the UFC welterweight title. St-Pierre won the match by split decision and was set for a rematch against then-champion Matt Hughes at UFC 63. St-Pierre was forced to withdraw from the match, however, due to a groin injury and was replaced by the man he defeated in March, B.J. Penn. The UFC announced afterward that St-Pierre would have the opportunity to fight for the title when his condition was fully healed.

The Ultimate Fighter

St-Pierre was seen as a trainer on The Ultimate Fighter 4: The Comeback on Spike TV, which featured fighters who were previously seen in UFC events including Matt Serra, Shonie Carter, Pete Sell, Patrick Côté, and Travis Lutter. St-Pierre was seen vocally supporting fellow Canadian and training partner Patrick Côté during the season's airing.

Winning the championship

At UFC 63, St-Pierre made an appearance to support fellow Canadian David "The Crow" Loiseau. At that time he was seen pushing Loiseau to "fight his fight" against Mike Swick. At the same event, after Matt Hughes had defeated B.J. Penn, St-Pierre stepped into the ring to hype up his upcoming title fight against Hughes, stating that he was glad that Hughes won his fight, but that he was "not impressed" by Hughes' performance.

According to both commentator Joe Rogan and Hughes' own autobiography, Hughes was unhappy with St-Pierre's statement. Hughes said that they "had words" off-camera shortly after, at which time St-Pierre apologized, saying he had misunderstood something Hughes had said on the microphone and did not mean to offend him. St-Pierre challenged Matt Hughes again at UFC 65 for the UFC Welterweight Championship. The fight was almost stopped near the end of the first round when St-Pierre sent Hughes to the mat with a superman punch and left hook, but Hughes managed to survive the first round. In the second round, St-Pierre won the fight via technical knockout after a left kick to Hughes' head followed by a barrage of unanswered punches and elbows. After the fight, on January 30, 2007, St-Pierre signed a new six-fight deal with the UFC.

Losing the title

At UFC 69, St-Pierre lost the welterweight title to The Ultimate Fighter 4 winner Matt Serra defeated St-Pierre by TKO at 3:25 of round one. Matt Serra was an 11–1 underdog going into the bout. St-Pierre has said that he lost the match partially due to a lack of focus because of problems in his personal life, including the death of a close cousin and his father's serious illness,and later parted ways with his manager and most of his entourage. St-Pierre has since gone on to say that he should not have made any excuses and that Serra was simply the better fighter that night.

Back into title contention

On August 25, 2007, at UFC 74 St-Pierre won a unanimous decision against Josh Koscheck (30–27, 29–28, 29–28). He outwrestled Koscheck, who is a four-time Division I NCAA All-American and an NCAA wrestling champion, by scoring takedowns, stopping Koscheck's takedown attempts and maintaining top position throughout most of the fight.Many predicted that Koscheck would outmatch St-Pierre on the ground due to his credentials, but St-Pierre was confident that he was a better wrestler and striker and was more well-versed in submissions than Koscheck.

Before and after the fight, St-Pierre stated his intention to reclaim his lost title, miming the act of placing a championship belt around his waist while still in the octagon. His win over Koscheck had placed him in the number-one contender spot for the UFC Welterweight Championship. That fight was to be against the winner of Matt Hughes and Matt Serra. Matt Serra had to pull out of UFC 79 due to a back injury sustained during training, and instead St-Pierre faced Hughes in a rubber match for the interim UFC Welterweight Championship. Hughes was unable to mount any serious offense against St-Pierre, who again showcased his wrestling skills by not only avoiding all of Hughes' takedown attempts, but also taking Hughes down at will. In a reversal of their first fight, St-Pierre attempted a kimura on Hughes' right arm, then switched to a straight armbar with fifteen seconds left in the second round. Hughes fought the extension, but with his left hand trapped between St-Pierre's ankles, was forced to verbally submit at 4:55 of the second round, making St-Pierre the interim Welterweight Champion. After the fight, St-Pierre said that the interim belt was a great honor but meant nothing to him, as Matt Serra was still the real champion.

Undisputed championship

At UFC 83 on April 19, 2008, St-Pierre fought Matt Serra to determine the undisputed UFC welterweight champion. It was the UFC's first event in Canada and was held at the Bell Centre in Montreal, Québec.Instead of starting with strikes, St-Pierre pressed the action early with a takedown and then mixed up his attack, which never allowed Serra the chance to mount a significant offense.In the second round, St-Pierre continued his previous actions and forced Serra into the turtle position and delivered several knees to Serra's midsection. Near the end of round two, the fight was stopped by referee Yves Lavigne with Serra unable to defend himself from St-Pierre's continuous knee blows or improve his position. After the fight St-Pierre asked the crowd to restrain themselves and show Serra some respect. Serra in turn bowed graciously before St-Pierre.

Defending the title

St-Pierre's first title defense since winning the belt back was against Jon Fitch at UFC 87. Fitch was on a 16-fight winning streak and was going in the fight to set a new UFC record for longest winning streak, which would have been nine. St-Pierre defeated Jon Fitch by unanimous decision with scores of 50–43, 50–44, 50–44, to retain his UFC welterweight title. He dominated Fitch, scoring multiple devastating strikes and taking the former Purdue wrestling captain down seemingly at will. After the fight, St-Pierre spoke to Fitch about the growth that his own loss had prompted and said that Fitch's experience should be no different.

The win over Fitch set up one of the most anticipated rematches in UFC history, as BJ Penn stepped into the octagon after the fight to essentially challenge St-Pierre to a rematch of their bout at UFC 58 in 2006, which ended in a split-decision victory for St-Pierre. The rematch occurred on January 31, 2009, at UFC 94. The first round of the fight was somewhat even, with Penn exercising elusive head movement, fast hands and good take-down defense, thwarting all of St-Pierre's take-down attempts while both exchanged punches. In the ensuing three rounds, however, Penn turned out a lackluster performance. St-Pierre scored his first take-down of the night midway through the second round and by the end of the round Penn was visibly tired. At the start of round three, St-Pierre landed a "superman punch" that bloodied Penn's nose and shortly took Penn down again. From that point on, St-Pierre took Penn down almost at will, repeatedly passed Penn's renowned guard and persistently punished the Hawaiian with a ground-and-pound attack. Penn later admitted that he couldn't recall anything that happened during the 3rd and 4th rounds because "I was probably borderline knocked out or something. At the end of the fourth round, after more of St-Pierre's ground-and-pound onslaught, Penn's corner man Jason Parillo requested that the referee stop the fight. Penn failed to attend the post-fight press conference due to having stayed in the hospital. Phil Nurse, was seen after round 1 rubbing St-Pierre's back and shoulders, which, the Penn camp claimed, was Nurse applying Vaseline to GSP and what ultimately led to Penn's defeat. The UFC does not allow Vaseline to be applied to the back. It was formally investigated by the UFC and Nevada State Athletic Commission upon the request of the Penn camp, including a letter Penn's mother wrote to Dana White about the incident. Upon investigation, all claims were dismissed as false and warranted no disciplinary action or further investigation. After this so-called "grease gate", it was decided by UFC that fighters must receive the good luck hug from their coaches before having vaseline applied on the face by UFC officials before entering the cage, in order to make sure no vaseline is applied on the body of the fighters.

Next St-Pierre fought and defeated number-one contender, Thiago Alves, at UFC 100. Alves showed promise on his feet standing up in the fight, but St-Pierre's wrestling offensive, endurance and ground control proved too much for the challenger and put St-Pierre en route to a unanimous decision victory, despite suffering a pulled groin muscle in the fourth round. While St-Pierre said in his post fight interview that the injury was sustained in the third round, he later said on his blog that the injury in fact occurred in the fourth round. On July 18, 2009, it was revealed that St-Pierre's groin injury wouldn't require surgery.

A scheduled bout between Mike Swick and Martin Kampmann would have determined the number 1 contender to the UFC Welterweight Championship. In early September, Swick pulled out of the fight due to an injury, effectively cancelling the title elimination aspect of the fight. After Martin Kampmann lost to Paul Daley at UFC 103, a fight between Swick and Dan Hardy was announced for UFC 105, with the winner, Dan Hardy, earning number 1 contendership to St-Pierre's title.

St-Pierre successfully defended his welterweight title against Dan Hardy on March 27, 2010 at UFC 111 which took place in Newark, NJ. St-Pierre dominated the fight, winning every round with multiple takedowns (nine total) and superior grappling. He came close to submitting Hardy at the end of the first round with an armbar and in the fourth round with a kimura, but Hardy refused to tap and eventually fought out of both holds. St-Pierre went on to win the fight by unanimous decision (50-43, 50-44 and 50-45). After the fight, he stated that he was glad to win but was not impressed by his performance, stating that he wanted to finish the fight, whilst giving credit to Hardy's toughness.

Coaching on The Ultimate Fighter 12

On May 7, St-Pierre was announced as one of the coaches for the twelfth season of The Ultimate Fighter. He will coach alongside Josh Koscheck after Koscheck defeated Paul Daley at UFC 113. The two are expected to fight for the championship when the season ends.

2012 Summer Olympics London

It was revealed on January 2, 2010 that St. Pierre was considering leaving MMA so he could try out for the Canadian freestyle wrestling team and compete at the 2012 Summer Olympics. Though many sources have stated (his wrestling coaches in particular) that he is a great wrestler within the context of MMA, it is generally agreed that he would have to spend many years preparing before he can even make the Olympic team. St-Pierre himself actually cleared it up in the interview saying that he was overconfident of himself and that in the end it was not a serious statement.

Mixed Martial Arts record

22 matches 20 wins 2 losses

By knockout 8 1

By submission 5 1

By decision 7 0

Win 20–2 Dan Hardy Decision (Unanimous) UFC 111: St.Pierre vs. Hardy 02010-03-27 March 27, 2010 5 5:00 Newark, New Jersey Defended UFC Welterweight Championship

Win 19–2 Thiago Alves Decision (Unanimous) UFC 100 02009-07-11 July 11, 2009 5 5:00 Las Vegas, Nevada Defended UFC Welterweight Championship

Win 18–2 B.J. Penn TKO (Corner Stoppage) UFC 94: St Pierre vs Penn 2 02009-01-31 January 31, 2009 4 5:00 Las Vegas, Nevada Defended UFC Welterweight Championship

Win 17–2 Jon Fitch Decision (Unanimous) UFC 87: Seek and Destroy 02008-08-09 August 9, 2008 5 5:00 Minneapolis, Minnesota Defended UFC Welterweight Championship, Fight of the Night

Win 16–2 Matt Serra TKO (Knees) UFC 83: Serra vs. St-Pierre 2 02008-04-19 April 19, 2008 2 4:45 Montreal, Quebec Won Undisputed UFC Welterweight Championship

Win 15–2 Matt Hughes Submission (Armbar) UFC 79: Nemesis 02007-12-29 December 29, 2007 2 4:54 Las Vegas, Nevada Won Interim UFC Welterweight Championship, Won Submission of the Night

Win 14–2 Josh Koscheck Decision (Unanimous) UFC 74: Respect 02007-08-25 August 25, 2007 3 5:00 Las Vegas, Nevada

Loss 13–2 Matt Serra TKO (Punches) UFC 69: Shootout 02007-04-07 April 7, 2007 1 3:25 Houston, Texas Lost UFC Welterweight Championship

Win 13–1 Matt Hughes TKO (headkick and elbows) UFC 65: Bad Intentions 02006-11-18 November 18, 2006 2 1:25 Sacramento Won UFC Welterweight Championship

Win 12–1 B.J. Penn Decision (Split) UFC 58: USA vs Canada 02006-03-04 March 4, 2006 3 5:00 Las Vegas, Nevada

Win 11–1 Sean Sherk TKO (Strikes) UFC 56: Full Force 02005-11-19 November 19, 2005 2 2:53 Las Vegas, Nevada

Win 10–1 Frank Trigg Submission (Rear Naked Choke) UFC 54: Boiling Point 02005-08-20 August 20, 2005 1 4:09 Las Vegas, Nevada

Win 9–1 Jason Miller Decision (Unanimous) UFC 52: Couture vs Liddell 2 02005-04-16 April 16, 2005 3 5:00 Las Vegas, Nevada

Win 8–1 Dave Strasser Submission (Kimura) TKO 19: Rage 02005-01-29 January 29, 2005 1 1:52 Montreal, Quebec

Loss 7–1 Matt Hughes Submission (Armbar) UFC 50: The War of '04 02004-10-22 October 22, 2004 1 4:59 Atlantic City For Vacant UFC Welterweight Championship

Win 7–0 Jay Hieron TKO (Strikes) UFC 48: Payback 02004-06-19 June 19, 2004 1 1:42 Las Vegas, Nevada

Win 6–0 Karo Parisyan Decision (Unanimous) UFC 46: Supernatural 02004-01-31 January 31, 2004 3 5:00 Las Vegas, Nevada UFC debut

Win 5-0 Pete Spratt Submission (Rear Naked Choke) TKO 14: Road Warriors 02003-11-29 November 29, 2003 1 3:40 Victoriaville, Quebec

Win 4–0 Thomas Denny TKO (Cut) UCC 12: Adrenaline 02003-01-25 January 25, 2003 2 4:45 Montreal, Quebec Non-Title Bout since Denny is a US Citizen.

Win 3–0 Travis Galbraith TKO (Elbows) UCC 11: The Next Level 02002-10-11 October 11, 2002 1 2:03 Montreal, Quebec Defended UCC Welterweight Championship

Win 2–0 Justin Bruckmann Submission (Armbar) UCC 10: Battle for the Belts 2002 02002-06-15 June 15, 2002 1 3:54 Gatineau, Quebec Won UCC Welterweight Championship

Win 1–0 Ivan Menjivar TKO (Punches) UCC 7: Bad Boyz 02002-01-25 January 25, 2002 1 4:59 Montreal, Quebec MMA debut

Entrance music

St-Pierre is noted for using French language rap music (from either France or Québec) during his entrance walks.

Acting career

St-Pierre has acted in two films, both written by martial artist Hector Echavarria. He plays Shaman in Death Warrior[45], and Georges in Never Surrender.[46]

My fav fighter for more that one reason!

I now wanna make a thread for Forrest, Tito, Shogun Rua, Dan Hardy... So many fighters I wanna bang... *sigh*

lollllllllllllllllllllll. there's a thread for ya "MMA fighters you wnt to bang"

go for it!!!!!

I have a long list of MMA fighters too! These guys are amazing!

I have a long list of MMA fighters too! These guys are amazing!

I'm a huge MMA fan, and have been for a long time. My ex boyfriend is a fighter, he's trying to get picked up by ATT down here, and hopefully catapult him into some contracts. We'll see, I guess.

man, i rememebr when UFC was first starting with Royce Gracie and Shamrock and Kimo. amazing how much it has evolved from it's roots in jsut a bit under 20 years.

man, i rememebr when UFC was first starting with Royce Gracie and Shamrock and Kimo. amazing how much it has evolved from it's roots in jsut a bit under 20 years.

Yep, used to be almost underground and frowned upon. Now, like Brock Lesnar said: "Everyone and their dog wants fight."

too ture Ana. and it seems every ex-wrestler wants tot ry it to prove they are a real toguh guy as well. latest is that BAtista is gnna try out for one of the MMA groups

I remember UFC 1. I have been a fan since then. Kimo was awesome! And remember Tank Abbott?

And I have dated a few fighters as well. Some I have made threads for on here already. Nick Diaz is the one I would die for! I love him

too ture Ana. and it seems every ex-wrestler wants tot ry it to prove they are a real toguh guy as well. latest is that BAtista is gnna try out for one of the MMA groups

he already got a contract. As injury prone as he is, I just feel sorry for him... Thought I wanna bang him to. (Imagine being my boyfriend and having to hear how many people I wanna bang. xD Poor sweetie, he puts up with so much. )

I remember UFC 1. I have been a fan since then. Kimo was awesome! And remember Tank Abbott?

And I have dated a few fighters as well. Some I have made threads for on here already. Nick Diaz is the one I would die for! I love him

Dating a fighter is awesome. Although they they do have some pretty shitty tempers (at least the ones I have). BTW: Do you watch the ultimate fighter? And did you want Brad Tavarez to put you in a rear naked choke? Or is that just me?

oh please, i'm married. i ehar all the time what guys my wife thinks are hot.

nut of coruse, she hears about what girls i drool voer too, so it's all good. lollll

but i agree with you about Batista. he is so in for a rude awakening. And he is no young guy either. he's in his 40's. not exactly the time to strart an MMA career.

I still wodner how Kurth Angle would have done in it though.

Batista would suck! He's pushing 50

And yes Brad is hot

I think Kurt Angle would have been a great fighter if he started when he was younger.

Now why can't I meet Georges? <_<

Feel like bumping this thread, because GSP is so hot and the best fighter in the world right now.

God I wanna fuck him

God I wanna fuck him

Get in line!

So funny and adorable.

DAMNITT!!!!! He likes black women. I am the wrong freakin' color!