St-Pierre: I play it safe and I'm not going to hide it

by Steven Marrocco | 5/26/10 7:32 AM | source: MMAJunkie.com | 68562 Views | 209 Comments

LOS ANGELES – Georges St-Pierre is grappling with UFC fans' expectations.

St-Pierre, one of MMA's most popular stars and a six-time UFC welterweight champion, said he's frustrated with the reaction to his most recent victory over Dan Hardy at UFC 111.

But the champion is more than willing to meet head-on the critics who say he plays it safe.

"That's true," St-Pierre (20-2 MMA, 15-2 UFC) told MMAjunkie.com (www.mmajunkie.com) on Monday evening as he honed his mat moves with jiu-jitsu coach Shawn Williams at a Renzo Gracie Academy school in the Mid-Wilshire district. "I fight safe, and I'm not going to hide it."

"I had some great opportunities, and I made a stupid mistake, and I couldn't seal the deal," St-Pierre said.

But the champ also takes issue with fans who say he wrestles to avoid a real fight.

"I did add some great highlights that people don't even acknowledge," St-Pierre said. "At the end of the third round, for example, the best grappling highlight of my whole career was in (my fight with) Dan Hardy."

The highlight, he said, was when he took Hardy's back, transitioned to a legock and passed guard, all in quick succession.

"That was a beautiful display of jiu-jitsu," St-Pierre said. "People don't even know this because they don't have the knowledge to appreciate what happened. Some do, but a lot of people did not acknowledge what happened."

"I don't fight like an idiot," St-Pierre said. "That's what defines me. I'm (not the) champion because I'm the strongest guy in the division. It's not because I'm the fastest guy. I'm not the best grappler. I'm not the best striker. I'm not the best wrestler. But why I'm champion is because I fight smart every single fight.

Read entire article...

Related products from the UG Store

Punishment Dan Hardy UFC on Versus 5 Walkout Tee

Only $27.00

UFC Global Shirt

Only $24.99

tags-: Georges St-Pierre (detail) Dan Hardy (detail) UFC

Get the MMA Underground app. for iPhone and Andriod devices.

Recent Comments »

Log in to post a comment

5/28/10 9:03 AM by threestars35

Fedor thinks he's a sportman that's why he comes to fight, maybe GSP thinks a lot about his winning record and the consequence of losing from a business standpoint that he rather lay you down than take risks

5/28/10 7:07 AM by Bergkamp10

Im a brit and a Hardy fan but i have to admit that Hardy got his ass handed to him.We dont grow up with wrestling here but true mma fans should be able to appreciate a wrestling masterclass from an excellent practitioner like GSP, i think if you find it boring then you should maybe stick exclusively to watching boxing, muai thai etc

5/27/10 10:51 PM by sexalicious

GSP!

5/27/10 10:04 PM by donniejessup

this bears repeating and is a huge hole in their stupid argument. Hardy was losing, way way behind and he doesn't do everything he can to try to pull out the win? he was still playing it safe as well. or is the argument that he was completely helpless?

5/27/10 8:33 PM by Wittsy

So ... I suppose you think think that there must have been a lot of Canadians in Abu Dhabi.::) He got the crowd's chant even when he wasn't fighting. Is that your logic?

5/27/10 5:16 PM by Wasa-B

You're gonna have to explain wat you mean by "no true offense," son.That or agree with Massa.

5/27/10 3:37 PM by pross

Jesus H Christ I cannot take it any long you sir are fucking retarded, please all be aware this monkey does not speak for all from the UK...

5/27/10 3:30 PM by Son of Neckbone

Repeated takedowns with little or no true offense for 25 minutes is not exciting by anyone's definition. His corner literally told him to stop passing guard and continue to dry hump the shit out of the missionary position.

5/27/10 3:03 PM by sacredhate

GSP wanted to submit hardy and failed...it's unfortunate...he was about 1 inch in positioning away from shutting all the tards here up.Look at his fights before that:Alves - he outstruck AlvesBJ - BJ did not quit between round because he was uncomfortable on his back.Fitch - challenge anyone to call that a lay'n'pray fightSerra - another finishHughes - hardly boringKoscheck - bit of a wrestling match.GSP works on different parts of his game for each fight with wrestling as his base. Quit bitching about the one champion who best represents what MMA is meant to be.

5/27/10 2:48 PM by Wasa-B

Yeah, this Hardy laying it all on the line has to stop.Does throwing like 3 punches over 5 rounds mean you layed it all down?Did he go for broke with triangle and omoplata attempts on the ground?Flying knees when standing? Punches even?

5/27/10 1:40 PM by badboyhere

ATTN: GSP--IF YOU EVER READ THIS:dont change a thing!!! you brought the whole fight to hardy.. seriously, you have nothing to explain to anyone!

View all comments in forum >>

Fighter Popularity Buzz List

	Fedor "The Last Emperor" Emelianenko	(+2)
	Anderson "The Spider" Silva	(+2)
	Jason "Mayhem" Miller	(+5)
	Dan "Hendo" Henderson	(+17)
	Alistair "Demolition Man" Overeem	(-3)
	Chael Sonnen	(+1)
	Jon "Bones" Jones	(-1)
	Mauricio "Shogun" Rua	(+2)
	Junior "Cigano" Dos Santos
	Mike Chandler, Jr.
View Top 100 » Last Updated: Wednesday Nov 30

Underground Forum Threads	Last Updated
War Machine: "Just got sentenced ...	12 hrs.
Koscheck: I hope GSP never returns	46 mins.
GSP ON DIAZ... Hysterical.	1 hr.
All fighters make weight for UFC 143	1 hr.
Sonnen threatens Nick Diaz with ...	22 mins.
Ronda Rousey: I’m Going To ...	1 hr.
GSP prepares for post fight ...	9 hrs.
Dana makes a good point about ...	1 hr.