MMA star St-Pierre fighting for legacy

MONTREAL — Gone are the days when mixed martial arts star Georges St-Pierre was the undersized kid from Quebec with a giant heart and a champion’s will.

He’s hardly a fat cat resting on his laurels, but there’s more than a hint of a swagger about St-Pierre these days. It appears in a knowing smirk here, a few well-chosen words there.

Success will do that.

Defending the UFC welterweight title once more, as he’ll do at UFC 111 at the Prudential Centre in Newark, N.J., March 27 against Britain’s Dan (The Outlaw) Hardy, is no longer enough.

He wants to do it with style. He wants to do it in a way people won’t forget.

“I have all the money, the fame, the security, but I need to stay hungry. And I like challenges,” St-Pierre said Wednesday after a workout. “I don’t fight to be the champion any more, because I’m already champion. I fight for legacy

“I want these next couple of fights to be remembered forever.”

Hardy, 27, is a UFC newcomer, undefeated in his four previous bouts.

While the early odds have St-Pierre an 8-to-1 favourite, he knows from experience not to underestimate any opponent.

St-Pierre learned that lesson back in his first attempted title defence against Matt Serra of the U.S. in 2007 He was a 11-to-1 favourite going into that fight and lost, saying now that he didn’t take Serra seriously enough.

“This is way for me to redeem myself in a situation where I failed before, to succeed and turn the page on that chapter of my life,” St-Pierre said.

St-Pierre tore his adductor muscle in the third round of his last fight, a unanimous decision last July in Las Vegas against Thiago Alves.

Out for a month, he turned the injury into a positive.

“It was a part of my body that was always weak. I hadn’t trained it a lot” he said. “Now it’s not only 100 per cent, but even stronger than before.”

After that fight, it also hit home that even though it’s the welterweight division, technically 170 pounds, his opponents are getting bigger and bigger.

“I fought a guy (Alves) who weighs 215 pounds in everyday life. I weigh 185. Hardy is over 200 pounds. Anthony Johnson is 220,” St-Pierre said. “Those guys are fighting in my division. I have a large frame and a long reach, but I’m not as big as those guys. It made me realize that even if I’m champion, I have to put on weight.”

St-Pierre consulted Toronto nutritionist Dr. John Berardi. He’s been on a special diet for the first time in his career, and has put on six to seven pounds of lean muscle since the Alves fight.

“I’m more powerful, I hit harder. And I haven’t lost my speed — I’m even quicker,” St-Pierre said. “I can’t wait to see how that plays out in the octagon.”

The long break between fights — almost nine months — may be a blessing in disguise. St-Pierre said it gave him plenty of time to adjust to his new powered-up physique.

St-Pierre even avoided the holiday temptations around the home front by heading to the Middle East, to Abu Dhabi, to train over the holidays.

He has watched plenty of video of Hardy, and was on hand for his upset win over Mike Swick at UFC 105, which earned Hardy his title shot.

“He’s a type of fighter that I have yet to meet,” St-Pierre said. “He probably hits the hardest of anyone I’ve faced. He has a really unique style. He boxes European-style and is very strong on the counter-attacks.”

Hardy not only has big fists, he also apparently has a big mouth.

Here’s what he said about St-Pierre after the Swick fight.

“He’s a great athlete very good at winning and putting together a game plan, but he is not a fighter like me,” Hardy said. “My intention is to hurt him, put a beating on him. In a 25 minute fight, it’s a long time to keep my hands off his chin.”

If St-Pierre needed any motivation, that was custom-made to get his attention.

“He’s very arrogant before he fights. He tries to play the mental game, tries to get into the head of his opponent,” St-Pierre said. “He’s a thinking fighter. He’s not only going there just to brawl. He’s a technical guy, and those guys are the most dangerous.

“I believe he’s the best technical fighter I’ve ever fought.”

St-Pierre won’t get into a trash-talking debate — especially not in English, his second language. That’s another lesson learned since his brash beginnings.

“I’m going to end up second in a war of words, because it seems he’s pretty good at it,” St-Pierre said. “I’m not good at talking, but I’m good at fighting.

“Of course, if he insults me, I’m going to insult him back. But there’s a line I won’t cross.”

Montreal Gazette

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