Georges St-Pierre explains his stance on despising fighting: "It's unbearable for me"
Georges St-Pierre recently opened up about his stance on despising fighting and explained what made him feel that way about competition. The UFC Hall of Famer is considered by many as one of the greatest fighters of all time, but he didn't enjoy competing despite all his success.
'Rush' was a massive star during his prime and set the record for most UFC welterweight title defenses (9), but has always been open about not being too fond of the actual fight day itself. After taking a hiatus from the sport following his win over Johny Hendricks, 'GSP' returned in 2017 and submitted Michael Bisping to become the middleweight champion in what ended up being his final fight.
During his appearance on This Past Weekend w/ Theo Von, the former two-division UFC champion explained why he disliked fighting. St-Pierre mentioned that he enjoyed training, however, the stress and uncertainties surrounding his fights made him despise it. He said:
"I never liked to fight. I love the sport, I love the science of it. I like the camaraderie that I have with my friends before a training camp, it's like you're going to war. I despise fight day. It's unbearable for me and extremely uncomfortable. Not knowing if I will be hurt, humiliated or winning the ultimate prize is unbearable for me. It's very hard to deal with, but it's a price you have to pay if you want to achieve freedom."
Check out Georges St-Pierre's comments below:
Georges St-Pierre opens up about feeling burnt out when he was UFC welterweight champion
Georges St-Pierre opened up about reaching a point in his career where he was burned out from the sport when he was the reigning UFC welterweight champion. At the time, 'Rush' was the champion of a talented division that included the likes of Nick Diaz, Jake Shields and Johny Hendricks.
During the aforementioned appearance, St-Pierre recounted the feeling of constantly thinking about his next contender and mentioned that he was left mentally exhausted. He said:
"I'm sort of [an] obsessive compulsive guy, so as soon as another guy [was] calling me out, I start to make scenario in my mind...It drives you nuts. And when you're the contender, you're on your way up, you don't have that problem...When you're on top, now you're the target. Everybody talk sh*t about you, they disrespect you. If you want it or not, it touches you." [33:25 - 33:58]
Check out the full interview with Georges St-Pierre below: