Georges St-Pierre reveals which UFC Hall of Famer inspired him to pursue MMA
Georges St-Pierre recently reflected on his legendary career and credited a fellow UFC Hall of Famer for being his inspiration.
While speaking to CBC Sports following his induction into Canada's Sports Hall of Fame, 'GSP' described the evolution of MMA and his martial arts journey to becoming the longest reigning welterweight champion in UFC history. He credited Royce Gracie and mentioned that his performance at UFC 1 is what inspired him to pursue an MMA career:
"I saw the first UFC [event] and I saw Royce Gracie winning the first tournament in UFC, and he really inspired me. And, the sport [of MMA] was not known at the time and was not big. It was still a lot of controversy surrounding but I knew right away that...one day it would become very popular worldwide." [4:41 - 5:00]
Royce Gracie was small in stature, especially in comparison to his opponents like Ken Shamrock, but he submitted them all and proved that a smaller fighter could defeat a larger opponent using Gracie Jiu-Jitsu.
Georges St-Pierre mentioned that some of his friends doubted him when he said he wanted to become a UFC champion. However, he used Gracie's performance as motivation for his own journey, and it paid off years later, saying:
"I became a fighter in mixed martial art, I did all the sacrifice, hard work, built up a team around me, and then I proved them wrong. I get recruited to fight in UFC, work my way up to a UFC champion, and defend my title a few times." [5:15 - 5:31]
Georges St-Pierre's journey to becoming a UFC champion is proof of how influential the inaugural event was for MMA, especially in North America.
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Georges St-Pierre's grappling match postponed
Georges St-Pierre sent MMA fans into a frenzy this past July as he announced that he will be returning to competition in December for a grappling match on UFC Fight Pass.
Unfortunately, fans will have to wait a little longer as 'GSP' recently confirmed that he won't be able to compete in December. During an exclusive interview with Sportskeeda MMA, the former two-division UFC champion mentioned that he suffered a minor injury that will result in his grappling match being postponed, saying:
"It's not gonna happen [in December] unfortunately due to a shoulder injury...Now I have to wait to see if I will have to undergo surgery because of my injuries." [5:17 - 5:30]