Rizin announcer 'Showdown' Joe Ferraro opens up on his time covering Georges St-Pierre during his prime
Georges St-Pierre is undoubtedly one of the greatest MMA fighters of all-time and was one of the UFC's biggest pay-per-view stars. Rizin english commentator 'Showdown' Joe Ferraro echoed those sentiments and opened up about his friendship and what it was like covering his legendary career.
While speaking with Ferraro on Vibe 105.5FM Toronto, the Canadian play-by-play commentator believes that he learned a lot during his time covering St-Pierre, while working for Canadian sports outlet Sportsnet. He mentioned that it was time in his career that he cherishes and hold a high regard for, saying:
"It's arguably the most blessed portion of my career and my life. I got to call Georges' first four fights...Our two career were extremely parallel with one another...his ascention to the UFC, my ascention in the broadcasting ranks, him becoming a pay-per-view star, me getting on nationally sydicated television with Sportsnet...Every time he would get a big win, I would get a big win."
Ferraro added that 'Rush' opened his eyes to what tools are required for an elite athlete to be successful in their craft. He noted that there were a lot of takeaways from observing the way the UFC Hall of Famer conducted himself, saying:
"It was like I was taking notes on what an elite athlete has to do in any sport, in any endevour. How to promote yourself, how to market yourself, how to handle yourself, how to deal with stresses, how to deal with ups-and-downs in your career, and I took that to myself in how do I handle those ups-and-downs?"
The Rizin commentator brought up that he has drawn from that experience covering St-Pierre's career and has applied it to coaching soccer (football), which he does in addition to his duties calling fights for the Japanese MMA promotion.
Check out the full interview:
Could Georges St-Pierre accept an offer to fight again?
Georges St-Pierre, now freed of UFC contract, says ‘never say never’ to combat sports return (@shaunalshatti) mmafighting.com/2022/10/31/234… https://t.co/MHDIJpwiq0
During Joe Ferraro' appearance on Vibe 105.5FM Toronto, he touched on whether Georges St-Pierre would be enticed to accept one more fight.
Although he doesn't forsee 'Rush' ever competing again, Ferraro mentioned never say never and that the right opponent and offer might excite him about the idea:
"Guys or girls will take fights versus opponents they know...very close to know that they could beat and how you maximize that payday. So if Georges was offered a big fight versus someone that he feels he could beat, problem is he feels he could beat anybody, big big moneyfight...I don't see him turning it now...Never say never, but personally, he's getting up there in age, he doesn't need to fight."
'Rush' has stated on numerous occasions that he loved the training aspect but hated fighting. Now that he's no longer under contract with the UFC, perhaps he would be more open to listening to potential offers.