"They get mad at me" - Georges St-Pierre reveals how young fighters looking for advice react to being told the truth
Young fighters don't take Georges St-Pierre's words of wisdom positively. GSP's advice to young fighters? Try your hand at other things if fighting is not taking you where you want to be in life.
During a recent visit to The Joe Rogan Experience podcast, Georges St-Pierre revealed that young fighters who seek his advice usually end up getting disappointed when he truthfully advises them not to be dependent on their career in fighting.
"It's a very hard path and one of the happiest places for me to go and one of the saddest places for me to go, it's the gym. It's the happiest place for me to go because I can practise the sport that I love.. and it's sad too because, after training, there's always some guys that come to me... because they seek some advice. I always give them advice regarding fighting but a lot of them, my advice for them would be, 'hey bro, you should hang up your gloves and find a real job, you know.' ...But if I tell them the truth, they get mad at me."
To put his point across without having to sound harsh, Georges St-Pierre recited the monolog from the movie Pulp Fiction: "If you would've made it, you would've made it before." With big aspirations comes a big ego. St-Pierre's advice is directed at fighters who fail to do a realistic assessment of their fighting abilities.
The MMA community is home to a vast number of fighters that continue to put their health and well-being on the line without realizing they do not possess the level of talent required to be a success.
Joe Rogan backs Georges St-Pierre's assessment with his own
While conversing with Georges St-Pierre on the subject, Joe Rogan shared his own thoughts on the factors that make it a lot more difficult to become a successful fighter.
"Well, the reason why champions are so exceptional (is) because it's so hard to become a champion... so many different factors have to come together and also fortune... We all know guys who... they get injured and they can never even train again. It happens. When you are dealing with this giant hurricane of possibilities, for someone to come out of that and be a Georges St-Pierre... or someone who's exceptional, it's so rare."
Rogan's assessment is backed by the fact that many illustrious UFC careers have been hampered by lingering injuries or health issues born out of the nature of combat sports.
Chris Holdsworth and Cain Velasquez are notable fighters who showed all the signs of achieving greatness. However, both fighters had their careers cut short due to training-related injuries.