GSP meets with UFC: PED testing looks good so far, hunger returning

There have been hints that former UFC welterweight champion was getting closer to a return. GSP’s sometime boxing trainer said the Canadian was getting the itch to fight at least once more. And GSP’s former manager Stephane Patry predicted he will come back for one more fight.

GSP spoke with both media and fans at events around UFC 186, and met with UFC officials. He stepped away from the sport and his title in 2013, citing never fully defined pressure. He later added that he thought PEDs were a massive problem in the sport that the UFC was not adequately addressing. And he suffered another knee injury.

The UFC has since hired Jeff Novitzky, the Eliot Ness of PEDs, to head up the fight against drugs, and GSP was impressed. He said he had no immediate plans to return but generally was positive.

“I got the go from the doctor (to train),” said GSP as transcribed by Chuck Mindenhall for MMAFighting.com. “The last time I got an ACL surgery on my right leg I was in a rush when I was fighting Carlos Condit. This time I’m taking my time. I’m not in a rush, and I don’t have any fights scheduled. It was more relaxed, so I was able to breathe a little bit more. And yeah, I’m back training the gym on a regular basis.”

“We had a meeting with the UFC yesterday. They hired someone for anti-doping testing, so it looked pretty good. I don’t have much to tell about it, they didn’t tell enough about the program about what they want to do, but [Novitzky] is a very reliable man in the business. He’s the one that caught Marion Jones. So it looked really good so far, but like I said, I don’t have enough to tell right now, and I’m not a specialist. I need to see and ask a specialist what they think about it.”

GSP also told Elias Cepeda for FOX Sports that he started to lose motivation years ago, but that it is returning.

“It started with Jake Shields,” said GSP. “I did not have a great training camp and I was not satisfied with my performance.”

“Mixed martial arts is a sport where, when you compete, you need to be hungry … You need to feel like you want to fight. If you don’t want it, you should not compete. When you go in there, you need to have the need. You need to feel like, ‘I want to hurt this guy.’..and I lost that. too long. too many criticisms, too much pressure. The spotlight, all the time. The attention. I couldn’t rest, and I’m an obsessive-compulsive, guy. Everything I did in my life was leaning towards that goal of becoming the best of the best. Now, the fact that I’ve taken a break from it, it allowed me to breathe a little bit more, and find pleasure in it.”

“I’m back training, full-time, now. My knee is 100 percent. Just recently, my knee came back 100 percent. I got the go from the doctor.”

“This time, I took all my time. I was not in a rush. I didn’t have any fights scheduled. So, it was more relaxed. So, I was a blt to breathe. So, yeah, I’m back training in the gym on a regular basis. I train for fun, not for performance, which makes it a lot more fun. And, I think it makes me perform better, because I’m more hungry.”