GSP: ‘Mousasi showed me a few tricks’
“Gegard is very raw,” said Cleo Ncube, a top Canadian wrestler and one of St. Pierre’s closest training partners over…
“Gegard is very raw,” said Cleo Ncube, a top Canadian wrestler and one of St. Pierre’s closest training partners over the past two-and-a-half years. “He doesn’t have a real specific training regimen. He just messes around, which is such an incredible story. Today we included him in our technique session and we were working through our regular scheduled techniques. I didn’t know if he was going to pick it up, and fair enough Gegard was picking it up.”
With St. Pierre (19-2) preparing for what most expect will be his fourth consecutive title retention, Mousasi seems likely to draw physical wrestler “King” Mo Lawal in his first defense of the Strikeforce 205-pound title this April. Lessons from sessions with St. Pierre, which might include trips to New Mexico and Montreal if schedules and personalities permit, could make time spent with Dutch kickboxing great Peter Aerts and renowned wrestling coach Bert Kops more valuable, efficient experiences.
Having trained in the past with Russian heavyweight king Fedor Emelianenko, Mousasi is quite familiar with greatness. Asked to compare Emelianenko and St. Pierre, who rank among the best mixed martial artists on the planet, Mousasi suggested the UFC champion is “more athletic and technical,” while Fedor, handled by M-1, has the ability to seamlessly transfer between MMA’s different disciplines.
As Mousasi answered the question, St. Pierre, assembling his training gear after a post-workout shower, couldn’t let a compliment pass without offering several of his own.
“No, no. He’s being nice,” parried the 24-year-old kid. “That’s the problem.”
St. Pierre again took his turn on the mutual-admiration-society merry-go-round: “He’s too humble, this guy.”
Even before the kempt French-Canadian uttered his last accented syllable, Mousasi smiled.
“Look who’s talking,” he said.
After the group exited Carneiro’s gym, a potential rival to American Top Team’s dominance in the area, St. Pierre stood in front of his manager Shari Spencer — who deserves credit for shaping the fighter’s image to the point that Gatorade and Under Armour chose to go into business with him — and practiced a punching-and-moving technique that Mousasi showed him half an hour earlier.
“Gegard, like this?” he asked.
Mousasi, who learned the technique the day before, looked over and nodded his approval.
“If I could have a choice between money, fame or wisdom and knowledge, I would take wisdom first, without hesitation,” St. Pierre said. “I’m already a better fighter than I was before the practice. I have more knowledge.”