St-Pierre: I play it safe and I’m not going to hide it
LOS ANGELES – Georges St-Pierre is grappling with UFC fans’ expectations. St-Pierre, one of MMA’s most popular stars and a…
LOS ANGELES – Georges St-Pierre is grappling with UFC fans’ expectations.
St-Pierre, one of MMA’s most popular stars and a six-time UFC welterweight champion, said he’s frustrated with the reaction to his most recent victory over Dan Hardy at UFC 111.
But the champion is more than willing to meet head-on the critics who say he plays it safe.
“That’s true,” St-Pierre (20-2 MMA, 15-2 UFC) told MMAjunkie.com (www.mmajunkie.com) on Monday evening as he honed his mat moves with jiu-jitsu coach Shawn Williams at a Renzo Gracie Academy school in the Mid-Wilshire district. “I fight safe, and I’m not going to hide it.”
“I had some great opportunities, and I made a stupid mistake, and I couldn’t seal the deal,” St-Pierre said.
But the champ also takes issue with fans who say he wrestles to avoid a real fight.
“I did add some great highlights that people don’t even acknowledge,” St-Pierre said. “At the end of the third round, for example, the best grappling highlight of my whole career was in (my fight with) Dan Hardy.”
The highlight, he said, was when he took Hardy’s back, transitioned to a legock and passed guard, all in quick succession.
“That was a beautiful display of jiu-jitsu,” St-Pierre said. “People don’t even know this because they don’t have the knowledge to appreciate what happened. Some do, but a lot of people did not acknowledge what happened.”
“I don’t fight like an idiot,” St-Pierre said. “That’s what defines me. I’m (not the) champion because I’m the strongest guy in the division. It’s not because I’m the fastest guy. I’m not the best grappler. I’m not the best striker. I’m not the best wrestler. But why I’m champion is because I fight smart every single fight.
