Tight sked for UFC champ in Manila

source: abs-cbnnews.com

UFC welterweight champion Georges St.- Pierre has his schedule strictly for Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) events and for training in preparation for his December match with Josh Koscheck.

But despite the tight schedule, the pound-for-pound king is enjoying his stay in the Philippines.

"The first minute I stepped outside the plane, it was amazing. The food is very nice the people are very warm. I can’t complain, I’m having a great time," he said in Mornings @ ANC on Friday.

Aside from the climate, St Pierre said it was a "dream come true" for him to visit the root of his Oriental martial arts style.

"I know traditional martial arts are Oriental, I came from an oriental martial arts background. I’ve always come to Asia, coming here to me is a dream come true. Hopefully, I can come to fight here, it would be great," he beamed.

But in between promotions for UFC, which is planning to expand in the Philippines and in Asia, St Pierre will be training with Freddie Roach, who recently arrived in Manila to train boxing champion Manny Pacquiao.

Incidentally, Roach is also St Pierre's boxing trainers. "I have lots of promotions, I train in my free time. I’m glad that Manny Pacquiao, Freddie Roach is here. He’s one of my trainers in boxing. I’m gonna work out with him later," he said.

Aside from Roach, St Pierre will be training with a muay thai trainer from Thailand.

"I don't have much time to relax. I’ll only sleep when I die," he quipped.

Aside from food and climate, the UFC champion is also captivated by the Filipina beauty, which he called "exotic" and "unique."

"Filipino woman are very beautiful because they have an exotic side, unique for me. I’m a blue-eyed guy, I see girls like that all the time so when I come here and then I see women with almond eyes and little bit of a tan skin, its very sexy and beautiful," he shared.

Not a stereotypical fighter

Contrary to his muscular built, St Pierre has a soft spot especially to people he cares for.

The champion admitted that he gets emotionally affected when people talk poorly about the people he loves.

"Say anything more about me, I won’t blink. I don’t mind, you can say anything about me, I don’t care. But when he talks about people around me I care, it bothering me more," he shared, laughing as he did not initially want to share a weakness in television.

Further, the champion described himself as "nerdy guy" who likes to read about pre-historic life.

"I'm not the fighter stereotype--I’m a nerdy guy, I like to read. I’m really big into paleontology. I’m really passionate about paleontology, everything that I read is related to that," he shared.

Additionally, St Pierre prays for him and for his opponent before stepping into the Octagon.

"I pray for God to protect me and my opponent. That’s one thing I do all the time. I just hope that we (opponent) both stay healthy after the fight because we have family," he said.

Additionally, St Pierre trains hard and smart to avoid injuries because he knew the longevity of an athlete depends on his physical state.

But more than his wins, St Pierre thinks that most of his supporters are rallying behind him because he had lost a number of times and he managed to win afterwards.

"I believe you can be an inspiration to many people. I’ve noticed that when I started to have my fans building up was after my first loss with Matt Hughes. You know what? People in real life relate to people that loss."

"They cannot relate to people who are undefeated. it’s hard because they lose in real life and when they see someone who is overcoming their loss and they can relate to that and get more inspired."

Fighting philosophy

St Pierre also believes that he is not yet at the prime of his career and that he can improve more to become a better fighter. He also explained that going up another division to fight with middleweight champion Anderson Silva is not in his immediate plans.

"There is one thing: Guys that go up try to come down, and they have problems. The reason is the danger is not when you go up but when you go back down," he started. "I have to make sure its the right time in my career."

The UFC champion explained that he would like to master the welterweight division, fight with the best fighters, before climbing the division ladder.

"I wanna do it, one day. If everything sticks to the plan, if I keep winning, I clean up my division then the next logical challenge is to go up. But right now I still have a lot of competition," he explained.

"No matter how people tell me how great I am, no matter how great I do, I always have one mistake to lose everything. This is one thing that I need to keep in mind. I made a mistake once and I’m never gonna do it again," he added.

Not blinded by the heavy belt around his waist, St Pierre believes that even if he is a better athlete in a fight, the winner is still decided by who plays the best on the night of the competition, and to play his best had been his goal.

For St Pierre, fighting is more than the physical strength. He said that fighting is mostly a mind-game and the winner is the man who uses his mind more while in combat.

"It doesn’t mean that (because) I'm the best fighter means I will win the fight. It means that I have to do more than what I have. I have to fight the best fight. Its something I learned from experience," he said. "I have to work on it, even the best can lose." - With ANC

source: abs-cbnnews.com

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