Georges St. Pierre Talks UFC 100 Fight with Thiago Alves

By Dave Carpinello

UFC Welterweight Champion Georges St. Pierre recently took time to answer some questions for PDG regarding his upcoming bout against Thiago Alves, training and the importance of UFC 100.

PDG: How is your training going for UFC 100?

GSP: I’m in the best shape of my life and I’m training really hard before my fight.  Three weeks I spent in New York doing Muay Thai at the Wat with Phil Nurse and all the guys over there, sparring with Shawn Imes, Brad Imes and all those great training partners that I have for Muay Thai training.  I’m learning a lot from Kru Phil.  I also train in New York at the Renzo Gracie Academy under supervision of John Danaher – he’s my Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu instructor.  I have great training partners there as well.  The level of jiu-jitsu in New York at Renzo Gracie is better than it is in Montreal, so that’s one of the main reasons why I have been going there and I spend so much time at that Academy. 

I’m learning new moves every day and I met some new friends that I will bring to Montreal to help me train for the fight.  In Montreal everything goes well.  Oh and just for the record, I always wrestle, box and do my Muay Thai and jiu-jitsu in different places, as well as my strength and conditioning.  Everything goes well – I just beat my record on snatches with a dumb-bell.  Now I can snatch 100 lbs. 3 repetitions with 1 arm, which is something that I never thought I was ever going to be able to do when I first start training with Jonathan Chaimberg because I was struggling to lift like a 60 lb weight over my head and now I can do 3 reps with 100 lbs.  I got so much stronger than I was, and that makes me very confident for my next fight, because I know Thiago Alves is a very big guy and very powerful and he has been able to dominate a lot of these guys because of his superior strength and superior size.  But I truly believe that it’s not going to work against me.

PDG: What’s it like to be a part of such a huge UFC like 100?

GSP: It is a great honor for me to be included on this card.  100 is an important number always.  It’s great to be included on a card with Brock Lesnar and Frank Mir and all those guys....I’m very excited, I’m very nervous – I remember when I was young, when I started my career, I thought that the nervousness would go away with the time.  But I realized that I was wrong – because as far as my career goes, the bigger the fights are becoming and the more pressure I have.  I’m always nervous.  But I think this nervousness is a good thing, because that’s what keeps me sharp.  And even though I’m just as nervous as I was in the beginning, the thing is, with the experience, I learn how to deal with it by control and I know its normal and I can sleep better at night.  I always have butterflies, but the key is - make the butterflies fly in formation. 

PDG: What do you think of your opponent Thiago Alves?

GSP: He is the number one contender in the UFC in my division.  He brings a lot of stuff that I haven’t seen before, he is a great striker and he is very good on the ground....overall he’s very well rounded.  It’s going to be a very interesting fight. Thiago is the greatest challenge that I had in my career – he’s gonna be the toughest guy that I fought so far and that’s what makes him very dangerous and he’s a very confident guy but a gentleman that doesn’t have to talk trash.  So even though he doesn’t talk trash, I know he’s going to come out very strong and try to hurt me really bad early in the fight.  However, I will be very well prepared.  I try to focus on what I’m going to do to him instead of focusing too much on what he’s going to do to me.

PDG: As far as fight preparation; how do you study your opponent?

GSP: I study tapes, consult with my team and then formulate a game plan to win my fights. 

PDG: What weaknesses do you see in Thiago?

GSP: He’s a great fighter, I don’t see many weaknesses.  Of course he has some places where he’s not as comfortable as others. So I’m going to try and exploit that and win the fight. I will be very well prepared.

PDG: Are you using the same trainers/team for this fight?

GSP: I always bring someone in but its most of the same people with me. I did bring a couple of guys out from Paris, some Muay Thai specialists.  I also have many guys who came in town recently - John Danaher from New York came for my jiu-jitsu – he showed me some amazing stuff that I will be able to use.  I also work with Jean-Charles Skarbowsky, who’s a legend in Muay Thai who spent most of his life in Thailand.  He came with two of his top students, and he showed me a bunch of stuff in Muay Thai that I’ll also be able to use during my fight.  And the fact that he came with two of his top students – it give me a good idea of what a world-class Muay Thai fighter is and it’s gonna help me gauge the speed and the power of a real Muay Thai guy.

I also have some friends from New York – Steven Williams came and helped me train for the fight as well.  He’s an amazing fighter and he joined the group, you know, in Montreal and helped me out very much to prepare me for the fight.  I also have a bunch of guys that flew up here recently like Nate Marquardt and they’re going to help me get prepared as much as I can for this fight.

PDG: How do you think the Muay Thai training helps you?

GSP: A lot of things.  Great focus on how to throw knees, kicks and elbows but one martial art is not enough, you need the other ones to be a complete fighter.  Karate is a lot of focus on footwork but Muay Thai is, like I said knees, kicks and elbows.  It’s totally different with different rules.

PDG: How do you maintain a positive mental attitude with all the press and news stories?

GSP: I do a lot of positive imagery.  I see myself winning.  I see myself getting out of certain bad positions, etc.  I think it’s very underrated. 

PDG: After this fight – who’s really left for you to fight?  Will you move up in class and fight someone like an Anderson Silva?

GSP: Right now my primary problem is Thiago Alves.  That’s the only guy I’m focusing on.  Changing weight divisions or other changes in the future is not something I’m thinking about just now.

PDG: Thanks again for the interview; is there anything else that you would like to add?

GSP: I would like to thank all of the fans and my sponsors Gatorade, Affliction, Xtreme Couture and BellCanada. On my website, GSPFightClub.com, we’re auctioning 50 spots to the after party to benefit my foundation – I hope to see you there.



**Special thanks to Shari Spencer, Takedown Wrestling Radio and Brian Fox Studios**