GSP - Interview - Tout le monde en parle (English SUB) (1/2)

Here is the World champion Georges St.Pierre.
Georges, welcome to the show.
Since your last time on the show in 2006 you became the UFC Welterweight World champion. You haven't lost a fight in 3 years.
UFC's president
recently said you're most popular Canadian athlete in the world, even more popular than Wayne Gretzky.
On the domestic scene, Gretzky is much more popular than I will ever be.
But since MMA has become so popular worldwide it's possible I became more popular as well.
In which country is MMA more popular now?
It's difficult to tell. I recently went to the Philippines
and I was so surprised how much popular the sport had become.
Here's a short clip of your trip in the Philippines.
(Filipino language).
Wow, where did you get this clip? I don't even know where it comes from.
We edited random pictures and added you face over them.
Hahaha. The magic of cinema!
Many considered you as a warrior in a class of your own. Experts praise your ethics, your discipline and your respect for your opponents.
Let's say you're performing a solid Arm Bar on an opponent who refuses to resign, will you try to negotiate a resignation or will you just break his arm?
I'm a nice guy outside the cage, but when I get inside I'm different person.
If I've got a solid Arm Bar on my opponent but he refuses to tap out, I will have to break his arm.
Really?
Yes, it did happen to me once. I had a kimura on my opponent but unfortunately he gave up too late. I broke his rotator cuff.
These kinds of injuries happen in the sport. Sometimes resigning too quickly is perceived as a weakness.
In Japan, many fighters just won't give up until injury or unconsciousness occurs.
Personally, I prefer to resign before getting any serious injuries so I can come back fighting sooner and stronger.
We could say the fight cost him an arm.
You always pray both for yourself and for your opponent before a fight. Yet you've been elected the most dangerous man by Spike TV viewers.
Don't you see anything paradoxical between praying for and beating up your opponent?
Not really. I always see myself through my opponent. It's exactly like seeing yourself in a mirror.
I'm facing a guy I share a lot in common with. We probably both had the same kind of life. Like me he made tremendous sacrifices just to get there.
If I'm disrespectful to my opponent, how can I respect myself?
So just before getting into the cage I pray for both of us. We're all human beings just trying to earn a living. It's nothing personal.
Roman gladiators really fought for their lives, weren't they?
In Ancient Greece, there was a sport called "Pankration". Men had to fight naked.
Why did they have to change this?
Hahaha. I think I know why you're saying this.
Rules were much different. Neither biting nor eye-gouging was allowed. But virtually anything else was legal.
People sometimes ask me if a contemporary MMA fighter
had fought an ancient pankratiast, who would have won ? This is interesting.
The Ancients developed the sport for over 800 years. Wars would stop to let the best fighters settle the politics.
Combat techniques were well-advanced, but men were much smaller back in these days.
On the other hand, modern MMA fighters have only practiced the sport for 15-20 years.
Personally, I think ancient fighters were better than today's.
Insults are common in MMA. For instance, your opponent BJ Penn once said he wanted to kill you. Do these kinds of threats hurt your sport?
Yes it does. I'm somewhat disappointed when I get to see TV ads children getting Mohawk hairstyles just because they're interested in MMA.
If we really want our sport to be taken seriously like football and soccer, then we should make an extra effort to take better care of its image.
Most MMA champions like Cain Valasquez, Frankie Edgar, Anderson Silva and Lyoto Machida are all very nice people.
If you talk to them, you'll notice something's special about them. They all are class acts and are giving the sport a good name.
Are you suggesting there is no room for goons in MMA?
It may sound paradoxical because it is a quite a violent sport but...
Is inner rage essential to become a MMA fighter?
Not really. We all have a different relationship to the sport because we all come from different backgrounds.
For example, BJ Penn you mentioned before comes from a wealthy family, but I don't.
I come from an average family. The reason you like MMA has nothing to do with family background.
Anyone suggesting MMA fighters all come from violent ghettos is dead wrong.
I've never said that! Do you want to take this outside?
Now you're going to fight Josh Koscheck next week at Montreal Bell Center. He recently tried to tarnish your image as he accused you of illegal drug-taking.
There is a difference between promoting a fight and insulting an athlete. I take this as a personal insult. It's like saying I'm a cheater.
Are you regularly tested?
Yes we are, but frankly I don't think everyone is clean in our sport.
MMA isn't much different than other professional sports or the Olympics which have had to deal with this ongoing issue.
But when someone says I use steroids, I also take the insult as a compliment, so to speak. From his point of view it means I'm so
strong, so athletic that it simply cannot be natural.
You fought and defeated Koscheck once before. Here's the official trailer of your upcoming fight.
Wow, someday they will hurt themselves!
Here it says "Koscheck II". Tell me Georges, what happened to the first one?
Hahaha. I defeated the the first one. A brand new Koscheck is coming at me.
Are you tense before a fight?
Well, it's very special before a fight. You can say you want to play hockey, but you cannot really say you want to play fighting. It's not just another game.
Just before any given fight, I usually have a short fuse. That's why I try to avoid my family as much as possible.
The reason is my family cares for me, if I stay around them too long, I will feel their anxiety growing.
Getting inside a fighting cage for a living isn't what one would call "normal life".
So before a fight I need to get around people who do the same crazy things as I do, so I can feel normal again.