12
After Georges St. Pierre beat Josh Koscheck last August at UFC 74, the Montreal mixed martial arts fighter dropped into his opponent's dressing room at the Mandalay Bay Events Center in Las Vegas to see how Koscheck was doing.
St. Pierre offered encouragement, telling Koscheck he would get another shot at him. Keep training, you're going to be a champion, he said.
"There's not many fighters out there that you can honestly say that guy's a class act, he's a good dude and Georges St. Pierre is one of those guys," said Koscheck, who at 30 is four years older than St. Pierre.
"It changed my thoughts and opinions about Georges St. Pierre after I fought him. That shows a lot of respect and a lot of class, to come into my dressing room afterwards when I'm feeling pissed off, knowing that I'm pissed off that the guy that just beat me is coming in. That looks kind of odd.
"But when I heard the encouragement that he gave me after the fight, I have nothing but respect for him now."
St. Pierre is not your average athlete inside or outside the ring. While some star athletes exude arrogance, disdain or a major-league sense of entitlement, St. Pierre is polite, well-mannered and almost ego-free.
He drives a workmanlike SUV, grew up supporting the Oilers, lists his mother's tourtiere as his favourite dish and enjoys going to the movies. He loves fine dining but has a weakness for McDonald's (two cheeseburgers and french fries).
When he dethroned Matt Hughes to win the 170-pound title at UFC 65 in November 2006 in Sacramento, he gave the championship belt to his mother as a thank you for a lifetime of support.
When a busy schedule and unexpected development distracted St. Pierre from a scheduled interview with a reporter recently, the apologetic fighter rushed over to collect the journalist, conducted the interview over a steak dinner — which he paid for — and then drove the reporter to his hotel.
"A heart of gold," says trainer Greg Jackson.
"What's not to like about Georges St. Pierre?" asked UFC president Dana White. "He's the epitome of everything you'd like in a sports figure or a tough guy. He's humble, he trains hard, he's a good-looking kid, he says all the right things."
An elegant five foot 10, St. Pierre looks like he just walked off the pages of GQ. Armani, Dolce & Gabbana and Affliction (a sponsor) fill the closet.
In the cage, St. Pierre is a different man. Determined. Measured. Relentless.
"Georges is a very sweet nice guy, very down to earth," said Firas Zahabi, one of St. Pierre's main trainers in Montreal. "But you can't go to war with that mentality. When you go to war, you've got to be ready to put everything on the line and you've got to forget about being nice.
"He can do that."
St. Pierre will be a million miles away from nice when he climbs into the cage Saturday at the soldout Bell Centre in Montreal to face welterweight champion Matt (The Terror) Serra at UFC 83 in the UFC's debut on Canadian soil.
The Montrealer was a 10-1 favourite when he met Serra one year ago at UFC 69 in Houston. St. Pierre, after all, was billed as the future of the sport and was coming off an impressive title win over the division's most dominant champion. Serra was seen as a puffed up lightweight who had to win a reality show ("The Ultimate Fighter") to get a title shot.
Things did not go according to plan. St. Pierre got tagged early on with a blow to the head — it connected with the carotid artery, he said later — and never recovered.
Former champion Hughes was ringside at the Toyota Center to witness the massive upset.
"He's hurt," Hughes, writing in his book "Made in America," recalled thinking. "Wait a minute. He can't be hurt. He's fighting Matt Serra."
Serra stalked a staggered St. Pierre and kept punching, until referee (Big) John McCarthy stepped it in at 3:25 of the first round.
"This is my worst nightmare," St. Pierre said later.
