Georges St-Pierre: Ready for Miller at UFC 52
Kelsey Mowatt Apr 13, 2005
Canadian welterweight and TKO champion Georges St-Pierre is
preparing with diligence for his upcoming fight against Jason Miller. The Montreal native,
who will take on Miller at the Ultimate Fighting Championship 52,
April 16, in Las Vegas, Nevada, is hoping to secure a victory
versus his opponent in order to continue his pursuit of a rematch
with UFC welterweight champion Matt Hughes.
St-Pierre began his road back to championship contention by recently defeating UFC veteran Dave Strasser at TKO 19. St-Pierre, now 23, wasted no time in reasserting his presence within the welterweight ranks, dispatching Strasser by Kimura in the first round.
“I never expected to finish the fight in the first round,” said the
Canadian. “I always train for a three-round fight. I guess that’s
why they call me ‘Rush.’”
The Strasser victory came on the heels of St-Pierre’s first career loss to Matt Hughes last October at UFC 50. The young Canadian fighter was admittedly surprised when the more experienced Hughes won the fight by armbar with only one second remaining in the first round.
St-Pierre quickly reached his title shot against Hughes at UFC 50 by winning his first two fights in the promotion against Karo Parisyan and Jay Hieron. The fight against Hieron in particular was noticed by the mixed martial arts world, when St-Pierre quickly stopped the Long Island fighter in the first round with strikes.
“No one expected me to stand with him,” he said, “no one expected me to do it. People who know me and train with me know that I’m a good striker. I started martial arts with striking. I was 7 years old, I started in karate.”
St-Pierre defeated Parisyan with a solid ground-and-pound game plan, and has demonstrated submission skills not only against Strasser, but fellow UFC veteran Pete Spratt as well.
“I train very hard, with the best fighters in the country,” he said. “I train in jiu-jitsu with Fabio Holanda, kickboxing, wrestling, all of it. David Loiseau, Stephane Potvin, Steve Claveau, Patrick Cote, with really good wrestlers from Eastern Europe, great Canadian professional boxers. I can do it all.”
The young Quebecois fighter has been training extensively for his fight with Miller, who brings in a record of 11-3. With notable victories over Egan Inoue, Denis Kang, and Ronald Jhun, St-Pierre realizes that it would be catastrophic to look beyond this experienced opponent with such an impressive resume.
“I haven’t seen him fight, but I know he has very good Muay Thai and is very good with submissions,” said St-Pierre of Miller. “I’ll win and hopefully before a decision. I want to keep the fight standing, knock him out.”
St-Pierre also offered a prediction on the Matt Hughes- Frank Trigg fight also on the card for UFC 52. In making his prediction however, he was quick to offer a challenge to the man he will not be betting his money on.
“I think it will be a really close fight, but if I had to bet, I think I’d bet on Hughes. I’d like to fight either guy. Frank already said that I’m a B-class fighter. Well, I’d like to show him what a B-class fighter is!”
St-Pierre began his road back to championship contention by recently defeating UFC veteran Dave Strasser at TKO 19. St-Pierre, now 23, wasted no time in reasserting his presence within the welterweight ranks, dispatching Strasser by Kimura in the first round.
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The Strasser victory came on the heels of St-Pierre’s first career loss to Matt Hughes last October at UFC 50. The young Canadian fighter was admittedly surprised when the more experienced Hughes won the fight by armbar with only one second remaining in the first round.
“I started the fight as a loser,” St-Pierre said. “I think I gave
him too much respect and mentally I wasn’t there. When he caught me
with the armbar I just froze. Honestly, I would like to have a
rematch; I will be mentally a lot stronger.”
St-Pierre quickly reached his title shot against Hughes at UFC 50 by winning his first two fights in the promotion against Karo Parisyan and Jay Hieron. The fight against Hieron in particular was noticed by the mixed martial arts world, when St-Pierre quickly stopped the Long Island fighter in the first round with strikes.
“No one expected me to stand with him,” he said, “no one expected me to do it. People who know me and train with me know that I’m a good striker. I started martial arts with striking. I was 7 years old, I started in karate.”
St-Pierre defeated Parisyan with a solid ground-and-pound game plan, and has demonstrated submission skills not only against Strasser, but fellow UFC veteran Pete Spratt as well.
“I train very hard, with the best fighters in the country,” he said. “I train in jiu-jitsu with Fabio Holanda, kickboxing, wrestling, all of it. David Loiseau, Stephane Potvin, Steve Claveau, Patrick Cote, with really good wrestlers from Eastern Europe, great Canadian professional boxers. I can do it all.”
The young Quebecois fighter has been training extensively for his fight with Miller, who brings in a record of 11-3. With notable victories over Egan Inoue, Denis Kang, and Ronald Jhun, St-Pierre realizes that it would be catastrophic to look beyond this experienced opponent with such an impressive resume.
“I haven’t seen him fight, but I know he has very good Muay Thai and is very good with submissions,” said St-Pierre of Miller. “I’ll win and hopefully before a decision. I want to keep the fight standing, knock him out.”
St-Pierre also offered a prediction on the Matt Hughes- Frank Trigg fight also on the card for UFC 52. In making his prediction however, he was quick to offer a challenge to the man he will not be betting his money on.
“I think it will be a really close fight, but if I had to bet, I think I’d bet on Hughes. I’d like to fight either guy. Frank already said that I’m a B-class fighter. Well, I’d like to show him what a B-class fighter is!”
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