Issue 111

February 2014

After many years working with the welterweight star, sports psychologist Brian Cain reveals what makes Georges St Pierre tick and, despite his retirement, why it’s unlikely we’ve seen the last of him in competition 

Newly retired former UFC welterweight champion Georges St Pierre decided to walk away from the sport following his last title defense against Johny Hendricks, despite the pressures from the UFC top brass for the number one pay-per-view star to remain active. Yet one of his closest allies reveals to Fighters Only that it’s unlikely we’ve seen the last of GSP in competition.

Brian Cain is St Pierre’s long-time sports psychologist and mental performance coach and has worked regularly with the former champion for many years. And he is dismissive when asked if fans have seen the last of ‘Rush’ inside the Octagon.

“Georges still has something to prove,” Cain states, contradicting St Pierre’s initial announcement inside the Octagon following the Hendricks victory, and the press conference he staged in Montreal on December 13th. GSP said: “I need to hang up my gloves for a little bit. I have personal things happening.”

Whatever his reasons for walking away, however, from a sports psychology point of view it’s reasonable to hypothesize he may feel he has simply reached the zenith of his fighting career. He has beaten every challenger the UFC has put in front of him, so what does he have left to prove? 

There is a natural cycle for everything in life, and prizefighting is certainly no different. Cain agrees: “There comes a point when fighting runs its course and, at that point, a fighter is ready to hang up their gloves and do something else. You can’t fight forever, just as you can’t be a doctor forever, you can’t play professional sport forever. Maybe Georges is now at this stage in his life.” 

For accomplished fighters, when competing finally outlives its purpose and they reach a junction in the road where they’re ready to move in a new direction and face new challenge, it’s time to hang up the gloves.

Cain adds: “Fighting is a choice and the moment they get tired of getting punched in the face for a living, and having their body put on the line through grueling training three times a day for eight to 12 weeks at a time, for a pressure-packed perfectionist sport, it’s time to move on.” 

Hollywood would likely welcome Georges should he opt to explore that avenue; after all, Jean-Claude Van Damme was a big role model of his growing up, and he’s already shot scenes for the next Captain America blockbuster. But most likely his future would also include some mentoring or coaching of fighters as he helps to encourage the next generation of pugilists into MMA. And whoever is lucky enough to learn from what he has to impart would be wise to pay heed. 

So what are the traits that the ex champion utilized so effectively to dominate the welterweight division for so many years? Fighters Only asked Brian Cain to pick out some of the mental attributes that kept the 12lb of gold wrapped round GSP’s waist for five years.

EVER THE STUDENT

“Georges St Pierre is maybe the greatest learner of any athlete I’ve ever worked with,” says Cain, which is a bold statement considering he works with Olympians and athletes from the National Football League, National Hockey League and Major League Baseball. “He is a sponge,” he adds. “Set aside his gift of tactical intelligence or finely tuned athleticism, or his gifts of commitment and mental toughness, above all else it is his gift of being a learner that I believe keeps him on the throne.” 

ACE (Acting Changes Everything)

The ace card GSP has up his sleeve is a key weapon in the champion’s toolbox. Cain explains: “GSP forces himself to act differently than how he feels. He understands that it’s a lot easier to act himself into a feeling, than it is to wait around and feel himself into action. There are many times he doesn’t feel confident, and he’s OK with that. 

“He just acts confident to counter it. In the build-up before he’s about to go into battle, he recognizes the emotion of fear, so he simply acts as if he’s not scared.” Another illustration of this action can be found in the Karelian Bear Dog, a dog who chases grizzly bears not because he’s bigger or stronger but because he believes he’s bigger and stronger. Be the dog. 

MAXIMUM COMMITMENT

Georges is one of few people who is truly committed to the pursuit of physical excellence in the most hostile of sporting arenas. What GSP has done over the years is sought out people who are the best in the world at what they do and absorb all knowledge they have to offer.  

Whether it’s the fastest, the best wrestler or the best boxing coaches, he trains with athletes who focus specifically on one discipline at Olympic level: including gymnasts and even track and field athletes

He brings in world champion Muay Thai fighters from Thailand. He has as nutritionist, a speed coach, a yogi and a sports psychologist, all there to help him grow as an athlete.  

Cain believes St Pierre has made himself into a champion, and understands it was never a birth right. In GSP’s book, The Way of the Fight, he reveals the humble roots from which he set out on his journey to the top of MMA. He was a garbage man and a bouncer who used to ride a bus from Montreal to New York City to sleep on the floor in a closet to learn jiu-jitsu from trainer John Danaher. 

“There perhaps isn’t an athlete more committed as Georges St Pierre,” Cain says. “But people don’t see that, they see the UFC world champion only. They see the Gatorade contract. They see three-time ‘Canadian Athlete of the Year.’ What they don’t see is the punishing process of how he got there.”

ACCEPTING DEFEAT

St Pierre came close to losing his world title belt against Hendricks in November, but while GSP accepts defeat is inevitable he never allows it to stop him from succeeding. To become a world champion and to remain one means you will be competing against the best of the best. At his level of competition, talent and physical skill mean less and less because challengers are on par and come prepared.  

And so when defeat finally comes, Cain believes Georges is mentally prepared for it. He explains: “He is highly self-reflective and he knows deep down that defeat nearly came at the grenades in Johny Hendricks’ hands. But he will learn from it because in Georges’ eyes he sees his last performance as a failure, but at the same time he sees the experience as positive feedback which will allow him to continue to grow.”  

STAYING CONFIDENT

“Being the world champion does not come with a complimentary dose of confidence, it has to be manufactured,” suggests Cain. GSP understands that confidence is simply a choice he has to make every day and he follows the code of ABC: always behave confidently.  

TRUSTED TEAM

What others may say or think about you and your performances can poison even the performance of a champion if they chew on them, so being able to rise above the hate is critical.

According to Cain: “Georges has the ability to block all that stuff, regardless who is dishing it out – fans or even Dana White. Georges has the mental toughness to be more concerned with his own strength of character and to know what is true, than what people might say about him.” What allows him to achieve this is that Georges has surrounded himself with tremendous and trusted coaches, the likes of John Danaher, Greg Jackson, Phil Nurse and Firas Zahabi, to help him to grow as not only as a mixed martial artist but as a self-assured man.