Even at age 44 and most of eight years removed from his last UFC fight, Georges St-Pierre still looks like he could cause problems in a cage match.
Ask his 5.6 million followers on Instagram, where St-Pierre regularly posts evidence of his continuing dedication to mostly shirtless training in a cornucopia of combat sports: The dude looks like he鈥檚 a training camp away from stepping back into the octagon. Given his popularity and the vast pile of money that would surely come attached to a comeback, St-Pierre, whose final fight saw him beat Michael Bisping for the UFC middleweight championship after years as the welterweight title holder, is aware such speculation won鈥檛 stop anytime soon.
鈥淭rust me, it takes a lot of discipline to retire on top, because a lot of people will try to make you believe 鈥 hell, you鈥檙e leaving a lot of money on the table,鈥 St-Pierre was saying this week in Toronto. 鈥淏ut it’s not about money. It’s about my health. I might have another 50, 60 years to live 鈥 I want to be healthy.鈥
Which is not to say St-Pierre wants to be lazy.
鈥淚’m retired from trying to prove that I’m the strongest man on the planet. I’m not retired as an entrepreneur,鈥 he said. 鈥淚’m busier now that I was when I was competing.鈥
Among St-Pierre鈥檚 many projects is a new speaking tour, 鈥淕SP: The Instinct of a Champion.鈥 Coming , it鈥檚 being billed as a raw 90-minute conversation wherein St-Pierre, abetted by friend and collaborator Justin Kingsley, promises to mine unexplored veins of the life story of a once-bullied youngster in rural Quebec who rose to worldwide fame.
Georges St-Pierre fights Michael Bisping in their UFC middleweight championship bout at Madison Square Garden on Nov. 4, 2017.
Mike Stobe Getty Images鈥淲e’re going to talk about things that we never talked about before,鈥 St-Pierre said. 鈥淏ecause when you’re competing, you can’t show your vulnerable side, especially in mixed martial arts, because your adversary will try to exploit it. So we’re going to talk about a lot of new stuff that we never talk about. And because (Kingsley) knows me very well, he knows which button to press to make the emotion come out.鈥
Kingsley, who co-authored said there鈥檚 a reason why St-Pierre is regularly tapped to give motivational speeches to highly paid pro athletes, among other audiences. (St-Pierre has addressed the 海角社区官网Raptors twice and also popped up in the dressing room of his hometown Montreal Canadiens). Kingsley chalks it up to St-Pierre鈥檚 gift for providing 鈥渘on-movie inspiration.鈥
鈥淵ou know how you go see the movie and at the end of the movie, you’re going to change the world. But you wake up, you’re the same slob,鈥 Kingsley said. 鈥淲ell, (St-Pierre) can give you tools 鈥 When you come in contact with Georges, he has an impact on you that helps you find a way to become a better version of yourself.鈥
St-Pierre, who was appointed to the Order of Canada earlier this year, said he remains dedicated to daily training a) because he loves it, and b) because after rising to the top of a sport where the object is to inflict hurt, he is hyper-attuned to the importance of a sound mind and body. So name the discipline 鈥 karate, Muay Thai, Jiu Jitsu, wrestling, gymnastics, sprinting, Olympic weightlifting 鈥 and St-Pierre dabbles in it.
鈥淥nce you start adapting to a certain type of workout, that means the workout is no longer good for you. You need to change,鈥 St-Pierre said.
St-Pierre is聽always happy to mix in a new training partner. To that end, he recently spent time on the mat with Canadian UFC fighters Mandel Nallo and Aiemann Zahabi.
鈥淚 still roll around with the young guys 鈥 I have to show them who鈥檚 daddy,鈥 St-Pierre said.
Georges St-Pierre sat down with Star columnist Dave Feschuk ahead of the launch of his inaugural speaking tour, “GSP: The Instinct of a Champion” at Meridian Hall.
Steve Russell/海角社区官网StarLest someone interpret that as a notice of his eventual intent to unretire, St-Pierre let out a hardy laugh.
鈥淚鈥檓 making a joke,鈥 he said. 鈥淚鈥檓 not who I was. I鈥檓 content with the competition I have in the gym. I no longer feel the need to try and prove myself.鈥
Maybe not in the octagon. But St-Pierre and Kingsley are setting a lofty goal for their upcoming speaking tour. The object of the evening, Kingsley said, is twofold: 鈥淥ne is to have a positive impact on the people in the room, and the other is to have them not look at their phone for 90 minutes.鈥 No small feat in the social-media age.
It鈥檚 also possible Kingsley is aiming for a third goal. To complete the hat trick he鈥檒l have to reduce St-Pierre, one of the toughest athletes in Canadian history, to tears.
鈥淚 don’t plan to (cry), but I don’t know,鈥 St-Pierre said. 鈥(Kingsley is) good. He knows me very well, and he knows which buttons to push to make the emotion come out. He can take me down with words. He knows where the skeletons are hidden.鈥
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