Georges St. Pierre says he’s ‘50/50’ on leaving the UFC

By Brett Okamoto

Saturday, Jan. 2, 2010 | 3:42 p.m.

Always in search of a new challenge, UFC welterweight champion Georges St. Pierre said there is a 50 percent chance he will leave the organization this year to pursue a bid on the Canadian Olympic wrestling team in 2012.

St. Pierre has mentioned the idea in the past, but many weren't sure how serious the champ was about switching sports.

In comments St. Pierre made to reporters Saturday, it's clear there is a real possibility of him stepping away.

"I really think about it always — everyday," St. Pierre said. "I'm somebody that thinks a lot. I'm a thinker-type person. I'm going to have to make my decision pretty soon."

St. Pierre, who is scheduled for a title defense against Dan Hardy at UFC 111 in March, said he would need about 18 months to properly prepare himself to make a run through the Canadian 185-pound wrestling division.

The champion has won his last six fights and successfully defended the belt three times.

Although St. Pierre has been cruising in his recent run as the welterweight champion, he said a lack of quality opponents in MMA wouldn't be a factor in his decision.

"There is no lack of motivation for me at all in my sport," St. Pierre said. "I think my division is stacked and there is actually a big line of contenders. If I decide to do it, it's because it's a dream of mine. It's a thought I've had in my head for a long time."

The desire to constantly challenge himself is something St. Pierre said he's had all his life.

St. Pierre said he grew frustrated as a teenager at his first job at a supermarket because it didn't keep him busy enough.

"It was so boring," St. Pierre said. "When I work, I like to work. When it wasn't busy in the supermarket I would have to do 'facing.' It's when you take something like the bread and you put it all in a way that makes it look like its full. But it's useless because in a couple hours, people are going to come and buy some bread and ruin your work.

"I hated that job because it didn't keep me busy. When I work, it's like when I train — I'm crazy. I like to get there and get busy."

He said he enjoyed a five-month stint as a garbageman better than his days at the supermarket because it kept him busy. He'd often run from pile to pile to try get the work done faster.

It's that kind of motivation that is tempting St. Pierre to make a run at the Olympics — a challenge he said is far harder than staying the UFC welterweight king.

"Wrestling is much harder than MMA," St. Pierre said. "It would be much harder to win the Olympics than to stay the champion. To stay the champion, I have to fight one fight and I'm still the champion. For the Olympics, you have to qualify for the tournament, then you have to qualify for the Olympics. That's when the fun begins and everything is on another level."

Much like his fights, St. Pierre is studying every angle before making a decision.

Although he said he would return to MMA after pursuing the Olympics, the layoff would mean relinquishing the UFC championship belt.

"There are a lot of positives and negatives," St. Pierre said. "One negative is my income. I would have to give up my title and I would have to stay away from MMA for at least a year and a half.

"The positive thing is that I'm not a poor guy. And I'm the kind of person that everything I do in life is an experience. I like challenges. I would not like the fact if I got to 60 and would tell myself I had an opportunity to do something and maybe I could have done it, but I didn't."

The 28-year-old is a strong wrestler in the world of MMA and is known throughout the UFC for his takedown abilities.

Still, St. Pierre is well aware that his skills would need work to translate to pure freestyle wrestling and that his best experience in the sport comes from winning a tournament in Quebec, where the competition was fairly light.

"Right now, the truth is I don't have the level I need to do it," St. Pierre said. "If I were to go now, I would lose because I'm not good enough. I need to talk to my trainers to see if I could be good enough to do it.

"I'll only do it if I know I have a good chance to make it. When I do something, it's to become on top. I don't do something just to try it. If I do it, it's to win and go 100 percent."

The decision would leave the UFC belt up for grabs in a division that many believe to be the weakest in the organization.

Even Hardy, who is undefeated in the UFC, is widely considered to be a longshot to dethrone the champ.

St. Pierre said he disagrees and went on to call Hardy the toughest challenge to his belt so far.

"He's underrated by a lot of people," St. Pierre said. "A lot of people are saying he shouldn't be here but I disagree. As a proud champion I want to fight the best in the sport and I think Hardy is one of them. I take him very seriously and I truly believe he's the most dangerous guy I've fought so far."

One fighter St. Pierre said he's not thinking about is lightweight champion B.J. Penn, who he's already defeated twice.

Although he said that was one of a few fights in his career he took personally, he said he has nothing to earn by beating Penn again.

"I don't have much to win in that situation," St. Pierre said. "I've beat him two times. Especially the last time it was pretty obvious. I would take that fight if he deserves to have a title shot but I hope he's going to have to climb the stairs to deserve it."

St. Pierre said he hasn't taken the initiative of approaching his sponsors or UFC president Dana White about leaving MMA. He said he would do that only if he comes to the conclusion that it's the right move for him.

One thing he did make clear, however, is that it will be him that makes the decision and not anyone else.

"Nobody has the authority to say yes or no about it," St. Pierre said. "I'm the leader of my life. If I want to change my career and do classic dancing, I will. It's my life and I can do whatever I want with it."

Brett Okamoto can be reached at 948-7817 or [email protected]. Also follow him on twitter: LVSunFighting.