A strange thing happened after UFC welterweight champion, Georges “Rush” St. Pierre, defeated Dan Hardy back in March. Rather than be showered with accolades, some fans actually took issue with his performance.

The unanimous decision victory was the French-Canadian’s fourth consecutive title defense, one win shy of the record currently held by Matt Hughes. Despite his dominance over the division, St. Pierre has received some flak for his wrestling based strategy. With three out of his last four bouts going the distance, there has been criticism that “Rush” is holding back and fighting not to lose.

Somewhat surprisingly, St. Pierre doesn’t refute those claims.

“I fight safe, and I’m not going to hide it. Every time I step into the octagon, my life is in jeopardy. For me, it’s more important to not get hit than to hit the guy. I will never fight in a way [in which] I fight like I flip a coin. I never took risks. The only fight I took a risk was when I fought Matt Serra, and I went in a stupid exchange, and it was not smart. I got caught; Serra beat me fair and square, and he deserved the victory that night. But it taught me a good lesson, and I don’t want it to happen again.”

The champion does take issue with fans who believe that he relies on his wrestling to avoid having to engage in an actual battle. Citing his bout with Hardy, St. Pierre believes he demonstrated the best jiu jitsu of his career, something that casual fans may not have the knowledge to understand.

“I did add some great highlights that people don’t even acknowledge. At the end of the third round, for example, the best grappling highlight of my whole career was in (my fight with) Dan Hardy.”

St. Pierre is most proud of his transition game, particularly when he took Hardy’s back before moving to a leglock and then passing guard in quick succession.

“That was a beautiful display of jiu-jitsu. People don’t even know this because they don’t have the knowledge to appreciate what happened. Some do, but a lot of people did not acknowledge what happened.”

Although he is aware of the negativity, St. Pierre refuses to give in to the talk and change his strategy. First and foremost, he fights for himself. To take unnecessary risks to please someone else, according to the champ, is not a smart idea.

“When I’m standing up, I hit the guy, I pick my angle, and I’m smart. I’m not afraid to say it: I’m not a brawler and I’m not a coward. I’m not going to trade punch one-for-one with a guy. I’m going to hit the guy and not get hit. That’s a smart way to fight. I’m not going to give names, but if I would tell you names, you would know who’s a brawler (and) who’s not and who now has a problem with his career because he got hit too much. They can’t take a punch anymore.”

St. Pierre attributes his success to fighting intelligently. Never allowing himself to believe that he is the best at something keeps “Rush” motivated to work on his game.

“I don’t fight like an idiot. That’s what defines me. I’m (not the) champion because I’m the strongest guy in the division. It’s not because I’m the fastest guy. I’m not the best grappler. I’m not the best striker. I’m not the best wrestler. But why I’m champion is because I fight smart every single fight. It’s like F-1; you need a good driver and a good car. If you have a very good driver but a bad driver, you’re not going to win the race. If you have a very good driver and a bad car, you’re not going to win, either. So I have a good car and a good driver, which is even more important.”

Up next for St. Pierre is a stint on The Ultimate Fighter 12 against opposing coach, Josh Koscheck.

(Source: MMA Junkie)

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sorce: middleeasy.com

Of the many things that set UFC welterweight champion Georges St. Pierre apart from his competition, one of the most notable is his willingness to travel great lengths in order to improve elements of his game. While many fighters are content to hang out in one camp, GSP has traveled to Brazil for jiu-jitsu training, spent time learning from the Canadian wrestling team, and regularly leaves his Montreal home base to bang with the all-star team at Jackson's MMA in Albuquerque or drill his Muay Thai at the Wat in New York. The latest piece of the puzzle is a familiar one: St. Pierre is now working on his boxing with legendary trainer Freddie Roach, at the Wild Card Gym in Hollywood. As he told Yahoo! Sports:

“It is time to focus on my boxing. When I get to the other side of my career I don’t want to be one of those fighters who have been hit too many times, so they keep getting knocked out. If you have the opportunity to work with someone like Freddy, you take advantage...I’ve only been here a few days with Freddie and each time I left feeling like I was better.” GSP plans on spending a week with Roach before taking off to film TUF 12, opposite Josh "Booooooo!" Koscheck. As for Roach, the soft-spoken trainer is beginning to occupy a very unique place in the world of MMA