Tränare Firas Zahabi berättar att Georges St-Pierre länge funderat över att ta ett kliv tillbaka från sporten.
När Georges St-Pierre annonserade att han lämnar ifrån sig sin welterviktstitel och tog ett kliv tillbaka från sporten blev de flesta överraskade. Men för hans tränare Firas Zahabi var det ett väntat drag som skulle ha kunnat komma ännu tidigare.
Zahabi berättade under The MMA Hour att St-Pierre haft blandade känslor redan inför matchen mot Carlos Condit som ägde rum i november 2012 på UFC 154. Sedan dess ska St-Pierre ha funderat fram och tillbaka hur han skulle göra samtidigt som han fortatte att acceptera matcher och träna inför dem.
– I think before the (Johny) Hendricks fight, he had mixed feelings, säger Zahabi. Before the (Carlos) Condit fight, he had mixed feelings. He went back-and-forth. But the problem is, I was always cutting him off because I didn’t want to talk to him about it in camp. He had three fights in 18 months (actually 12 months) so we didn’t have time to have a deep discussion on it.
– Does he have the motivation to fight? Right now he doesn’t. Right now he has the motivation to take care of his personal issues. If he doesn’t, he’s going to end up depressed, alone. The guy has to balance his life. His life is to the extreme and you can’t be a soldier forever. The guy has been fighting for too long, missing too many birthdays, too many weddings, too many life experiences. He wants to balance his life out. If you were to spend a day with Georges, you’ll be exhausted. There is so much going on it’s ridiculous. It’s crazy.
– I don’t want to get into his personal life, säger Zahabi. But that’s the foundation of all this. I want to keep it superficial. He’s been putting his life on hold. His social life is deteriorating. His family life is deteriorating in terms of his spending time with his loved ones. He’s lived a military life, lots of preparation and the preparation is extreme. There is no time off for enjoyment or personal time. Then you look back and ask, `What’s happiness in life?’ Is it winning fight after fight, or is there more to it? If winning fights made you happy, Georges would be the happiest guy on Earth. Things aren’t that simple.
Det återstår att se om St-Pierre kommer att återvända till sporten eller inte. UFC:s vd Dana White verkar övertygad om att vi får se honom i oktagonen igen. Vad tror ni?
