Georges St. Pierre Scared of Jake Shields
By Sean Farrell
UFC welterweight champion Georges St. Pierre has never come off as a man with nerves of steel or acted like a the tough guy to pretend that his mental state of mind remains impervious prior to a huge fight. GSP has been open and honest about recently employing a sports psychologist, something he also did in the past in order to sew up some of his mental weaknesses. French-Canadian poster boy of MMA has remained honest dealing with some of the psychological hazards that many pro fighters face.
St. Pierre must frequently keep himself humble in the face of the great expectations placed on his shoulders. He is currently preparing to defend his welterweight title against a very capable opponent in Jake Shields, but all anyone is talking about anymore is a possible super fight with Anderson Silva that will likely materialize if St. Pierre gets by Shields.
In a interview with Sportsnet.ca, GSP admitted he suffers from overwhelming nervousness for his upcoming fight due to the conditions surrounding this fight with Shields similar to those which existed when he lost his title to Matt Serra, a massive underdog, by KO in 2007 at UFC 69.
St. Pierre said in the interview “With Jake Shields, I’m very nervous for this fight. I have goosebumps, more than ever before, I have the flash of what happened with Matt Serra and I don’t want it to happen again. I’m fighting the most dangerous guy I have ever fought and it’s going to be a very tough fight.”
St. Pierre’s admission of weakness is quite surprising to many in the MMA world, seeing how GSP is revered as one of the best fighters to ever grace a ring or a cage. As he steps in to face a real threat in Jake Shields, there is no doubt the St. Pierre will show up come fight time, maybe St. Pierre is just being the good guy as always.
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