Georges St-Pierre’s boxing coach Freddie Roach discusses the former UFC welterweight champion’s intentions for his return to the octagon, and how he is targeting champion status
St-Pierre’s terms for his return to the octagon following a three-year absence included choosing the fights that were best for him, according to Roach. The legendary Wild Card Gym boxing trainer spoke with Ariel Helwani on Monday’s edition of The MMA Hour, and touched upon various subjects including attaining satisfactory terms with the UFC this time around.
Roach, who has been a long-time an associate of WME-IMG co-CEO Ari Emanuel, stated that he assisted GSP in negotiations, using his acquaintance with Emanuel to the fighter’s benefit:
“The game plan was go to go in and get the best fights for Georges at the right time – I think we ended up doing that” said roach.
“We weren’t looking to steal anyone away from anybody,” Roach said. “We just wanted to make the best deal we could for Georges. I do train him quite a bit and he’s a great guy. He needed some help. That’s what we did.
“It all worked out really well. Everyone was happy. At the end of the day, I think everyone was happy. We do have a great deal up there. I’m looking forward to getting Georges ready for these fights.”
Roach also touched upon the glaring differences in the format which fighters adhere to in the UFC, when contrasted with matchmaking and choosing opponents in boxing:
“In boxing, you have to wait for [the opponent] to say yes,” Roach said. “With the UFC, it’s up to them. They tell you and they dictate a lot. … We knew what Georges wanted going in and I think we got him what he wanted.”
Roach stated that he was flown to Canada by GSP for training in Montreal last year, and Roach saw enough to convince him that “Rush” still had what it takes to compete at the highest level:
“You can see things when people start slowing down as a trainer,” Roach said. “I will tell people to retire when they need to. At this point, I thought Georges had a lot more fights left in him.”
While GSP’s Tristar head coach Firas Zahabi recently stated that the Canadian is interested in big-name fights over titles, Roach was of the opinion that this is not the case:
“We didn’t to come back just to come back. We wanted to come back to be world champion. We wanted to be the best.”
No official statement has been released indicating GSP’s opponent for his return fight, but with an approximate timescale of sometime in the third quarter of 2017 for the fixture, an announcement is expected to be made sometime in the next few months.
