Saint-Pierre receives first stripe from Bruno Fernandes, alongside black belt Rodolphe Beaulieu. Publicity photo.
No longer on the card for UFC 143 in February, when he was supposed to face Nick Diaz, Georges Saint-Pierre didn’t change his habits at all after suffering another knee injury; he dropped by Gracie Barra Montreal last night, his usual Wednesday routine.
There, the fighter, who hasn’t tasted defest since 2007, was caught by surprise by the tribute they held for him there, even awarding him a diploma from IBJJF and the first stripe on his Jiu-Jitsu black belt.
“GSP has been my black belt since 2008, and it was time he got a stripe. The cool part was that his manager, who is also his best friend, got his black belt yesterday too,” recounts Professor Bruno Fernandes. “He’s Rodolphe Beaulieu, who has been training with us for a long while now and became the first black belt at the new GB Montreal location, a school I openend in April 2010. The other cool part was that each of them knew that the other was going to get promoted but never suspected they themselves would be, so it was a great surprise for them both. Just as it was for the other students, who didn’t have a clue about anything.”
Six Canadian fans of GSP’s were there to witness the promotion. They had won a contest promoted by sports drink Gatorade, and the prize was a chance to meet the champion.
“GSP is stoked the stripe came at such a trying time for him, because of the injury and having to pull out of a fight again. He tore his anterior cruciate ligament all the way through, and he’s scheduled for surgery next week,” says Bruno.
Yesterday, Saint-Pierre issued a statement regarding the injury he suffered during wrestling training, when he heard a pop but ignored the pain and tried to train through it. During a recent training camp with Vitor Belfort in Las Vegas, GSP admitted that there were some positions he was unable to do because of the lack of stability in his knee. “I feel there’s only one person to blame for what happened, and that’s me. I’m the kind of guy who sucks up the pain and keeps going. Now I’ve learned a major life lesson. It’ll make me strong, smarter and cleverer,” declared GSP.
According to the Sportv.com.br website, his orthopedic surgeon, Dr Sebastien Simard, says he believes GSP will return to the octagon within the next six to eight months. Yesterday, Dana White announced that GSP could sit out for ten months.
Nick Diaz and Carlos Condit now go on to face each other for the interim welterweight belt in February. Josh Koscheck, who was set to fight Condit on the same night, is awaiting his replacement opponent.
UFC 143
Las Vegas, Nevada
February 4, 2012
Nick Diaz vs Carlos Condit
Erik Koch vs Dustin Poirier
Alex Caceres vs Edwin Figueroa
Rafael “Sapo” Natal vs Michael Kuiper
Jorge Lopez vs Amir Sadollah