Former welterweight champion opens up during his self-imposed exile from the sport.
He was the consummate professional, dissecting and analayisng every opponent every opponent he faced to try and find a weakness nobody else had spotted.
He then went to the gym every day and tried to develop a strategy to make the most of the flaw in his future foe.
As it turned out, that level of detail might have driven Georges St-Pierre away from the sport of mixed martial arts forever.
On top of his natural athletic ability his attention to detail and work-ethic were two of the characteristics that stood him a part from his fellow fights.
And they helped him become, arguably, the most well-rounded martial artists ever to step inside the octagon as part of the UFC.
But now after vacating the belt after his controversial win against Johny Hendricks and walking away from the gym, St-Pierre revealed he has obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD) and that it was ruining his life.
“As a competitor (and) as a fighter it’s a good thing to have it, because it makes you better, because you completely obsess about being a better martial artist,” he said. “Every day, everything you do is oriented toward that goal.
“This same obsession about my work, about my job, to make me better, it was going to drive me crazy. That’s why I took that break. I don’t call it a retirement, because I don’t know if it will be, but I had to step outside the competition for a while.”
St-Pierre did not mention the condition when he walked away after his bout with Hendricks at UFC 167, saying only he was “going crazy” with the rigors of fight camps and that he had personal problems to sort out.
Speculation went into overdrive what the 32-year-old meant by the comments, with his somewhat reclusive personal nature meaning rumours started to swirl.
However, the admission on OCD has lifted a weight of St-Pierre’s shoulders, who said he was enjoying his first proper holiday in years and said if he did return to the UFC, it would be for every different reasons.
“If I come back, I think there are going to have to be some changes made,” St-Pierre said. “Different changes. On the drugs and a lot of things. A lot of things in my life, also. If I ever come back, it’s going to be for the love of competition.”
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