George St. Pierre's Ultimate Fight: The Road to 2012

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A lot of rumours and speculation about George St. Pierre have been circulating within the mixed martial arts (MMA) community.

St. Pierre, more commonly known as GSP by MMA fans, is a Canadian welterweight champion of the UFC. He has considered leaving the MMA scene to focus on his training in hopes of competing in the 2012 Summer Olympics on the Canadian wrestling team. However, these are only rumours and no one will know until GSP announces his final decision to the public.

Even though he is a professional mixed-martial artist, if he does decide to join Team Canada as a wrestler, GSP must undergo a lot of adjusting and training to completely switch tracks. No longer will he compete in an octagon with rules he is accustomed to; instead, GSP will have to adapt to a whole new set of rules. For example, unlike MMA, freestyle wrestling does not allow striking with fists and feet. In freestyle wrestling, there are numerous ways to win the match. One can win by fall, technical superiority, decision, by forfeit, injury and lastly, disqualification. However, if none of the above occurs, the winner is decided by the judge based on the points they have attained throughout the match. Usually, the point system is based on the risk and explosiveness of the moves and throws made by the wrestler.

On the other hand, in mixed-martial arts, one can win by decision, submitting or by technical knockout. To submit your opponent, you force them to tap and concede defeat by putting them into a painful joint lock or a choke. In a technical knockout, the referee stops the fight when he determines that the fighter is no longer able to defend himself. Finally, the decision is the last resort but is based on a different scoring system compared to wrestling. The decision depends on the overall score based on control of the ring, clean punching, aggressiveness and defense.

Although he will face many challenges along the way, GSP has a good chance of making it to the Games and possible even to the medal podium. He is blessed to have what is arguably one of the best wrestling gyms in Canada located in his hometown of Montreal.

Armed with mental toughness, determination and physical strengths attained from his extensive training, George St. Pierre will definitely make Canada proud.