According to GSP, he’s coming back to hurt people, not just win fights…

George St. Pierre’s critics are quick to point out his lackluster record of finishing opponents. 13 of his career 25 wins have come via finish, 8 by knockout and 5 by submission. While on paper that doesn’t sound too bad, consider that he won his last 7 fights via decision.

Technically the only people GSP has been able to finish in UFC title fights were Matt Serra, Matt Hughes (2x) and BJ Penn (via corner stoppage). Everyone else went the distance. GSP told Ariel Helwani, however, that he plans on silencing his critics upon his UFC return by stopping his opponents.

GSP’s next opportunity to finish an opponent will come inside Madison Square Garden on November 4th at UFC 217. He will challenge Michael Bisping for the UFC middleweight championship that night, a bout originally made in March, canceled in the summer, and renewed after Tyron Woodley vs. Demian Maia put fight fans to sleep last month.

Stephen R. Sylvanie-USA TODAY Sports.

George St. Pierre On Tyron Woodley

George St. Pierre was not impressed with Tyron Woodley’s performance against Demian Maia at UFC 214.

Woodley may have defeated Maia, but his performance cost him a “money fight” with George St. Pierre. Heading into the fight it was assumed that GSP would challenge the winner for the welterweight championship he once defended 9x.

When asked at what point he decided that GSP vs. Woodley was off and GSP vs. Bisping was back on, Dana White had this to say

“(Expletive) round five [of Woodley vs. Maia],” White said emphatically. “It definitely affected this fight, that’s for sure. I know Michael Bisping will show up and fight. No doubt about it.”

Georges also agreed with White’s assertion that Woodley vs. Maia was boring.

“The fight was a little bit boring sometimes.”

“I think he (Woodley) should have gone a little bit more in offense, trying to hurt Maia more but Maia should have tried more from his point of view… You have to put the blame on both guys.”

Stephen R. Sylvanie-USA TODAY Sports

George St. Pierre On Finishing Opponents

Tyron Woodley is not the first welterweight champion accused of having boring fights. Although he doesn’t get as much slack for it, GSP’s title defenses often consisted of him dominating his opponents with his wrestling. As a result, some critics feel GSP’s later fights were often boring as well.

GSP had this to say when asked about his past of not finishing opponents:

“One thing I can blame myself on in the past is I was over-thinking a little bit too much so now the way I’ve made my training, I’ve made my training to be more opportunist(ic), to be more angry on the finish.”

“I’ve trained a lot of things, I’m going to be more there to hurt guys and to go for the finish, to submit, to break, to go for the break, you know what I mean? Go for the knockout or go for the break if I go for the submission. Until he taps. I’m going to be more opportunist(ic).

“I’ve developed more skills to finish instead of skills for taking some good position and taking advantage of certain situations and positions, now I’m more going for the finish.”

You can listen to the complete interview below:

YouTube video

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Ian is a MMA writer based out of Toronto, ON Canada. An avid mixed martial arts enthusiast and passionate fan since he was born, Ian has been writing about mixed martial arts for over 5 years.