George St. Pierre - "Rush"

George "Rush" St. Pierre was born on May 19, 1981 in Saint Isidore, Quebec, Canada. St. Pierre says that his turn to martial arts came at the young age of six when he began karate lessons to help defend himself against a school bully. After his karate teacher passed away, St. Pierre began training heavily in wrestling, boxing and Brazilian jiu-jitsu.

St. Pierre has said that he first began dreaming of a career in professional MMA fighting after watching Royce Gracie fight a title bout at UFC 1 in 1993. He fought his first amateur bout at the young age of 16, taking on a 25 year old Canadian boxer. His ground skills were admittedly poor at the time but St. Pierre won the fight handily with a knockout caused by a karate kick to his opponent’s head. He made his UFC debut soon after at UFC 46 where he defeated Karo Parisyan by decision. After defeating Jay Hieron by TKO at UFC 48, St. Pierre was given the opportunity of a lifetime – a shot at the welterweight title against one of his idols, Matt Hughes, at UFC 50. St. Pierre lost that fight due to an armbar submission in the first round but quickly committed to working his way to another shot at the title and Hughes.

He moved quickly, defeating Jason Miller at UFC 52, Frank Trigg at UFC 54, and then-lightweight title holder Sean Sherk at UFC 56. A split decision win over former UFC welterweight champion BJ Penn put George in line for another shot at Hughes and his title at UFC 63. An unexpected groin injury forced St. Pierre to waive the fight, and the slot was given to BJ Penn, the next-highest rated fighter in that division. UFC management publically promised to give St. Pierre his well-deserved title-shot following his rehabilitation.

During his recuperation time St. Pierre went to great lengths to support other fighters from his camp. He made an appearance on The Ulitmate Fighter: The Comeback in order to support fellow Canadian MMA fighter Patrick Coté, and then showed up at UFC 63 to offer his support to another Canadian fighter, David Loiseau. It was also at UFC 63 that St. Pierre famously said that he "was not impressed" with Hughes’ performance that night and looked forward to facing him again in the octagon.

It was at UFC 65 that George St. Pierre was given another shot at Matt Hughes and the UFC welterweight title. The fight lasted only two rounds with St. Pierre winning by TKO after knocking Hughes down with a kick to the head and then raining down a barrage of unanswered punches. The referee stopped the fight at that point and St. Pierre put on a UFC title belt for the first time.

St. Pierre has trained with several different teams, the most notable being the Triumph Fight Team and the Canadian National Wrestling Team. His training has taken place at many famous venues with several top-notch trainers including Renzo Gracie at the Jiu Jitsu Academy in New York. He also trains with other professional MMA fighters including Rashad Evans and Keith Jardine at the Submission Fighting Gaidojutsu School in New Mexico.

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