Firas Zahabi on GSP's hiatus: "You do it competitively, you're going to do it to the point where you hate it"

By: Jamie Penick, MMATorch Editor-in-Chief

Former UFC Welterweight Champion Georges St-Pierre had to take a break from the sport after his fight with Johny Hendricks in November, and it isn't guaranteed that he'll return.

That doesn't mean he'll stop training, of course, and his longtime head coach, Tristar's Firas Zahabi, thinks he'll always be involved in martial arts in some capacity.

"I don't think he'll ever stop martial arts," Zahabi said in an interview with MMAJunkie.com. "If he came and told me he was never doing martial arts again, I wouldn't believe him. I think martial arts has carved a part of his personality; he's done it from so young. It saved him from bullying; it got him the life he has right now."

"He will always be doing martial arts. Now, he's doing it for love and passion, and doing it for competition is two different things."

Zahabi believes St-Pierre simply overworked himself, and pushed himself to the point where he just couldn't continue at that pace any longer. At least for now.

"I've been a part of thousands of training camps; Georges St-Pierre camps are the most extreme," Zahabi said. "I think he went too far, too long, and mentally, it's not feasible. You go home, you get ready for the next workout, and then it's back to the gym the next day. There's no balance in your life, and it's going to weigh on you mentally. It's a never-ending life of discipline and rushing. There's no time to enjoy life in his lifestyle.

"You do it competitively, you're going to do it to the point where you hate it," Zahabi continued. "You're going to do it to the point to where you've had enough, and there's still more work to be done, and you have to do it. When you do it for life and for fun and you've had enough, you can go home."

"I think what Georges did was right. He lives a life of extremes, but you can only do it for a period of time. Nobody's ever taken it to that extreme. It's a question of will; you can't force that on somebody. Georges did it for too long, and he needs a mental break."

Penick's Analysis: I think the longer St-Pierre has away from the grind of a training camp, the more likely it is that he'll ready himself for a return to competition. He clearly over-worked himself, he put too much pressure on himself and on being the best in the sport. That had a negative effect when he received backlash as well. There was a lot that likely went into it mentally, and if and when he does return, he'll be in a much clearer mental state.

[Georges St-Pierre art by Travis Beaven (c) MMATorch.com]

Source: http://www.mmatorch.com/artman2/publish/UFC_2/article_20450.shtml

Dennis George Kultar Gill Allan Goes Takanori The Fireball Kid Gomi