Interview:
http://www.sherdog.net/forums/showthread.php?t=553544
UF : Georges St. Pierre lost his belt to Matt Serra at UFC 69. Can you comment?
SP : For sure, everybody was shocked about this issue, but that's what make our sport so unique. That's why it is such a great sport. Everything can happen. Matt Serra had a great game plan and respected it perfectly.
UF : Georges mentioned in his post fight interview that he didn't felt as usual before the fight. Did you perceived a strange feeling in the moments preceding the fight?
SP : No. In the locker room, everything went well. I think that it all happen when he entered to walk thru the octagon. Georges generally trains hard 6 to 8 weeks before the fight. For this fight, he only trained 4 weeks and he went 1 week in Europe then got ill for a few days when he went back to Canada.
His 4 weeks training was more a 3 weeks training sprint, maybe less. According to me, Georges lost his confidence when he entered the octagon, remembering himself he didn't train as hard as he should have, or as he usually do. He had a lot of question in his head at this moment. He said in interview he feels his legs and shoulders were heavy, but in the locker room, he didn't felt this way at all. Maybe all those questions affected his confidence. He wasn't mentally in his best shape...
UF : Do you think Georges under estimated Matt Serra?
SP : I won't tell he under estimated Serra, but you can't fight at this level with a 3 weeks training camp only to face somebody who did train seriously for 7-8 weeks. Georges could have beaten Serra, but as I said, some little details can truly make the difference...
UF : Considering he wasn't in his best shape, why Georges didn't pulled out once again?
SP : The fight was already postponed twice and I figure out it became more and more delicate to do it again. And Georges decided to go anyway in Europe for a week during his training camp. It was his decision. He made some youthful mistakes while preparing for this fight and I sincerely think he's gonna learn from it and come back stronger in a near future.
UF :As a fight sport's fan, how did you felt that night?
SP : This was pretty difficult, but our job is to stay behind Georges and support him for the better and the worse. I often said to Georges till this day that what is really important is the way you get up, not the way you fall. Maybe this loss comes at the right time. If Georges learned something from it, it would have been a great thing. But if he didn't learn anything from his loss, this won't be the last time this situation happens. Hopefully, Georges is an intelligent and mature young man and I think he'll be able to figure out what he did right... or wrong.
UF : According to you, will Georges be mentally affected by this TKO loss in the future?
SP : I believe Georges has all the qualities to become stronger and I think it twill happen this way. People surely might have many questions, but Georges is mentally strong and he's well surrounded. We'll all make sure this loss won't have any consequences on his career.
UF : You surely saw Matt Hughes reaction after the fight. What are you thinking about his reaction?
SP : I always thought Matt Hughes has no class. Someday, he'll be in the same situation and I don't think we're gonna laugh at him. I prefer to say : "no comment". Everyone knows Hughes has no class at all, and he just prove it one more time. There's nothing much to say about it.
UF : It seems that Matt Serra will get his first title defence against Matt Hughes. Why Hughes instead of Georges first?
SP : St. Pierre and Hughes both have this revenge match clause to their respective contract, but Matt simply lost his title before Georges.
UF : How much fight Georges will need to do before getting the chance to go for another title shot?
SP : One fight will be enough.
UF : Who will be Georges St. Pierre's next opponent?
SP : Surely Josh Koscheck, but nothing's official yet so I can't confirm for the moment.
UF : Could Koscheck be a bad and dangerous matchmaking for Georges?
SP : Georges still was the UFC Welterweight World Champion last week so I can't figure out why there would be a problem facing Koscheck. Georges lost a fight, but it is not a good reason to give him weaker opponents.