Former UFC welterweight champ Georges St-Pierre doesn’t know whether or not he will ever fight again, but the 32-year-old Canadian is finally shedding some light on why he walked away from the sport he had dominated for so many years. St-Pierre tells CBC‘s Wendy Mesley that he suffers from Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD).
“As a competitor, as a fighter, it’s a good thing to have it [OCD] because it makes you better because you completely obsess about being a better martial artist. Every day everything that you do is oriented toward that goal. This same obsession I have about my work, my job, to make me better, was going to drive me crazy. That’s why I took that break. I don’t call it a retirement because I don’t know if it will be, but I had to step out of the competition for awhile.”
“I’ve been doing it for so long. First I start because of the fun, because I loved it, it was fun. Then the fun became also a business, then the business with the critics, the expectations, the pressure. You’re the target, everybody wants what you have. I’m obsessive like crazy so I had to step out to keep my mental health.”
So how is Georges doing now since he’s no longer fighting?
“I feel very good. I had my first New Year’s and Christmas with my family, I mean a real one. I can spend as much time as I want. I don’t have to go away because I have a fight coming up or training. Because when I was competing I was completely obsessed about it, I needed to take time in my day for training. But now if I ever come back it will be my choice.”
St-Pierre also discusses his views on performance enhancing drugs, why he feels it is such a big problem in mixed martial arts and why he wants the UFC to take a tougher stance on doping. Watch the interview in its entirety below.
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