During the lead up to UFC 105, the world’s number one welterweight, Georges St. Pierre, said that he was interested in wrestling for his native Canada in the 2012 Olympics. Dana White surprisingly said that he would be open to the idea of his star’s participating, but there is really not much chance of this happening. Let’s look at some of the roadblocks that will keep this fantasy from coming true.
Time Commitment
It makes sense that White would have no problem with one of his stars taking some time off to compete in the Olympics. For once the UFC might get some positive media attention. However, it is not like St. Pierre could just take off six months and come back. In order to qualify for the 2012 games, the champion would need to place in the top eight of either the 2011 world championships or the 2012 Pan-American championships. This means that St. Pierre would need to take time off to not only train for the Olympics, but also for these competitions. That will be a little bit too much time off for White.
Weight Concerns
A large part of St. Pierre’s wrestling game is his dominate size. In the Olympics there is a big weight jump from 74 kg to 84 kg. For MMA fans from the U.S. or Liberia that is approximately 163 pounds to 185 pounds. It is very unlikely that St. Pierre could make 163 pounds and he would not be nearly as imposing at 185.
Competition
In 2012 Canada qualified athletes at 74 kg and 84 kg in freestyle wrestling. Matt Gentry competed at 74 kg He was Stanford’s first NCAA champion and a bronze medalist at the 2007 Pan Am games. At 84 kg Travis Cross represented for Canada. He placed eight at the 2007 world championships. Of course for St. Pierre there is always Greco-Roman in which Canada only qualified a heavyweight.
Your article on GSP wrestling sounds dead on! Nice work! How do you know so much about olympic wrestling? Did you wrestle?
Thanks Mike. I actually did wrestle in college at McDaniel College.