Former UFC welterweight champion Georges St. Pierre made his long awaited return at UFC 217, and also made a huge statement in the process. It had been over four years since GSP had stepped into the octagon but his skills and fight IQ haven’t diminished one bit.
During his time away, Georges had been training with all of the top coaches and training partners in the world. He was constantly training jiu jitsu with grappling aces Garry Tonon and Gordon Ryan, and was also spending a lot of time with one of the most well respected boxing coaches in the game, Freddie Roach.
The former welterweight champion made his way to Madison Square Garden in New York City to challenge Michael Bisping for the UFC middleweight title this past weekend. The much smaller, faster St. Pierre was able to out-strike and land hard shots that hurt Bisping, but it was the instructions from famed boxing coach Freddie Roach that helped get GSP in position to take Bisping’s back and sink in the rear naked choke.
Roach had noticed that Bisping was throwing his right a bit lazy and instructed Georges to counter with the hook and follow up with the right hand. Take a look at Georges St. Pierre getting instructions from Freddie Roach in between rounds during his middleweight title fight at UFC 217.
“Go with the hook and then the right hand behind it.” Freddie Roach told St. Pierre in between rounds.
Here’s that corner cam footage:
