Stephen Thompson has fought the very best and skilled with the very best, however no one impressed him greater than Georges St-Pierre.
“Wonderboy” was a staple of of the UFC legend’s coaching camps beginning in 2008 and he helped put together St-Pierre for wins over the likes of B.J. Penn, Carlos Condit, Nick Diaz, and extra elite welterweights of the period. On the similar time, St-Pierre and his Tristar Gymnasium crew in Montreal aided Thompson in his transition from kickboxing to MMA.
What struck Thompson probably the most about St-Pierre is just not how he dominated the competitors, however how he allowed himself to wrestle when it got here to bettering his expertise between fights.
“His mindset form of helped me,” Thompson stated on the Overdogs Podcast. “Even MMA, there’s quite a lot of ego in relation to MMA. MMA is a really egocentric sport to start with, however with ‘GSP,’ he would prepare with individuals that will simply smash him. If it was hanging, he desires any individual that was higher than him at hanging. If it was jiu-jitsu, he’s on the market coaching with Roger Gracie, he was like two weight courses above him and simply tremendous skillful, however [St-Pierre] would put himself in conditions or underneath guys that might simply smash him and he would get higher coaching with these guys, if it was hanging, if it was wrestling.
“I noticed him and Rashad Evans go at it at Tristar one time, it was sick. I noticed him and Roger Gracie go at it and he would simply get submitted on a regular basis. So he would at all times come within the gymnasium with an empty cup. Day-after-day. Doesn’t matter despite the fact that he was champion, multiple-time champion, he would nonetheless are available and simply be taught from not simply the coaches however from all people, which was like, ‘That’s what I’ve bought to do.’”
Thompson by no means captured the UFC welterweight title as St-Pierre did on two events, however he made it to No. 1 contender standing and twice fought Tyron Woodley for the belt. The 42-year-old at the moment owns a 17-8-1 professional MMA file, with a number of notable wins, together with Robert Whittaker, Rory MacDonald, Jorge Masvidal, Geoff Neal, and Vicente Luque.
Given his repute because the UFC’s unofficial “NMF” (Nicest Mom F*cker) champion, it’s no shock that Thompson was desperate to comply with St-Pierre’s lead when it got here to giving again to his coaching companions.
“I ought to be within the gymnasium, these guys helped me prepare, I should be within the gymnasium serving to them prepare,” Thompson stated. “As a result of despite the fact that he would have a battle and he simply bought by coaching camp, if he had guys that had fights arising, he was there within the gymnasium, serving to them prepare. I’m like, ‘Bro, that’s cool.’”
Thompson’s relationship with St-Pierre and the Tristar crew dates again to round 2008, when Thompson caught their eye throughout a kickboxing competitors. His karate and kickboxing background made him a great coaching associate for St-Pierre as he seemed to shore up his hanging expertise and put together for quite a lot of standup types.
The working relationship grew to become so productive, Thompson credit St-Pierre for motivating him to make the full-time bounce to MMA.
“He was on the point of battle Jon Fitch, I believe B.J. Penn, Thiago Alves, who on the time was a monster striker, Carlos Condit,” Thompson stated. “So I’m like, ‘Dude, are you kidding me? I might like to go on the market.’ I’m, like, early 20s, I might love to come back out and simply be an element. On the time, I had put my jiu-jitsu and wrestling on the backburner, as a result of kickboxing was extra widespread. Worldwide, it was extra widespread than MMA was, so that they ended up bringing me out and I believe I used to be on the market for 2 or three weeks they usually set me up, I didn’t should pay for something. I didn’t even ask for it, they didn’t should pay for nothing.
“I went on the market, I skilled with them, I sparred with them, and each time I stored going out, each punch I threw, each punch that I threw, I used to be getting taken down, left and proper. I’m like, ‘I’m a horrible sparring associate for this man.’ So I began doing extra jiu-jitsu, extra wrestling, began studying extra MMA simply to be a greater sparring associate for GSP. He ended up bringing me out for, like, each one in every of his camps up till he retired just about. … We grew to become good buddies. He was my inspiration to change from kickboxing to MMA.”
