Joe Ferraro

George St-Pierre's trainer said he made only 'three or four' small technical mistakes against Dan Hardy.

Despite apologies from the UFC welterweight champion, Team GSP was satisfied with his performance.

After defeating Dan (The Outlaw) Hardy at UFC 111, welterweight champion Georges St-Pierre's humility during a variety of post-fight interviews saw the Canadian apologize for his performance. But according to Team GSP, the champ did nothing wrong.

The Montreal native and poster-child for Canadian MMA gave Hardy his credit, but was frustrated with his own performance, apologizing to all who witnessed the five-round domination.

"I thought he was made of rubber," stated St-Pierre. "It's a win, but I'm not very happy with myself. I did a lot of stupid technical mistakes. I'm very sorry. I wanted to finish this fight."

There were many who booed throughout the main event, but one can chalk this up to a crowd that lacked the knowledge of the various strategies and techniques in MMA; it's not just about knockouts, there's more to MMA than flying fists.

The key for GSP was to take Hardy out of his element, the striking range, and bring the fight to where GSP was stronger -- and that was on the ground.

While this is the essence of MMA strategy, he continues to receive unwarranted criticism, even with the judges scorecards (50-43, 50-44, and 50-45) which showcased a perfect shutout (and more). He set a new personal record for takedowns (11), attempted submissions (6) and smashed his previous high for positional improvements (26 - original was 14).

Going into GSP's ninth title fight, head coach Firas Zahabi knew that Hardy would prove to be a worthy challenger, and prepared GSP both physically and mentally for a 25-minute battle. While most believed it would be a quick bout for the champ, Zahabi was adamant that this would not be the case against The Outlaw.

"He's hard to kill. We know going in there he was going to be hard to kill. I told Georges to be ready to beat on this guy for five rounds, don't try to rush to the end… and Hardy lived up to it."

Competing at such a high pace for 25 minutes is no easy task.

Strength and conditioning coach Jonathan Chaimberg is the one tasked for making sure GSP peaks at fight time and unlike the champ, was very satisfied with the performance.

"He looked great. He controlled the pace which is the most important thing," said Chaimberg. "He just looked great. You can only take so much from it, but Georges is Georges; he outwrestled him and was as dominant as ever."

But going the distance with the Brit was something GSP was unable to stomach, igniting a trend Team GSP has seen before. History shows that after every fight, the Montreal native returns to the dressing room and immediately does a B-line to his coaches to discuss the bout.

While the vast majority of credit should go to Hardy, for not only his Gumby-like flexibility, but for showcasing the warrior spirit and refusing to quit, GSP did not want to hear that. What he wants to hear is why the submission attempts failed.

Enter John Danaher, his legendary grappling and submission coach, who explained to Georges what these issues were.

"In both cases, there were three or four small technical deficiencies," Danaher said. "Georges went over the details that will make them work next time."

Danaher also believed it was application and execution issues that prevented the submissions, and not psychological, as some would suggest.

"None of it was mental, these were technical. In any situation where technical leverage is the key to success, it always comes down to technical nuance."

In between rounds, coach Greg Jackson kept St-Pierre level-headed, making sure the champ stuck with the original game plan, no matter how many miraculous escapes Hardy would pull off. The key was to stay focused, keep working hard and other submissions would present themselves.

"It's an attack of wills," Jackson said. "If you have a great arm bar and you pop that arm out, it doesn't matter unless the guy taps, so it's a matter of wills. I wanted to be a little more patient, use his ground and pound first, do some damage, then go for it."

Jackson believes the experience at UFC 111 is just part of GSP's natural evolution as a fighter, one that does not bode well for future opponents.

"That's a process of growing," said Jackson. "Every fighter, no matter how good they are, always has room to grow to become stronger and better and you're going to see a more technical Georges and just a better mentally-prepared Georges in the next fight."

St-Pierre has already expressed interest in immediately returning to the gym to work on improving his MMA game. While Zahabi and Chaimberg are prepared should their pupil request their services, Jackson will play it by ear.

"Whatever Georges wants to make him happy. I just want the guy to be happy. If he's happy training, do it."

But Jackson also recommends another option, one that may be difficult for GSP to accept.

"For me, I'd like him to take a little vacation, relax a little, and then come back."

Good luck telling that to Georges.