Rare territory for GSP

LAS VEGAS -- On Saturday night Georges St-Pierre will do something he hasn’t done in a while.

He’ll be cornering a fighter, rather than being the one inside the cage, when his teammate Francis Carmont takes on Chris Camozzi on the undercard of UFC 137.

In fact, the UFC welterweight champion, who was supposed to be headlining this card at the Mandalay Bay Events Center in Las Vegas before getting injured last week, said he couldn’t remember the last time he did.

“It’s been a very long time,” St-Pierre admitted in an exclusive sitdown interview with sportsnet.ca Friday.

While he said it will be hard being there and not be the one receiving the cageside advice, he’s glad he’ll be able to be there for Carmont, who is making his UFC debut.

It will be primarily for moral support however.

“I’m going to say when I see something but (for the most part) I’m going to let the coaches do their job.”

St-Pierre, who has always admitted to being nervous before any of his own fights, said he’s going to feel the same sentiments for the man he’s gotten to know fairly well since he came to Montreal and joined his Tristar gym from France a little over a year ago.

“I’m very nervous for him because I care about him. He’s a good friend of mine. That’s the chance of his career.”

He also said it takes him back to the first time he fought in the UFC in 2004, when he defeated Karo Parisyan by unanimous decision.

As for his knee injury, he is in full rehab mode.

“Right now I’m doing a lot of physio after I strained my MCL ligament and my hamstring on my other leg, but I’ll be ready to go in four weeks. That’s when I’ll start training again full-time, 100 per cent.”

St-Pierre said he’s encountered some criticism for pulling out of the fight right now, with some --including UFC middleweight contender (and king of the callout) Chael Sonnen -- suggesting he should have fought through the injury.

The 30-year-old said that wasn’t an option.

“It’s my job for my fans to perform at 100 per cent of my ability. If I had gone there with this injury… I cannot go on the ground, I can’t even move laterally fast. I would have been destroyed.”

The best news for GSP is he won’t need surgery and he is still on track for a late January return to the cage to defend his belt against Carlos Condit.

At which point, he’ll back where he’s more comfortable -- inside the cage being cornered by his teammates.

SPORTSNET.CA will have more from GSP and Friday’s interview at a later date.

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