LAS VEGAS — Georges St-Pierre may be off Saturday’s UFC 137 card, but a teammate — and fellow French fighter — will still be there to carry the Tristar torch.
Paris, France’s Francis (Limitless) Carmont, who has been with the famed gym in Montreal for about a year, makes his UFC debut Saturday taking on Chris Camozzi on the undercard of the show at the Mandalay Bay Events Center.
The 30-year-old Carmont (16-7) has been fighting professionally in MMA since 2004, competing all over Europe and he is already fairly decorated. He won a tournament in Poland in 2006 and captured a light-heavyweight belt in Switzerland in 2009 with a submission victory. He also has few grappling tournament victories to his name.
The 6-foot-3 fighter was training at a Muay Thai club in France when he was told by a friend it would be a good move for his career to make the move overseas to Tristar. It didn’t take long for that to start paying dividends.
Carmont is currently on a five-fight win streak. In June, he won his North American debut, doing so in impressive fashion — he knocked out former UFC fighter Jason Day in the first round of the headliner of an event in Hamilton.
And then in September, he was signed by the UFC. He said the dream was achieved.
"I’m very happy I made the decision (to come to Tristar)," Carmont said Wednesday. "I’m very happy to be here today. My first fight in the UFC. It’s just amazing. And in Las Vegas. It’s crazy."
Tristar’s head coach Firas Zahabi, who said he’s sure the fact Carmont was GSP’s teammate "didn’t hurt" in terms of him getting the UFC opportunity, said he could be the first of a bunch of fighters from France to soon join the big-league ranks.
"From what they tell me the training in France is not as organized and it’s not as serious so a group of French fighters came to Canada. Expect to see more," Zahabi said. "He’s the first French fighter from Tristar to come up, but I have five or six more like him that are really itching to fight internationally. They’re a group of tough kids, very tough guys.
"They come from a martial arts background. We’re just kind of moulding them more professionally. Their training is more well organized and hopefully it will take them to that next level."
Zahabi said France produces really good strikers (a prime example is Cheick Kongo, who fights Matt Mitrione in Saturday’s new co-main event), because kickboxing is a very popular sport over there. So when Carmont came to Montreal, he was already a very seasoned striker.
But he said he’s already seen such an improvement in Carmont’s jiu-jitsu and his wrestling. In his current win streak, two of his wins have come by TKO but three were by submission.
What Zahabi is most impressed with is his dedication to win.
"He’s the kind of guy who won’t give up," Zahabi said. "When he throws his combinations, he throws them to knock (his opponent) out. He’s not looking to squeeze out a decision. I doubt this fight will go to decision either way. Someone’s getting knocked out in this fight."
They believe if his fight against the 24-year-old Camozzi (15-4) does end up mostly in the standup it will definitely favour Carmont, feeling he has the edge in striking. But they plan to adjust to what they see from Camozzi, who is coming off a submission loss to Kyle Noke in February but won four straight prior to that, including his first two in the UFC.
According to Zahabi, his student’s fight against Day was a good test for him because he is a former UFC fighter and stopping him showed he’s at that UFC calibre. Now he has the chance to show it.
"We’re all excited for him, and you guys will see on Saturday he deserves to be there. He’ll prove that to everybody."
For Carmont, the opportunity to train with and get to know one of the world’s best fighters in Georges St-Pierre has meant a tremendous amount. And just because St-Pierre injured his knee last week, doesn’t mean he has stopped supporting him. Carmont said St-Pierre has continued to help him train despite the champ’s injury, even up until Tuesday this week. St-Pierre will also be in Las Vegas and will corner him Saturday night.
"It’s more difficult (not having him on the card) but it’s good because I had a good training with him," Carmont said. "He gave me a lot of advice and helped me. He’s a very good guy, with a big heart and he’s a world champion."
Carmont hopes to reward his new friend and his new team, now that they no longer have GSP on the card.
"I represent the Tristar team because he can’t fight Saturday night, so I want to give my best for the team."
