Maya Angelou once said, “We may encounter many defeats but we must not be defeated.” And Mahatma Gandhi said, “Whenever you are confronted with an opponent, conquer him with love.”
Defeats are temporary setbacks. In war, you can still win even after being defeated in several battles. Quitting, however? That’s permanent. That’s when you’re truly defeated.
My guest today is the iconic and legendary George St-Pierre, a top MMA fighter in the history of the world, who’s well-known in combat sports as the undisputed G-O-A-T: Greatest Of All Times. He is also popular for being a record holder for most UFC wins in title bouts.
In this episode, we discuss how Georges’ childhood bullies shaped him into who he is today, why it can be so hard to let go of our egos, how fasting has transformed his health, and so much more. This is an exciting episode of the School of Greatness, so let the class begin.
Who is Georges St-Pierre?
Georges “Rush” St-Pierre is a Canadian professional mixed martial artist who holds black belts in both Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu and Kyokushin karate. As a child growing up in the small town of St-Isidore, Quebec, Georges was bullied by older schoolmates for years. His father introduced him to Kyokushin karate at age seven, and he became a second dan Kyokushin karate black belt at age 12. In spite of his martial arts skills, he was still bullied.
However, the bullying he experienced only served as his motivation to practice and train more in martial arts throughout his teen years. When he watched the Royce Gracie UFC fight in 1993, Georges realized exactly what he wanted to do with his life. Since then, he has dedicated his energy and focus to becoming a better version of himself by spending more time in the gym while working as a doorman in nightclubs and hanging off the back of a garbage truck in between.
His life-changing moment came in 2006 when he became the UFC Welterweight Champion. Although he lost the championship belt in the following year to Matt Hughes, he regained it in 2008. Since then, Georges hasn’t lost a single title defense until his retirement in 2013, holding the UFC record for most wins in title bouts.
Georges St-Pierre became the fourth fighter in the history of the organization to be a multi-division champion when he returned to the ring in 2017 and defeated Michael Bisping to win the UFC Middleweight Championship title by submission in the third round. Unfortunately, after a month of winning the championship belt, he was diagnosed with ulcerative colitis, which sent him to his retirement from MMA for good.
After MMA, he shifted his career to acting. His original breakout role was in Marvel’s Captain America: The Winter Soldier as “Georges Batroc the Leaper.” He leaped into action again as Georges Batroc in the TV miniseries, The Falcon and the Winter Soldier, which premiered recently to a record viewership.
Georges St-Pierre’s life story is an excellent example of the fact that defeats are temporary, and that as long as you don’t quit, you can still become a champion in your own league. He was bullied several times during his early years, but he overcame bullying and became a mixed martial arts champion.
Bullying Can Shape Your Life for Better or Worse
Have you ever been bullied before? Do you still experience the pains of past bullying? How did bullying impact your life today?
It’s a fact: Bullying can leave a scar and have a terrible impact on your life, long-term. But there are only two things you can do if you’ve been bullied — you can either learn and grow from it to become much stronger, or you can stay stuck in fear and lose all your self-confidence. Let’s hear from Georges how his past bullying impacts his life now.
“I think it left a scar. But sometimes it’s for the best, and sometimes for the worse. There are good things like … I think it helps me to be stronger and face adversity.” – George St. Pierre
You can transform tragedies from something negative into something that positively impacts your life. It might take a long time, but if you put in the effort it takes to process those tragedies and shift your thinking, later you’ll start to see the ways in which tragedy may have strengthened or enriched your life on the whole.
“I was bullied when I was young. At the time I saw it as a very negative experience — and it was. But I realized now that it helped me later on in my life, facing the mental warfare that I had to face in mixed martial arts, because it’s a very egoistic sport.” – George St. Pierre
When you are bullied, you will feel the pain, the intimidations, and a sense of defeat as it’s happening. But at the same time, it will also make you more resilient to similar situations in the future.
“There’s a lot of intimidation when you get into a fight, especially during the promotion of the fight and the press conference. And I got used to it when I was so young.. … We see a lot of fighters, they lose their chill. … But they never worked with me because I had a very strong shield to protect me that I probably built during my youth.” – George St. Pierre
During his childhood, despite his martial arts skills, Georges didn’t fight his bullies back. Instead, he humbled himself in defeat. Sometimes in life, there are battles and competitions that are not meant for us to win, and we need to simply tap out and kill our ego so that we can bounce back someday.
