Coach: GSP Vomited Repeatedly Night Before Diaz Fight
As Georges St-Pierre ponders a possible return to the UFC after an absence of nearly three years from the world of mixed martial arts, GSP’s coach recently shared a less than flattering story about what the long-reigning UFC champion experienced prior to his title defense against Nate Diaz at UFC 158.
John Danaher, GSP’s coach in Brazilian jiu-jitsu, posted Sunday on Instagram that St-Pierre was throwing up throughout the night before the Diaz fight.
What made St-Pierre sick? A container of watermelon juice that he drank for rehydration that had been left out of refrigeration for too long.
“He spent the entire night vomiting,” Danaher posted. “It was so sad to see such a perfect camp get ruined at the last minute by such a minor oversight. The night of the fight, Mr St-Pierre came in underweight and drained. We had to curtail the warm up for fear of exhausting him before the bout even began.”
The irony of that incident was that, according to Danaher, GSP had had what Danaher described as “the most flawless and well run fight camp I ever saw … We had an excellent game plan, the physical preparation was excellent, superb choice of sparring partners, all match contingencies covered, no injuries, no backstage drama, perfect weight cut – everything was perfect.”
A two-time champion in the UFC welterweight division, GSP’s second reign is arguably the most impressive championship tenure in the history of the promotion. He defeated Matt Serra, the same man who dethroned him the first time, as interim champion to unify the division and then made nine successful defenses in a reign that lasted more than five years before he voluntarily vacated the title at the end of 2013 following a split decision victory over Johny Hendricks at UFC 167, which also marked GSP’s final fight to date.
