A modern gladiator with a heart of gold, Georges St‑Pierre overcame a difficult childhood to become one of the greatest mixed martial artists of all time. Growing up in the small town of Saint-Isidore, Quebec, Georges was relentlessly bullied at school by older classmates. Taking up Kyokushin karate when he was seven years old, martial arts helped Georges build confidence while challenging him to grow as a person and an athlete. Earning his black belt at the age of twelve, he learned to be humble in defeat while developing extraordinary resilience and strength. Georges didn’t know it yet, but these difficult experiences were laying the formidable groundwork that would empower him to become a global superstar in the fierce, exciting world of mixed martial arts (MMA).
 
An intense combination of wrestling, jiu-jitsu and kick boxing, MMA is among the fastest growing and most-watched sports in the world today. Georges first glimpsed this phenomenon as a teenager in 1993, when he rented a video of an Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) tournament and was struck by Brazilian fighter Royce Gracie’s ability to defeat larger opponents with a searing combination of skill and speed. Armed with a new dream of forging his own path to the UFC one day, Georges participated in his first amateur MMA fight at the age of sixteen and won by submission. After high school Georges found himself working in sanitation and taking jobs as a doorman in nightclubs to keep training in pursuit of his goal. In 2002 he debuted as a professional fighter with the Universal Combat Challenge (UCC) and just two years later took fate in hand when he entered the Octagon at UFC 46 in Las Vegas.
 
A technically brilliant fighter known for his razor-sharp focus, discipline, and lightning speed, Georges achieved an unprecedented career record of 26-2 as a UFC fighter, claiming his first Welterweight Championship in 2006. Aptly nicknamed “Rush”, he set a torrent of UFC records over the course of his career, including most wins in title fights (13), most wins by decision (12), most takedowns (90), most wins in welterweight title fights (12), most successful consecutive welterweight title defenses (9), and most wins in the UFC welterweight division (19). Taking a hiatus in 2013 to prioritize his mental health, Georges returned to the UFC in 2017 and claimed the Middleweight Championship without missing a beat, becoming only the fourth multi-division champion in the organization’s history. Retiring from Mixed Martial Arts in 2019, Georges has remained candid about his childhood struggles and the adversity he overcame to succeed in the often brutal world of combat sports.
 
Passionate about helping young people, he has continued to draw on personal experience as an inspirational speaker and advocate for mental health awareness, supporting anti-bullying initiatives and promoting youth sports through his charity, the Georges St‑Pierre Foundation.

Back to Member Index