Zahabi: GSP Doing Great After Surgery

Georges St. Pierre is recovering from surgery to repair a ruptured ACL. | Photo: Sherdog.com

“He’s doing great. He’s doing fantastic,” Zahabi told the Sherdog Radio Network’s “Beatdown” show. “He’s doing the post-surgery rehab, and then after he’s done doing that -- it should be done in March -- he’s going to start his sports rehabilitation.”

St. Pierre underwent surgery in December. He’ll soon be rehabbing under the guidance of Gavin MacMillan, the founder and head trainer at Sport Science Lab.

“He trains Troy Polamalu from the NFL,” Zahabi said. “Tremendous trainer. I’ve been corresponding with him for the last little bit since Georges got injured. We have complete faith in him. He’s been through this process before with NFL players. The doctor was more than happy with the results of the surgery. Things are looking really good. Georges is extremely motivated to come back. He’s very excited. He’s got that fire roaring now bigger than ever. Everything is lined up for success hopefully.”

A knee injury forced St. Pierre out of an October title defense against Carlos Condit. He was expected to recover for a fight against Nick Diaz on Feb. 4, but instead he tore his ACL in early December and that bout was also scratched.

“He had an existing injury before the tear,” Zahabi said. “He kept training, and it tore. He realized he was trying to save time and not miss a fight, and it turned out that he’s going to miss a whole year. I don’t think he’ll come back too fast. It was a mistake he did before, and I think he’ll be sure not to repeat it again.”

Diaz has suggested St. Pierre’s injuries are the result of how he trains. Zahabi acknowledged that St. Pierre trains explosively, but he also said they’re careful to minimize injury risk.

“For Georges, working explosively has always worked for him,” Zahabi said. “… You can get an injury from any type of training. Anything you do a lot of, you can get hurt at. You’ve got to manage the risk and do the training that’s best suited for you. [Endurance training] works for Nick, and Georges’ training has been working for him.”

Listen to the full interview (beginning at 19:56). Zahabi discusses Condit vs. Diaz, fighting with injuries and his Feb. 4 seminar with world champion freestyle wrestler Jordan Burroughs at the Tristar gym in Montreal.