Georges St-Pierre does indeed have a dark side, and it only took Nick Diaz 30 seconds to flip the switch.
“Where you at Georges? Where you at m----------r?” Diaz yelled in his post-fight interview after defeating BJ Penn at UFC 137. “I don't think Georges is hurt, I think he's scared. I think he's scared to fight everybody right now.”
At the UFC 137 post-fight press conference, UFC President Dana White was completely taken aback when he stepped to the podium to address the media that night. It was as if he had just witnessed a ticking time bomb explode after countless years of dormancy.
“I’ve never seen Georges St-Pierre like he was tonight. Georges St-Pierre flipped out tonight after Nick Diaz was in the ring,” said White. “…He said Diaz is ‘the most disrespectful human being I’ve ever met, and I’m going to put the worst beating you’ve ever seen on him in the UFC.' That’s what Georges St-Pierre said.”
White’s comments were initially viewed by many as propaganda aimed at selling the biggest fight in UFC history. Fans had been salivating over a potential superfight between St-Pierre and Diaz for years.
Sure, St-Pierre was probably a little upset over Diaz’s post-fight comments, but his squeaky clean persona and perpetual nice-guy image made any notion of him “flipping out” inconceivable.
It seemed more likely that White had put his own personal spin on St-Pierre’s comments in hopes of sprinkling gasoline on the fire of an already budding rivalry.
With the release of Takedown: The DNA of GSP, a documentary featuring behind-the-scenes footage of the former UFC welterweight champ, fans finally get a glimpse into what White was talking about nearly three years ago.
Things aren’t always what they seem to an outsider looking in, but the documentary manages to delve deeper into the feud between St-Pierre and Diaz.
The two were initially slated to fight at UFC 143, but St-Pierre was forced to withdraw from the fight card in December 2011 after tearing his ACL in training. One scene in the documentary shows St-Pierre going in for surgery shortly after watching Diaz call him out.
Immediately after the surgery, all St-Pierre can think about is getting his hands on Diaz (h/t BloodyElbow.com):
Doctor: He said, the first thing he said was, “I’m going to kick Diaz’s ass.”
GSP: He's a m----------r, man. He laugh now, “Yeah, yeah, he’s finished.” Wait for me to come back in a year, man. I’ll f**k him up.
He says I took steroids. I never took, never took in my life, man. People don’t believe that. Never took steroids in my life. Can’t wait, man. That’s why I told you I wanted to fight this guy so bad, so bad. I hate him so much. I hope he will win his fights all the way through, so I’ll fight him again and beat him up.
People don’t know I have a lot of demons in my head. But, I keep it inside because I’m nice. Some guys in mixed martial arts are completely insane. We’re all a little bit off, but some are like "pfoo." Like, me, I can fit in society normal and behave normal, you know? I can hide it. Some guys are like "pfaa."
The documentary leads all the way up to the eventual showdown in the main event of UFC 158, where St-Pierre trounced Diaz in a lopsided unanimous decision. Fans can learn more about it on the official website.
With his MMA career currently on the back burner, let’s just hope St-Pierre continues to blend into society without going full “pfoo” or “pfaa.”
Jordy McElroy is a featured columnist for Bleacher Report. He is also the MMA writer for Rocktagon.
