| Saint-Pierre
visits Nova Unia Headquarters
UFC
champ trains with Leo Santos in Rio
St-Pierre
and Wagnney rest and observe training
The
accelerated pace of professional MMA training at Nova Uniao headquarters
in Rio was even more frenetic than usual, yesterday afternoon,
as UFC welterweight champion Georges St-Pierre, who will be in
Rio de Janeiro on a "training vacation" for the next
two weeks, paid a visit to the gym to reunite with his first Jiu-Jitsu
master and friend, IFL champion Wagnney Fabiano, and help with
the preparations of his mentor's brother, Jiu-Jitsu phenomenon
Leo Santos,for his upcoming Shooto South America bout against
Argentine Pablo Paolielo, by getting in the ring with his once-ADCC
opponent for a few rounds of MMA training. Such was the excitement
surrounding the occasion that fighters, staff and students of
the academy went out of their way to find cameras to make endless
picture requests, the Brazilian MMA TV channel sent its crew to
extract an interview and a couple of hours of footage from the
fighting ace and was even paid respects by Jiu-Jitsu legend Paqueta.
St.Pierre, Leo Santos, Eric O'Keefe, Wagnney Fabiano and
tv lady relax ringside
A few minutes
after 3 pm, the most famous French-Canadian in the fighting world,
his physical-conditioning coach, Eric O'Keefe and the first man
to honor him with a belt in Jiu-Jitsu, Wagnney Fabiano, his "Yoda,"
as the fighter himself would later affectionately call the reigning
IFL featherweight champion to reporters from Premiere Combate
channel, showed up on the sidewalk in front of Academia Upper,
headquarters to Nova Uniao fight team, in the Flamengo burrough
of Rio de Janeiro. After a minor struggle to have his esteemed
compatriots from his adopted homeland of Montreal authorized to
pass the gym's reception area, the three old chums climbed the
stairs to the fight area and the entire building went abuzz with
people clamoring to catch a glimpse of, or - for the less inhibited
- have a picture taken with the good-natured undisputed UFC welterweight
champion. The man and his master had a task at hand, though, and
wasted no time in donning their gloves and getting down and dirty
with the score or so of fighters preparing for their upcoming
fights in a number of different events.
Saint-Pierre's
mission in training on the day was a specific one, though: to
help the man who gave him his blue belt in Jiu-Jitsu's brother,
once adversary in the ADCC and friend, Leozinho Santos, practice
for his upcoming Shooto South America bout. So the two shot in
on each other, threw painless punches, attacked each others legs
and feet for submission holds and had an overall lively training
session for three rounds, to the delight of the different spectator's
from the gym's staff and students, leaning against the wall and
ring, while MMA practice went on as usual on the two mats on either
side of the ring. After their business was complete, the two buddies
took to the mat to exchange their thoughts on each others games,
make casual talk with all present and horse around just like normal
people do at such times, to the surprise of everyone who thought
the Canadian would be somehow more distant, have a superstar complex.
And even more surprising was that the foreigner had miraculously
learned Portuguese during his three days in Rio.
Paqueta pays his respects to the champion
After nearly
an hour and a half of training, Saint-Pierre's visit took on a
casual nature, as he talked, joked around - speaking a functional
blend of Portuguese and English and, with Wagnney Fabiano and
Yan Cabral, French - and watched the MMA fight training going
on throughout the room, before the trappings of being a superstar
would take him back to business again, as a TV crew came in search
of an interview, which would take up nearly the entire final two
hours of his stay. But just before the chains of fame would again
tie him down, he was paid a visit from an illustrious visitor,
Paqueta, a legend from Jiu-Jitsu's past, who arrived to pay his
respects and present him with a dvd from his vast collection,
containing all his upcoming opponent John Fitch's fights. After
the old warrior left, the toil began, as Saint-Pierre went off
to the corner, under the television crew's lights, for a two-hour
interview that didn't seem to phase the good-natured fellow until
he was leaving the gym, at nearly 7pm, visibly tired but still
graciously posing in pictures with his many admirers.
Visitors St. Pierre and O'Keefe with Team Nova Uniao
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