by Levi J Parsons
SYDNEY, Aug. 6 (Xinhua) -- Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) superstar George St Pierre has told Xinhua that he believes China could be the next big hotbed for mixed martial arts talent.
"I am very excited for China!" the former two division champion said in Sydney on Friday.
"I think China will become a very successful country and they will produce a lot of great martial artists, especially in the sport of mixed martial arts."
While sometimes overlooked in the dynamic world of professional fighting, St Pierre believes China's foundation in the fighting forms of Kung fu can still be a huge advantage for up and coming competitors.
"I come from a traditional martial arts background," he explained.
"I did Kyokushin Karate, Brazilian Jiu Jitsu and I also studied a lot of Wushu, Wing Chun Kung fu and Sanda fighting, so that is how I get a lot of my takedown entries when I close the distance."
"If you look at Chinese Sanda it is a mix of kickboxing with takedowns, so if you take a good Sanda athlete and teach him the submission skills, it will be a perfect athlete that is very well rounded for fighting in the octagon."
In Australia to give a series of talks focused on overcoming emotions in difficult circumstances, St Pierre feels the brutal lessons he's learned in MMA are transferable to all walks of life.
"I will be discussing how I deal with fear and my tricks that I use to stay confident when I am facing a stressful event," he said.
"So people can relate to it in their own world or their own field."
Widely regarded as the greatest pound-for-pound mixed martial artist of all time, the Canadian welterweight not only defended the title for a record 12 times, but last year he also returned to the octagon to claim the middleweight belt with a submission victory over the UK's Michael Bisping.
But due to an ongoing illness known as ulcerative colitis, the 37-year-old was forced to relinquish the title and step away from the sport.
According to St Pierre however, at the moment he's feeling much better and hopes to step back in the cage before the end of the year, adding that it's possible he could face the winner of October's lightweight UFC title bout between Russian champion Khabib Nurmagomedov and Ireland's Conor Mcgregor.
