The Ultimate Fighter 12: Not Impressed With Georges St-Pierre's Performance

As a long time Georges St-Pierre fanatic, I have been living for the premiere of the latest The Ultimate Fighter #12, of the series.

All my family and friends know how much watching Georges in anything means to me, so how do I break the news to them that after viewing the show tonight I was not at all impressed with his performance?

Following Georges' development from a gum chewing, UFC prospect who often cut weight by spitting into an empty water bottle, (even while being interviewed on camera), to becoming the elegant gentleman he appears to be today, has been a very thrilling ride for me.

In the past I have over looked the loud and somewhat obnoxious gum smacking, yes, and even the frequent spitting, although as a nurse I detest seeing sputum being collected in a container of any type. For one thing, his early days boyish appearance and enthusiasm for being exactly where he was at any given time, had the effect of making me giddy with happiness in being able to vicariously live the moment with him.

Georges' charm, at least for me, was that he always appeared to be surprised at his quick rise to fame and the widespread popularity he was experiencing.

How charming is a fighter who appears abashed at receiving so much attention where ever he goes?

It was truly impressive that he did not get a big head or Frank Mir-sized ego. He enjoyed meeting the little folks, posing for endless pictures with fans, giving out autographs, promoting his local athletic goods stores, and any interview he was fortunate enough to get.

Tonight, I was expecting Georges to be just as animated as he was when he appeared as a guest coach on TUF 4, The Comeback series, which, incidentally, will always be my favorite.

Anyone could tell from watching that series, that Georges savored every experience on the show, except perhaps  for those where Matt Hughes made a point of ridiculing and upstaging him. Georges reminded me of an eager puppy anticipating a play session with his favorite people. I adored him!

But, unless I have become as jaded as he appeared to be during this particular episode, I could not believe what I was witnessing.

Georges was completely unenthusiastic, sat like he was bored and on the verge of falling asleep, plus actually appeared to be prejudiced and snobbish in his assessment of the fighters, especially one with his hair painted entirely red!

Now, I admit that red is not my favorite color, but my high school aged grandson's hair looked better dyed red than it was during his "blue Smurf stage." Usually I am very open minded on the subject of hair styles, (a little less tolerant of tattoos, especially on young folks), but I was hurt when Georges crossed the young man's picture out before the young hopeful had even stepped into the octagon.

Was this "my" Georges? I sure hope that he was only suffering jet lag and that he will loosen up as the series progresses.

I will be watching it to what may be a bitter end, should his attitude not improve, but as one who has all but worshipped the ground GSP trods on, I will be vastly disappointed in him if his performance doesn't improve in the upcoming coaching stage of the show. At least I carry high hopes that it will.

Seeing Josh Koscheck, (whom I have also written several articles about in my time at B/R), jumping up and down with apparent glee during the assessments of the fighters, I could not believe how cold Georges came across, compared with his rival.

Now in the past when Josh was talking about seeking out a press agent to help him gain more fans and popularity, I encouraged him to, "just be Kos," and stay true to himself. Tonight he was just Kos, and I found him very appealing.

Seeing Dana White and Kos, who both have admitted not fully being each other's biggest fans, sit shoulder-to-shoulder animatedly discussing each fighter's abilities, or lack thereof, I couldn't help but wonder which coach Dana will favor at the end of this series.

Past TUF shows have shown that different coaches clearly won favor with Boss Dana, by displaying excellent coaching abilities, (Rashad Evans being the defeated fighters' best friend and supporting the ones that coach Rampage gave up on, being a case on point).

From the closeness Dana shared during the evaluation stage of the TUF format, I would say that Josh certainly made the best initial impression.

So here I sit pondering the ironies of being a firm MMA fight fan, wondering what my life will be should Josh Koscheck eclipse Georges St-Pierre.

For Grandma Dee, is there life after losing faith in Georges?