GSP says Anderson Silva loss made him realize what he has

[The Great Cochrane]

Ahead of his ninth title defense at UFC 167 against Johny Hendricks, UFC Welterweight Champion Georges St-Pierre, who has been the undisputed title holder in the division since 2008, took note of Anderson Silva's knockout loss to the new UFC Middleweight Champion Chris Weidman.
While GSP noted that he was not surprised that Weidman was able to pull off the win over Silva, he said the upset victory made him realize how imperative it is for him to not take what he has for granted.

At UFC 162, Chris Weidman dethroned Anderson Silva from reigning as the UFC Middleweight Champion. It was the first time anyone had ever finished Silva in the UFC, the first time he was ever knocked out in his career, and the first time the belt changed hands in seven years.

St-Pierre spoke to reporters at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas as part of the UFC's 2013 World Tour to promote his November 16 title fight and discussed how important it is to avoid becoming complacent to remain champion.

"I still believe Anderson Silva is the best in the world pound-for-pound. It's a mistake he made. He got beat by Chris Weidman," said St-Pierre. "I believe it was a style match-up and he got caught. I believe he's the best in the world. Even the best can lose sometimes. When I saw that fight, you know, of course Chris Weidman is my friend and training partner, I was cheering for him and I thought he was going to win because the style match-up and he was very well prepared. But it made me realize when I was watching that fight that even the best can lose sometimes."

"It made me realize that what I got, I'm the world champion now – it can go away in the blink of an eye," St-Pierre continued. "If I don't pay attention, one punch, one submission, one mistake, and it can change the whole thing. It made me realize that I need to work very hard to maintain what I have. It gave me that motivation. It kind of woke me up a little bit."

"As much as I feel happy for Chris because it cannot happen to a better man than Chris Weidman, it woke me up to see Anderson falling like this. As much as I feel happy for Chris, I feel sad for Anderson. It can happen to anybody."

UFC 167 will take place at the MGM Grand Garden Arena on November 16 in Las Vegas. St-Pierre will trade leather with Johny Hendricks in the main event for the UFC Welterweight Championship.

To be perfectly honest with you I think he's acting just like Anderson in this and downplaying himself because he's been on top for so long, which is another reason why I think he lost. I feel Georges is much more effective at imposing his game where as Anderson would give people chances, I really wouldn't feel vulnerable if I was him I'd still think I was the man.