Georges St-Pierre really found acting to be helpful as he transitioned away from Mixed Martial Arts. The MCU star sat down with the Dan LeBatard Show with Stugotz this week ahead of The Falcon and the Winter Soldier finale. During that conversation, the UFC icon was candid about life after stepping out of the Octagon. Any fan of MMA will tell you that the athletes can have a hard time calling it quits when the time comes. GSP himself tried to make one last go of it before riding into the sunset. In his opinion, the key to a successful retirement is having a goal and then finding ways to accomplish it. It’s a workman-like approach, but it can be effective. Most of these athletes have a strict regimen that they adhere to before competition. But, a lot of that can dissolve away in life after being a fighter. With acting, that discipline can be harnessed into a creative pursuit and St-Pierre thinks that’s the way to go.
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“To be honest, in our sport, we all have a lifespan. Unfortunately, the sad reality is that most of the athletes hang out too long in the sport of full-contact competition,” he began. “Whether that’s MMA or Boxing. I never wanted to make the same mistake, I wanted to retire on top. However, when you retire, I believe its important to find another goal. Whether you reach it or not, it does not matter. You need to find an objective, find a goal, a motivation, something that you need to work on. Mine? I turn it to movies now… I deal with so many high emotions, because it’s life-threatening. The thrill that you get, it is unmatched. So, you need to be able to put that into something else.”
Earlier in the same interview, the UFC Champion talked about how quickly Disney snapped him up to revisit the role.
“Right after I took my retirement, Disney came out and offered me the role,” GSP explained. “To come back as the Leaper. I did a little bit before with [Captain America:] The Winter Soldier. But, back in the day, I wasn’t prepared you know, I was more focused on competing in mixed martial arts. Now, it’s been two years that I’m training full-time as an actor. I’m having acting classes, English class, camera class, theater classes, audition classes. So, I was much more well-prepared for this one. So, it was perfect timing.”
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