St. Pierre: "I was scared before the fights, but I pretended to be invincible"

Legendary Canadian mixed martial arts fighter and former UFC champion in two weight classes George St-Pierre spoke about the psychological problems he faced before his fights.

"Every morning on fight day I felt like I sucked. I thought, 'Damn it. I sucked the night before and didn't get enough sleep.' But you know what I do? I lie to myself. I lie to my sparring partner, I lie to my coaches. I feel great and I'm ready to kick ass. Because I'm a firm believer that it has a big impact on your mindset.

I've done it throughout my career, even when I was scared and incredibly uncomfortable. I pretended I was invincible and 100% sure I was going to succeed. And it was all a lie because inside I was scared as hell," St-Pierre said on the Anik & Florian podcast.

Recall that St-Pierre had his last fight in October 2017, and in February 2019 announced the end of his career.