
One of the dumber things anyone has said in the lead-up to the fight came out of the mouth of Pete Sell, a UFC fighter who will be in Serra's corner Saturday night. In an interview with Fight Ticker, Sell had this to say about St.-Pierre:
He has all the tools to dominate but he is a mental midget -- his mentality is very weak. .... Matt Serra is all heart and GSP is the type of guy that if they were in a bar GSP would back down from a fight while Serra is down for whatever.St.-Pierre had the exact right response to that in an interview with the Winnipeg Sun:
Of course I'm not going to fight in a club. It's just not my thing. If it doesn't involve me personally or my family, I will avoid it. I believe if you're a good person and treat people nicely, that incident wouldn't arise. I think those situations happen to people who are uncomfortable with themselves. Or try to look tough or act like fighters. You attract what you look like. I don't have anything to prove. When I fight, I do it for a living.Comments like Sell's are the worst thing for the sport of mixed martial arts: They perpetuate the myth that fighting in the Octagon is no different from fighting in a bar. If Serra would look for a bar fight while St-Pierre would walk away, that's a good reason that mixed martial arts fans should cheer for St-Pierre.