UFC Champ Georges St-Pierre anxious to return, though doesn't want to rush recovery

By: Jamie Penick, MMATorch Editor-in-Chief

UFC Welterweight Champion Georges St-Pierre is still on the mend following knee surgery earlier this year, but while he's not yet 100%, he's optimistic he'll be back to full training soon.

"[The knee] feels very good," St-Pierre on Thursday in an interview with MMAJunkie.com. "In two months, I'm back to training. I'm in good shape now, but I'm not in fighting shape."

"In two months it'll be 100 percent. Now I feel something is not 100 percent. But in two months, it'll be out of mind. I don't want to mess it up. If I try to jump or go to fast, I'll have to do it all over again. I don't want to [make] the same mistake."

Failing to let a knee injury heal fully last fall is what led to tearing the other one and necessitating this surgery. St-Pierre certainly doesn't want that to happen, but that doesn't make the wait any easier.

"When you get hurt for a long time and you're forced to get pulled away from training and you're forced to stop doing what you like to do everyday, it makes you see things in perspective," he said. "I just want to get back, and wherever the fight will be, I will be glad to fight. I'm very anxious to come back."

Penick's Analysis: The UFC is anxious for him to come back, that's for sure, but no one wants him to rush things. There's no need for him to get careless, no need for him to suffer another injury trying to return earlier, so hopefully the timetable he's on is realistic. If he can return by November as projected, that will be the best scenario for all, but if he is delayed further, he's delayed. For his sake, hopefully there will be no more setbacks, and if all goes well we'll see him back in the cage come November.

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