An Afternoon With Robert Devane, Denis Kang, GSP And The Crew At Tristar Gym In Montreal, Quebec Part 1

Most of us already know Denis Kang. For those who haven't heard of Robert Devane, refer to my last article, “Eric O'Keefe -GSP's Army -The Team Behind the Champion. I had the pleasure of communicating with Robert via email several times and he provided me with the content for the article about Eric.

During my visit with Eric at his gym Force-Xtreme in Sherbrooke, Quebec he mentioned that Robert would be in Montreal for the week and would be participating in a pro-sparing season at Tristar. Eric offered me a chance to meet Robert and watch the session at the gym. Needless to say Christmas had come early for this MMA fan.

So here I am in the parking lot at Tristar and I cross paths with Denis Kang who is checking out my Hyabusa t-shirt that I got at the booth where he was signing my autograph during the MMA Expo in Toronto. I'm trying to play it cool with a “Hey, how's it going?, as if I bump into UFC celebs all the time. I take a moment to laugh at myself while I text Eric to let him know I'm out front.

I look up and there casually strolling by me is GSP; the door pops open and Eric extends a hand and a greeting to Georges, sees me and waves me inside with a friendly smile. As I walk in taking a few deep breaths, Eric does a shoulder check to see if I'm still following him only to find me with this huge goofy grin on my face as I'm walking into a who's who of the MMA community.

I'm introduced to Stacey Rene of “Authority MMA” magazine who is talking to a familiar face; Tom Murphy from the “Ultimate Fighter” 2nd season. This seems to be a good place to hang out because everyone is dropping by to see her. Jonathan“The Road Warrior” Goulet comes over to say hello, followed by Firas who looks at me and gives a polite hello and a handshake.

Eric officially introduces me to Denis Kang who jokes,“Oh ya....We're old friends, we go way back to the parking lot”, which doesn't surprise me because I found him to be very witty and personable when I first met him in Toronto. I can't help but notice an imposing figure; 6 ' 3”, Jerome Le Banner, a K1 kickboxing champion from France. He is the type of fellow that looks like he would have to cut weight to make the heavyweight division.

I then recognized Robert Devane from fight footage I had seen on YouTube. While he's pacing back and forth, mentally preparing himself for the session, I can't resist extending my hand out to him to introduce myself. We share a mutual laugh and some pleasantries before I return to sidelines to let Robert prepare. A few moments later as I look up, here comes Eric with a familiar face, and I am officially introduced to a Mr. Georges St Pierre, talk about surreal.

You can see GSP is in a good mood as he mixes it up by boisterously shouting out something in French which gets a round of laughs. The warm up is over as Frias walks in with the whiteboard to show who will be sparing with who.

Robert's first training partner is Nabil Khatibw, a fighter from my neck of the woods who fought former UFC Welterweight Champion, Carlos Newton this spring with an organization called W1 in Gatineau, Quebec. After the five minute standup session everyone takes a breather for a couple of minutes and switches sparring partners. Tom Murphy pushes the pace with Robert followed by 3 more sessions; each with David “The Crow” Loiseau, Denis Kang and boxer Dany Caron. During this time Eric is shouting out instructions and encouragement to Robert. This is followed by 2 more rounds of gound work on the mats.

I am now thinking how good would it be if I were like an owl; I could turn my head 360 degrees to take everything in. It was at this time I though of my friends on Yard Barker, “If only the ladies could see what I'm seeing, now”.

All of a sudden out of the corner of my eye I see and hear Georges slam Jerome Le Barron into the side of the cage during a take down, unbelievable! After the grueling sessions mostly everyone is understandably exhausted and take time out to rehydrate. You can tell Robert is soaking everything in like a sponge when Denis gives some takedown tips during a light sparring session. David Loiseau offers some tips as well then asks Robert to show him some Karate style kicks.

George and Firas are now in the ring and Georges is ripping off some thunderous leg kicks. It's hard not to be impressed with level of fitness being displayed by these athletes. Eric has to be at his second gym on Ontario Street to give a private lesson but offers me a chance to interview Robert.

While Robert is getting a much needed deep tissue massage, I prepare for our late lunch interview which I will share with my friends on the Yard in Part 2 of this article.