One of the breakout stars at UFC Newark was Nasrat Harqparast. The 23-year-old German- born fighter knocked out Joaquim Silva in the second round in brutal fashion, winning a Performance of the Night bonus for his handiwork. In his corner for the fight was none other than MMA legend Georges St. Pierre.
Haqparast trains at Tristar Gym in Montreal, Quebec, Canada, where GSP of course trains. Haqparast was lucky enough that GSP cornered him for this fight, and he said the future UFC Hall of Famer liked what he saw.
“Georges was so happy,” Haqparast said. “Georges is a really nervous guy. Before the fight I was so happy and smiling. Georges is like, ‘Nasrat you’re a psychopath, how are you smiling?’ I said, ‘Georges I love it so much, you guys are my idols, my brothers, the only thing I can do is smile.’
“Georges was really impressed.”
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Along with GSP, head trainer at Tristar Gym Firas Zahabi was also in Haqparast’s corner. According to Haqparast, it doesn’t get better than the corner duo of GSP and Zahabi.
“In my opinion, this is the greatest corner in MMA history,” Haqparast said. “Georges is the greatest fighter. The head coach Firas Zahabi is so generous. He helped make GSP and Rory MacDonald. I can’t describe it, he’s just the best.”
The win over Haqparast improved his MMA record to 11-2 and he’s 3-1 overall in the UFC. After losing a decision to Marcin Held in his UFC debut in 2017, Haqparast has since won three straight fights against Marc Diakese, Thibault Gouti and now Silva.
When asked who he wants to fight next, Haqparast called out former Tristar gym member John Makdessi, and said that UFC 244 in November is a card that interests him.
How much potential do you think Nasrat Haqparast has in MMA?