The fighters circle, sweat dripping off of their exhausted bodies. As a tactical battle wages between them, there’s a calm rippling throughout the crowd, alternating with raucous cheers.

“G-S-P! G-S-P!”

The chanting comes at the expense of the two guys giving their all in the octagon—middleweight champion Anderson Silva and challenger Thales Leites. Such is the power of Georges St. Pierre that his mere presence at UFC 97 can overshadow the main card in Montreal, even when he’s not scheduled to fight that evening.

The French-Canadian welterweight re-affirmed his pound-for-pound status with a one-sided thrashing of UFC lightweight champion B.J. Penn back in January, forcing Penn to quit before the start of the fifth round. As he’s setto face Thiago Alves this July at the historic UFC 100 event in Las Vegas, the understated side of Georges’ character is worth exploring. St. Pierre is poised to capitalize not just on his talent inside the octagon, but also on his charisma, looks and image which are attracting more mainstream interest to the sport. He was voted ‘Canadian Athlete of the Year’ for 2008 by Rogers Sportsnet, capturing 89% of the vote. Just as Sugar Ray Leonard and Oscar De LaHoya’s reach extended far beyond typical boxing audiences, GSP has limit less potential when it comes to being that unique figure who transcends the sportentirely in North America.

In a world of celebrity obsession, St. Pierre is something of ananomaly: He’s one of the few whose fame is a by-product of actual talent. Other public figures can coast on nearly non-existent records of achievement, feeding like parasites off of the public’s eagerness to worship those who garner a level of attention inconsistent with their real contributions to society.

“I don’t do MMA to be famous—I do it because I love the lifestylethat it provides me,” says St. Pierre, keen to remind me where his motivation comes from. “As long as I wake up with a big smile in the morning, and I like what Ido, I’m going to keep doing it.”

“The Unfinished Legacy” has been edited for NakedEyeMag.com; the complete story appears in the Summer 09 issue of Naked Eye.