Labelling him the brain behind the brawn doesn't do Firas Zahabi's fighters or fellow coaches justices.

But most agree Zahabi is something special.

Former WEC bantamweight champion Miguel Angel Torres says it took the Montreal MMA guru just 15 minutes to figure him out.

"He said 'You've got a great aggressive style, you have a war mentality. But you put yourself in a lot of risk,"' Torres said prior to his last bout. "'Your last couple of fights that you lost, you looked like a person who was worrying about everything and everybody but himself.'

"And that's pretty much how it is when I'm training at home. I'm worried about so many things and taking care of so many people that I forget about myself sometimes. My biggest weakness is the fact I try to take care of too many people."

Veteran fighter Kenny Florian has called Zahabi "the smartest coach in mixed martial arts."

The 31-year-old Zahabi is a philosopher-coach who has helped welterweight champion Georges St-Pierre and four other fighters prepare for UFC 129 Saturday night at Toronto.

A CFL team would look enviously at the size of coaching staff that nurtures an elite fighter like GSP. And Zahabi, a former sparring partner and close friend of the 170-pound champion, is a key part of the St-Pierre puzzle.

In conversation with Zahabi, it doesn't take long to see the former philosophy major at Concordia University is anything but a corner man with a bucket.

He is constantly looking for an edge. On the half-hour drive to and then from the Tristar Gym in Montreal, he listens to audio books.

"That's how I get my material," he said.

Recent 'reads' include "A Short History of Nearly Everything" by Bill Bryson, "The 33 Strategies of War" by Robert Greene, and Plato's "Symposium."

Then after spending time with his wife and putting their two boys ( 2 1/2 and six months) to bed, Zahabi breaks down fight film.

"He's a very methodical guy," says St-Pierre. "He's always been a good teacher. And in the gym, he was my best sparring partner as well.

"But he's a very educated guy ... he likes to teach and likes to show."

Why and how are key words for Zahabi, who smiles when people bring up his choice of university studies.

"Philosophy's the root of all thinking. It's epistemology, learning how you know things. And I always thought it the fundamental building block of any science.

"And I use philosophy every day. My training is always predicated on why. I cross-examine what type of reasoning is used to get to this conclusion. I think it's the key to success -- proper, rational training methods. We do a lot of different, radical things that a lot of people don't do."

Zahabi is a former Canadian Muay Thai champion who also has a background in jiu-jitsu and boxing. He moved into coaching after his trainer quit and he was asked to take over temporarily.

"It turned out to be permanent," he said.

He had been planning to go to law school -- and says he still may return to his studies "when all this is done."

"I just really enjoy learning. I think it's a fascinating experience."

Zahabi started boxing at 15 and says he didn't get serious about martial arts until he was 19. He was introduced to Muay Thai at 21.

"I started fairly late but you have to remember I do this all day long. My job is eight hours a day of training with different trainers, all day long every day and with great fighters."

He was 26 when he made the move from competitor to trainer. But he remains a work in progress, earning his black belt in Brazilian jiu-jitsu several months ago.

"The thing about Firas that makes his such a good coach is because he's always evolving himself. . . . He's not only a great coach, he's a great fighter. I always believed he would have been a great a fighter if he chose that route but he chose the coaching route," says lightweight John (The Bull) Makdessi, a Zahabi student who fights Kyle Watson on Saturday's undercard at the Rogers Centre.

Zahabi's UFC 129 classroom in recent weeks has included St-Pierre, welterweight Rory (The Water Boy) MacDonald, featherweight Yves (Tiger) Jabouin, bantamweight Ivan Menjivar and Makdessi.

"Luckily for me I have a lot of good coaches ... because I can't be everywhere at once, that's the reality of it," said Zahabi, during a promotion stop Tuesday for Gatorade.

"But the good thing is that when you have five guys competing on one card, the energy level and the competitiveness in the gym is greater than you've ever seen.

"You spar differently when you have a fight than when you're just helping someone out. So the intensity's been extremely high. ... I couldn't ask for me. There's a lot of sacrifice on their part."

Zahabi feels the weight of all their hopes.

"I'd be lying if I said no. It's stressful, because I feel responsible for my fighters and I feel responsible for their preparation, so I really like to seem the succeed. I care for them.

"You spend a lot of time with somebody, you want to see them succeed."

Zahabi is quick to list off his fellow coaches -- Peter Sisomphou, Eric O'Keefe, Gia Sissaouri, Bruno Fernandes, John Danaher, Phil Nurse, Greg Jackson and others he has worked with.

"We have a lot of great mentors that come to the gym," said Zahabi.

That braintrust has drawn fighters from all over to Tristar, with Florian and Torres just two of the big-name visitors drawn to Montreal.

With success comes celebrity. So far Zahabi has no objections.

"Life's changed a bit. I go to restaurants and get noticed. It wouldn't happen before. I get people waving at me. It's fun, I like meeting new people. It's definitely a bonus and it's a plus.

"But at the end of the day. I just really try to focus on the training and the fighting and the competitors."