Earlier this year, Georges St-Pierre officially retired. Since then, fans and media have constantly speculated on whether this retirement was real or whether St-Pierre would eventually feel the urge to compete once again and return. After all, St-Pierre walked away from the sport in 2013 only to come out of his pseudo-retirement four years later and claim the middleweight title. But St-Pierre has been adamant that this retirement is for real, even stating last month that “competition is a chapter of my life that is over” when talking about potentially coming back to face lightweight champion Khabib Nurmagomedov.
Well, that might not be entirely true.
Speaking recently with Robin Black on DAZN, St-Pierre once again doubled down on his retirement but did say that a return was not impossible, though he felt it wouldn’t happen since the UFC has made it clear on the Khabib fight.
“I am retired,” St-Pierre said. “I retired because I didn’t want to go back and do the same thing over and over again. Taking a fight takes a lot out of me because I’m very proud so when I perform I have to do it the best I can and the result matters very much for me. So it takes a lot of stress on me. I didn’t want to take another training camp of two-three months - maybe six months with the whole building up with the promotion and everything - out of my life to fight another guy that I don’t have nothing to gain in terms of legacy. If I fight someone and I take six months of my life to focus on it . . . I would need that to be worth it to me. Not only money-wise but legacy wise and satisfaction wise. That’s why I wanted to fight Khabib because I could have lost big but at least I could have win big.
“If I ever come back, it’s not impossible but right now I don’t see nothing. The UFC refuse a fight with Khabib and I and there’s nothing that really excites me.”
St-Pierre and Nurmagomedov have been angling to fight each other for awhile now but the UFC has had no interest in booking the superfight. When they finally made it clear to St-Pierre that it was not going to happen, St-Pierre officially retired from the sport. That hasn’t stopped fans and both fighters from speculating about the fight though, which begs the question: why is the UFC so adamant that fight not get made if everyone, including the fighters, wants it to happen? Well, St-Pierre has a theory.
Well, that might not be entirely true.
Speaking recently with Robin Black on DAZN, St-Pierre once again doubled down on his retirement but did say that a return was not impossible, though he felt it wouldn’t happen since the UFC has made it clear on the Khabib fight.
“I am retired,” St-Pierre said. “I retired because I didn’t want to go back and do the same thing over and over again. Taking a fight takes a lot out of me because I’m very proud so when I perform I have to do it the best I can and the result matters very much for me. So it takes a lot of stress on me. I didn’t want to take another training camp of two-three months - maybe six months with the whole building up with the promotion and everything - out of my life to fight another guy that I don’t have nothing to gain in terms of legacy. If I fight someone and I take six months of my life to focus on it . . . I would need that to be worth it to me. Not only money-wise but legacy wise and satisfaction wise. That’s why I wanted to fight Khabib because I could have lost big but at least I could have win big.
“If I ever come back, it’s not impossible but right now I don’t see nothing. The UFC refuse a fight with Khabib and I and there’s nothing that really excites me.”
St-Pierre and Nurmagomedov have been angling to fight each other for awhile now but the UFC has had no interest in booking the superfight. When they finally made it clear to St-Pierre that it was not going to happen, St-Pierre officially retired from the sport. That hasn’t stopped fans and both fighters from speculating about the fight though, which begs the question: why is the UFC so adamant that fight not get made if everyone, including the fighters, wants it to happen? Well, St-Pierre has a theory.