G. St-Pierre had the last fight of his career at UFC2 217. Photo: Reproduction/Instagram @georgesstpierre
Since 2013, the legendary Georges St Pierre made it clear that he would only return to MMA to perform fights that would, in fact, motivate him to face a rigorous period of training. This fact is confirmed when analyzing the Canadian's return in combat against Michael Bisping, in 2017, when he received the opportunity to fight for the middleweight title. For Firas Zahabi, the fighter's trainer, history could repeat itself and his pupil could return to acting if he is offered a big battle. In an interview with interviewer Joe Rogan, the coach spoke about the subject.
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“My opinion, and I didn't talk about this with him, is that what motivates him is a super fight. He doesn't want to be champion again and fight every three or four months. This is over, it won't happen again. But, invite him to a super fight and see what could happen”, declared Firas.
Although he has been away from fighting for more than two years, the coach, however, admitted that Georges remains in constant training. St. Pierre has even publicly admitted that he is passionate about the profession and that he cannot stay away from academia.
“He’s a competitor, he keeps training. He could fight five rounds. Of course he couldn't fight five rounds now, but give him a few weeks and he could fight five rounds. (Georges) is in a physical condition very close to a fight. He is a monster, a 38 year old young man. I could tell you he looks 20 years old,” Zahabi said.
A few months ago, some rumors about the Canadian's return to the UFC began to emerge after Khabib Nurmagomedov, current lightweight champion (up to 70,3kg), admits his desire to face St. Pierre in a fight. Dana White, president of Ultimate, was in favor of the idea and revealed that he intends to enter into negotiations with the former welterweight (up to 77kg) and middleweight (up to 93,9kg) champion to fulfill the Russian's wish.
Recently, Ultimate signaled that Nurmagomedov could return to the octagon against Tony Ferguson, in a duel planned for April. The champion has already signed the contract for the fight and is awaiting his rival's response to make the fight official, which is one of the most anticipated in the current history of the UFC.
At 38 years old, Georges is considered, by many, the best athlete in the history of Ultimate. With just two defeats in 28 appearances, the Canadian has nine defenses of the welterweight title on his record.
In 2017, the fighter, by beating Bisping, joined the select group of fighters to hold two belts in different divisions in the company's history.
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