Georges St-Pierre Will Retire If He Loses At UFC 217
Georges St-Pierre Will Retire If He Loses At UFC 217
Former UFC welterweight king Georges St-Pierre details what drove him from the sport in 2013.
Georges St-Pierre is the best welterweight to ever compete in mixed martial arts.
This is a fact he proved time and time again inside the Octagon, as his resume is lined with victories over top contenders and challengers. St-Pierre consistently fought the best his division had to offer, and it was that constant pressure that led to him walking away from the sport he helped build in 2013.
Immediately following a controversial win over Johny Hendricks at UFC 167, St-Pierre started what would be a four-year hiatus from MMA. In a recent interview with NY Post, the Canadian superstar addressed the matters regarding his return to the cage against Michael Bisping at UFC 217 on Nov. 4 in New York City.
"When you're champion, you feel you're the center of the world," St-Pierre said. "Even though you're not, it's an illusion, because of the pressure, and it's a pressure that is different than other sport because it's a surviving pressure. Your life is threatened in the real, real deepest way… You can die.
"When I was fighting at welterweight, every time I finish a fight it was a guy, and another guy. The division was the most stuck. It was crazy, I had killers one after the other boom, boom, boom, and I couldn't breathe.
"It's a different set of rules now. I was fighting against a whole system back in the day. I was very outspoken about the drug problem that we had. People made fun of me, 'Ahhh, he's a paranoid guy. He says that as a way to go and retire.' But look what happened now… a lot of the UFC champions have fall[en] to the performance-enhancing drugs, getting caught."
While St-Pierre is jumping up into a heavier weight class and facing a much larger opponent than he's ever faced before, he still expects the same dominance. And if he's wrong and comes out on the losing end of the tilt, he'll go back to where he's spent the past four years.
"If I ever lose, I'm retired. It's finished for me," he said. "I'm one fight away from retirement. I don't plan on losing, but if I do, it's finished."
This is a fact he proved time and time again inside the Octagon, as his resume is lined with victories over top contenders and challengers. St-Pierre consistently fought the best his division had to offer, and it was that constant pressure that led to him walking away from the sport he helped build in 2013.
Immediately following a controversial win over Johny Hendricks at UFC 167, St-Pierre started what would be a four-year hiatus from MMA. In a recent interview with NY Post, the Canadian superstar addressed the matters regarding his return to the cage against Michael Bisping at UFC 217 on Nov. 4 in New York City.
"When you're champion, you feel you're the center of the world," St-Pierre said. "Even though you're not, it's an illusion, because of the pressure, and it's a pressure that is different than other sport because it's a surviving pressure. Your life is threatened in the real, real deepest way… You can die.
"When I was fighting at welterweight, every time I finish a fight it was a guy, and another guy. The division was the most stuck. It was crazy, I had killers one after the other boom, boom, boom, and I couldn't breathe.
"It's a different set of rules now. I was fighting against a whole system back in the day. I was very outspoken about the drug problem that we had. People made fun of me, 'Ahhh, he's a paranoid guy. He says that as a way to go and retire.' But look what happened now… a lot of the UFC champions have fall[en] to the performance-enhancing drugs, getting caught."
While St-Pierre is jumping up into a heavier weight class and facing a much larger opponent than he's ever faced before, he still expects the same dominance. And if he's wrong and comes out on the losing end of the tilt, he'll go back to where he's spent the past four years.
"If I ever lose, I'm retired. It's finished for me," he said. "I'm one fight away from retirement. I don't plan on losing, but if I do, it's finished."