George St-Pierre (GSP) considered by hardcore MMA fans to be the Greatest Of All Time (GOAT) has retired from the sport after holding a press conference in his home-town of Montreal to make it official.
While there will always be a debate as to who is the GOAT of MMA, there will be no debate that GSP was the GOAT of the welterweight division in the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) and his contributions to the sport of MMA will always be remembered.
GSP who has a 26-2 record decided to call it a day back in 2013 after winning a fight against Johny Hendricks. The Montreal native who is the greatest MMA fighter in Canada decided he did not want to suffer more damage in the post and stayed retired for four years. He surprised a lot of people by coming back to the UFC to fight for the UFC Middleweight title in 2017.
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He went on to defeat Michael Bisping at the iconic Madison Square Garden and became a two division champion. However, he relinquished the belt and made it clear that he wasn’t interested in defending his championship. GSP wanted to pick and choose his opponents as he was interested in building his legacy – something that UFC President Dana White wasn’t very happy about.
GSP was willing to fight again in the UFC but he wanted to fight the UFC lightweight champion Khabib Nurmagomedov in the 155 pound division.
The Russian superstar who considered GSP one of his heroes was very willing to fight him. Nurmagomedov has a 27-0 record and both fighters are interested in cementing their legacy but the Dana White wasn’t having any of it.
In a statement, GSP said
We tried to organize the fight with Khabib Nurmagomedov. I know Khabib wanted it and I wanted it. But the UFC had other plans. The way business works, I believe if they promote someone they want to keep him there, to have a guarantee the guy is there. It’s like an investment. I don’t have the same motivation I used to have.
GSP has also asked fighters in the UFC not to call him out as he is now officially retired. However, he did leave the door open and said that if Dana White called him with an interesting fight – he would consider getting back in the Octagon one more time!
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