Coach: While He Hasn’t Made Up His Mind, I Think GSP Will Return to the UFC

Former longtime UFC welterweight champion Georges St-Pierre has enjoyed a nearly yearlong hiatus from the Octagon, so fight fans are beginning to ponder whether or not the French Canadian superstar will ever be back. 
During an appearance on Ariel…

Former longtime UFC welterweight champion Georges St-Pierre has enjoyed a nearly yearlong hiatus from the Octagon, so fight fans are beginning to ponder whether or not the French Canadian superstar will ever be back. 

During an appearance on Ariel Helwani‘s The MMA Hour, his good friend/Tristar Gym head coach Firas Zahabi said “Rush” will be back eventually—just know that sentiment isn’t coming from St-Pierre himself (h/t Shaun Al-Shatti of MMA Fighting).

He has no plans right now. We’re supposed to start some martial arts training by the end of this month, and we’re going to take it from there, step-by-step. Everybody wants to know what his decision is going to be. The guy hasn’t rolled on the mat yet. I mean, how can he know? … I think it’s [MMA] carved out a part of his psyche, I think he’s done it since he was so young, I think it’s who he is. It protected him in the school yard, it created him living. I don’t think he could successfully separate himself from MMA.

After 12 consecutive victories, which included nine successful title defenses, GSP vacated his UFC championship back in December—one month removed from a razor-thin split-decision victory over Johny Hendricks at UFC 167. 

St-Pierre has since stated that he has no interest in returning to the Octagon unless the UFC implements stricter drug testing policies, per Bloody Elbow.  

Despite that fact, reports surfaced last week that St-Pierre had begun training for his return, but that news later appeared to be unfounded, per Helwani.

Making his professional mixed martial arts debut back in January 2002, the 33-year-old boasts an impressive 25-2 record, avenging both his career losses to Matt Hughes (twice) and Matt Serra.

Will GSP decide 2015 is his year to reclaim UFC gold, or will he decide he’s proved everything he has to as a fighter and enjoy his retirement?

 

John Heinis is a featured columnist for Bleacher Report. He is also the MMA editor for eDraft.com.

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