As usual, Georges St-Pierre’s timing is impeccable.
With the UFC slumping out of the starting gate in 2017 and bankable stars like Conor McGregor, Ronda Rousey and Jon Jones all MIA for one reason or another, the fight company badly needed some big-name help to prop up its flagging live event schedule.
Friday’s news that St-Pierre has officially ended his three-year hiatus and will return to the Octagon should make folks breathe a little easier around the UFC’s Las Vegas headquarters.
It also immediately once again made the 35-year-old GSP the most interesting man in MMA.
Confirmation that St-Pierre had re-signed with the UFC came from Lance Pugmire of the Los Angeles Times on Friday afternoon, following reports earlier in the week from MMA Fighting’s Ariel Helwani that the two sides were getting close to a new deal.
UFC President Dana White told Pugmire there will be no shortage of options on the table when the former longtime welterweight champion next steps in the cage.
“It could be the winner between Tyron Woodley and Stephen ‘Wonderboy’ Thompson [at UFC 209] or it could be Michael Bisping,” White said. “Georges has also talked about fighting at 155 pounds. He says he can make the weight. But I have no idea when he’s going to fight right now. We don’t have anything booked and literally haven’t talked to anybody about it.”
Responses to St-Pierre’s return from fans and analysts will no doubt run the full emotional gamut.
On one hand, it’s exhilarating that one of the sport’s best fighters is reentering the fray just when MMA seemed headed for a downturn.
For years, St-Pierre has been neck-and-neck with guys like Anderson Silva and Jon Jones in the race to be considered the greatest of all time. If he returns to the cage and wins another UFC title, there would be very little argument against proclaiming him the undisputed GOAT.
On the other hand, in a sport known to exact a terrible physical toll, there is bound to be a fair amount of concern for the well-liked GSP.
When he departed the sport near the end of 2013, it was immediately in the wake of a hard-fought unanimous decision victory over Johny Hendricks at UFC 167. That fight left him bruised and battered, and he received an undeserved tongue-lashing from White at the press conference after announcing his plans to step away from the cage.
St-Pierre had long said fighting brought out his personal “dark side” and often spoke openly about the pressures of being UFC champion. For him to return now after what seemed to be a clean break from the sport is certainly going to cause some raised eyebrows and crossed fingers.
“You were out,” lamented MMA Fighting’s Chuck Mindenhall in a Friday column. “If B.J. Penn’s comeback bout with Yair Rodriguez reminded us of anything, it’s that there’s only different shades of humiliation to be found at the finish line in the fight game. Why come back to such a cruel environment, where so many bruisers are mashing their fists, hoping to take home your faculties like so many souvenirs?”
Considering St-Pierre’s advanced age and injury history, Bleacher Report’s Jonathan Snowden also pointed out perhaps we shouldn’t raise our hopes unfairly high here:
One thing is certain, however. For the UFC to get a drawing card as powerful as GSP back, just when it seemed to be headed for a rocky year on pay-per-view, could be a lifesaver. With Rousey potentially gone for good, McGregor seemingly more interested in boxing Floyd Mayweather than fighting again in the Octagon and Jones suspended until July, it needed this.
Expect nothing but the biggest money matchups for St-Pierre moving forward.
A 185-pound superfight against Silva has been bandied about for years and might make more sense now than ever before. The 41-year-old Silva is rarely mentioned these days as a legitimate title threat in the middleweight division he once ruled, and he just scraped by with a controversial decision victory over Derek Brunson at UFC 208.
Meanwhile, St-Pierre may well feel the need for a tune-up fight to knock off the rust of his recent inactivity before jumping into the thick of contemporary UFC competition. It’s possible a meeting with Silva might be the most logical first step.
If not that—or after it—perhaps the most intriguing and fresh idea surrounding GSP’s return is the notion of a lightweight title bout against McGregor.
St-Pierre has never made that division’s 155-pound weight limit but has long insisted he could do it. If he can, a matchup between the UFC’s previous PPV king and its new one could well set numerous financial records for the organization.
Would a lucrative matchup with St-Pierre be enough to convince McGregor to abandon his posturing about taking on Mayweather in a boxing match and sign on the dotted line? We have no way of knowing yet.
Aside from Silva and McGregor, a middleweight title fight against Bisping or a welterweight championship bout against the winner of Woodley vs. Thompson both make immediate sense for GSP.
He’s Georges St-Pierre, after all.
He’s earned the right to do just about anything he wants inside the Octagon.
Now, it just remains to be seen if this comeback helps bolster his case for GOAT-status or ultimately tarnishes his hard-won legacy.
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