After getting cleared by his doctors following ACL surgery back in April, Georges St-Pierre returned to training at Tristar Gym in Montreal this week. Though the former welterweight champion doesn’t have an official timetable for a return to mixed martial arts, getting back in the gym is a good start.
Tristar head coach Firas Zahabi tweeted on Monday that GSP resumed training and “looked awesome.”
After narrowly defeating Johny Hendricks at UFC 167 in November of last year, St-Pierre mentioned the desire to take time away from mixed martial arts for personal reasons. A few weeks later, St-Pierre relinquished the welterweight title and went on an indefinite hiatus from the UFC.
Shortly thereafter, St-Pierre tore his ACL and has been sidelined for six months following surgery. UFC President Dana White and CEO Lorenzo Fertitta met with St-Pierre last week but didn’t come to an agreement for St-Pierre to return imminently.
St-Pierre getting back into the gym matches up with statements made by White to UFC.com last week that his knee had been cleared by his doctor:
“His knee just got cleared and he’ll start training again and getting back into shape. He’ll let us know when he’s ready.”
GSP told BloodyElbow.com recently he won’t return to MMA unless he and his opponent are thoroughly tested for performance-enhancing drugs, and has mentioned the problem with PEDs in mixed martial arts as a partial reason for his departure. He’s been out of the cage for nearly a year and hasn’t been training for half of that time due to the injury.
St-Pierre hasn’t waivered in his decision to leave the sport of mixed martial arts and hasn’t made any serious mentions that he plans on returning any time soon. But getting back into training is a good sign.
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