When former UFC champion Georges St-Pierre officially retired earlier this week, it closed the window on a potential clash between “Rush” and current UFC welterweight champion Tyron Woodley.
While GSP’s resume, which includes wins over Matt Hughes, B.J. Penn, Nick Diaz, Carlos Condit, and Jake Shields, has cemented his legacy as one of the top three best fighters of all time, the Canadian superstar never crossed paths with “Chosen One” inside of the Octagon. It’s a bit of a let down considering Woodley has now racked off three-straight title defenses and is quickly becoming one of the most dominant welterweight champions in UFC history.
According to Woodley, UFC tried to book a fight with St-Pierre on multiple occasions, but GSP never seemed to be on board.
“I came to the UFC about potentially fighting Georges, and then they went to Georges about a fight, and Georges would say ‘no, I want to fight somebody that makes sense for my career, that’s going to boost me.’ A.K.A., he felt that if he we fought it was only a win-win situation for me,” Woodley told TMZ (shown above). “He had a stronger name, stronger brand. I would gain strong pay-per-view points from the fight. If he wins, he was supposed to win. If I win, now my career is boosted. That was his reasoning many, many times. It wasn’t once. It was lots of times. Five or six times, this fight was brought to him, to take on a fight against me, and he wasn’t into it.”
Woodley, who last lost to St-Pierre’s prodigy Rory MacDonald back in 2014, began his UFC career in 2013. At the same time, St-Pierre was wrapping up title defenses over Diaz and Johnny Hendricks en route to walking away from the sport for four years.
After GSP’s departure, Woodley and UFC were unable to coax the Canadian into a return against “Chosen One.” Woodley thinks he knows why.
“At the time I had to make it ‘you’re a b***h, you’re scared to fight me, but in real life, if I was him, does he have to fight me? He really doesn’t have to fight me,” Woodley said. “He already fought the powerful wrestlers that can now strike, like Johny Hendricks. He’s already fought Josh Koscheck, he already fought everybody like that.
“He’s not going to beat me, just because I’m a better version of him,” he added. “I’m more powerful than him, I’m stronger, it’d be nearly impossible for him to take me down. I’m going to be able to go five rounds. Carlos Condit couldn’t withstand him, Jon Fitch couldn’t withstand him, but I’ve got the tools that they didn’t have. I’ve got the wrestling that Carlos didn’t have, I’ve got the power that Jon Fitch didn’t have.”
Woodley vs. GSP would have been one hell of a matchup, but I guess we’ll have to add it to the list of missed opportunities involving St-Pierre.