It’s been almost three years since we’ve seen all-time great former welterweight champ Georges St. Pierre step into the Octagon.
The legendary record-holder left the grueling grind of MMA behind after a highly controversial split decision win over Johny Hendricks at UFC 167, vacating the belt due to personal reasons. He’s done little more than merely tease his potential return in the time since, but recently there have been noteworthy signs he would finally lace up the four ounce gloves yet again.
Citing a need to get his Under Armor sponsorship deal in accord with the UFC’s own apparel agreement with Reebok, St. Pierre told Ariel Helwani that a return was all but imminent on a recent episode of “The MMA Hour.” There are also the concerns over the promotion’s uncertain future under new ownership group WME-IMG, who purchased the UFC for $4 billion only days after the supposed blockbuster UFC 200.
A third aspect of St. Pierre’s return, the overarching use of performance-enhancing drugs in fighting, was also at the forefront of his semi-retirement and whether it would become official or not. In the last year, the UFC has implemented new and stringent drug-testing in conjunction with the United States Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) that is catching fighters using banned substances of many kinds at an alarming pace.
So it seems the champ is slowly but surely overcoming the obstacles to his official return. A clear example of that is the fact that GSP revealed that he has kickstarted his return by beginning the process of entering into the USADA testing pool in an interview with Bloody Elbow:
“I want to. My agent is negotiating with the UFC, they had an offer, we made a counteroffer, you know that’s how business goes. And then we heard a day after that UFC sold for $4 billion dollars. So we waited for a few days, to see what was going on, because even some of the employees were afraid of losing their job – even some of the high ranking people in the UFC were afraid. We wanted to let the management to take care of their own company first, and then see what happens.
“Now we’re talking again and I’m starting the USADA process to be tested, I’m starting it Aug 10. in Las Vegas. Because to be eligible to fight you need to be tested.”
GSP was questioned about the controversial exemption Brock Lesnar was given when he returned to the UFC to face Mark Hunt in the co-main event of UFC 200, where he ultimately won but failed two drug tests (both in and out-of competition) for the estrogen blocker clomiphene. Because of his strong anti-PED stance, St. Pierre said he didn’t want to cut any corners as Lesnar did:
“Yeah exactly, but he had a free pass, I think it was an exemption of a month or something like that. But me, I don’t want to be an exception, because I was very outspoken about Performance Enhancing Drugs. It would be bad for my reputation if I would have an exemption – I don’t want to have a free pass, I want to be like everybody else. That’s why I’ll be starting the process Aug 10. I don’t have any fight yet, but it’s gonna happen now, because I’m getting tested, if I’m getting tested it’s for a reason.”
Several high-profile fights have been teased for GSP, from a middleweight title bout with Michael Bisping to a welterweight title fight with Tyron Woodley. Nothing is official as of yet, and while St. Pierre stated he does want to return, he also had to focus on the much-discussed topic of fighter treatment and pay in the UFC from the top down:
“Yeah. I would like to say, they need to make sure they take care and negotiate the problems. You know, I have a very good agent with me. The fighters, they complain they’re not getting paid a lot, they get exploited sometimes; The UFC runs a business, but it’s also the fault of a lot of the fighters – they accept any fight, they will sign anything. They have to look at their career as a business as well. They have to hire some confident people to do that job.
“I’m an athlete, my job is not negotiating, it’s not my field of expertise. I’m an emotional guy – it’s normal, a lot of athletes are, and we’re very susceptible to get our ego cut because of that. Dana White came out very often in public saying I’m this and that; I’m sure it’s also to play with my ego, to make me, for example, come out of retirement and say ‘Oh ok, I’ll fight for peanuts.’ No, I’m not like that. I know the game.
“That’s how it is, and I will never blame a fighter if he doesn’t fight me because he takes care of his own interest first, and prioritize the interests of his family first, that’s completely normal.”
Some strong words and opinion from the former champ, who seems to want a MMA return while simultaneously wanting to be a voice for fighters he feels have been treated poorly for all too long.
He could be just the voice they’re looking for.
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