2 weeks Ago By Kyle Dimond, Bloody Elbow
One of the greatest of all time isn’t closing the door on a return to competition. What Georges St-Pierre accomplished in his career is nothing short of remarkable with his achievements standing the test of time long after he hung up the gloves. His welterweight title reign, where St-Pierre lost and regained the belt following a shock upset , is the stuff of legend having recorded nine consecutive defenses from 2008 to 2013.
‘Rush’ even returned to the Octagon in 2017 after a four-year hiatus where he won the middleweight belt at UFC 217 though Michael Bisping would eventually get some revenge of his own over St-Pierre . Health issues and injuries have kept the 43-year-old away from one final outing but that doesn’t mean that he is drawing a line under this for good. Georges St-Pierre says he’s happy to compete in grappling if it’s a fun matchup for a good cause In December of 2023, Georges St-Pierre was preparing for a return to competition that would have seen him lock horns with one of his greatest rivals one more time.
The former welterweight and middleweight champion announced during International Fight Week ahead of UFC 290 that he’d be competing at the UFC Fight Pass Invitational on December 14th with Nick Diaz later being named as his planned opponent. Unfortunately, injuries to both Diaz and St-Pierre prevented the grappling match from taking place with the Quebec native requiring shoulder surgery. Throughout 2024, it became clear that the matchup wasn’t going to be rescheduled but in a recent exclusive interview with Bloody Elbow, ‘Rush’ stated that something along these lines could bring him back out of retirement.
St-Pierre said that whilst his days of stepping inside the Octagon are firmly behind him, he’d be more than happy to compete in grappling under the right circumstances. “I’m trying to get back 100%. If it’s for a good cause, I mean I would never fight again in mixed martial arts, trying to prove I’m the strongest man, this is over.
But, if it’s for an event like a special event, maybe a charity involved, for the fans something fun like grappling, the risk of injury are minimized. I still like to compete but for different reasons. Maybe not, I don’t close the door on that.
” Georges St-Pierre has overcome the health issues that forced him back into retirement in 2017 After returning to the Octagon at UFC 217 where he submitted Michael Bisping to win the middleweight title, Georges St-Pierre vacated the belt just over a month later. His official retirement came in 2019 with the former champion later going into more detail about why his comeback was cut extremely short. St-Pierre developed ulcerative colitis after forcing his body to put on weight for his middleweight return which forced him to take some time away to try and heal his body.
When speaking to Bloody Elbow, he gave a promising update about his health now that 2017 is far behind in the rear-view mirror. “After my diagnostic, I was on heavy medication and everything with the stress, I decided to retire and now I feel better than ever. I found with fasting, I found ways that I no longer have any symptoms and I’m healthy.
” This article first appeared on Bloody Elbow and was syndicated with permission..
