UFC Reaching Out To GSP Again Following MMAAA Revelation
Georges St. Pierre is looking to return to competition again after retiring from MMA over three years ago and according to the former UFC Welterweight Champion, a little while after being announced as a part of the Mixed Martial Arts Athletes Association, UFC contacted him through his agent to try and reach a new deal.
"No, no it doesn't mean I'm done with the UFC. Like other members, like Cain Velasquez, Tim Kennedy, Cowboy Cerrone, they're all seasoned fighters. Doesn't mean I'm done. Actually, the night that we launched the association we received a letter, Rodolphe [Beaulieu] received a letter – my agent – from the UFC lawyer saying that they want to renew the negotiation with me because at the point where I was before the negotiation, the communication was cut. So we didn't have any kind of communication,” GSP said to TSN.
Daniel Cormier, the current UFC Light Heavyweight Champion, had to pull out of UFC 206 due to injury. GSP has been training for a return to MMA, but says he was never ready to step in on short notice to compete on the card.
"The thing is, I was training until a very recent point. I was fighting, I was training to get ready for a fight in Toronto. I really thought it would have worked out and in case someone got hurt, they would have maybe called me or I thought maybe they would have called me at the last minute, just to take me off guard. I didn't know. But one or two weeks ago I pulled the plug, I knew it was not happening. I was hoping earlier to get on the card for Toronto but it's not happening and now I guess they'll keep talking and we'll see if they can come to an agreement. Same story as before but now I have more options. I'm [a] free agent. I don't have to be in the UFC. I could go somewhere else,” said GSP.
GSP will not be returning to the UFC in any capacity unless he gets his “fair share,” because he thinks he would be quite the hypocrite if he returned for anything less.
"Who or what kind of person would I be if I'm taking a fight under conditions that are not equitable and I'm fighting for the other person that is trying to make their condition of work better. So if I do something, it's smart to do it for myself first and then I try to do it for the other person. That's my mentality. The truth is, I've met a lot of guys that when they finish their career they're broken physically, mentally, financially and they have a family to feed and they have no insurance to care [for them]. This is unacceptable and that's what we're fighting for. I'm an exception because I'm very lucky. Even though I didn't really have my fair share I ended up healthy and wealthy which is very rare in this business. Trust me, it is very rare. And I'm very happy, I feel very blessed to be in this situation and be able to fight for these guys that don't have the same condition,” said GSP.
St. Pierre hasn’t competed since he successfully defended the UFC Welterweight Championship against Johny Hendricks at UFC 167 in November 2013, the belt has changed three times in the three years he has been retired.
