Georges St-Pierre has announced his retirement from mixed martial arts. A tribute to St-Pierre is even planned Friday night, before the match between the Canadian Philadelphia Flyers at the Bell Center.
Sources close to the case said that negotiations with the UFC for a mega-fight against the Russian Khabib Nurmagomedov, aborted, which would have pushed the Quebecer to hang his gloves.
St-Pierre on the other handd, he wanted to fight this last fight to cement his legacy against one of the best pound-to-pound fighters in the world today.
Having learned about GSP’s decision, Nurmagomedov once again challenged St-Piere to face him in November.
In his instagram publication, Nurmagomedov stresses that it would be an honor for him to share the octagon with one of the greatest fighters of all time. The lightweight champion leaves the choice to St-Pierre to fight at 155 or 160 pounds.
During his 15-year career, St-Pierre was a two-time UFC welterweight champion. He notably defended his belt nine times between 2007 and 2013.
After a four-year hiatus, he returned to the competition in November 2017 and grabbed the middleweight belt by beating Michael Bisping. At that point, he became only the fourth UFC fighter to win a belt in two different weight divisions.
St-Pierre made his mixed martial arts debut in 2002. He began his career with a 5-0 record before signing a contract with the UFC in 2003.
Georges St-Pierre chokes out Michael Bisping to win title in 2017 comeback. (Source:www.dailyexpress.co.uk)
He won the welterweight title at UFC 65, in 2006, when he defeated Matt Hughes. He lost the title in his next fight, at UFC 69, when he was surprised by Matt Serra. This fight is considered one of the biggest surprises in the history of the AMM. GSP, however, avenged this gain at UFC 83, in the first gala in the history of the organization in Montreal.
St-Pierre took a break from the competition in November 2013 following his split decision victory over Johny Hendricks. This was his ninth straight defense.
