Georges St-Pierre raises his hands to the crowd before stepping into the octagon.
Georges St-Pierre has no interest in returning to face Kamaru Usman
Following Kamaru Usman’s impressive win over Gilbert Burns at UFC 258, the conversation of who is the greatest welterweight of all time began to swirl. Usman now holds the UFC record for most wins in a row by a welterweight, a record that previously was held by Georges St-Pierre. Naturally, these two men being the best the division has ever seen have started talk of who would win between the two. Following his win, Usman expressed interest in a potential matchup with the now-retired St-Pierre.
“I don’t come in and say ‘Oh, I want a big fight. I want this, I want that,’” Usman said post-fight. “Of course, I would like Georges, but I don’t want Georges because of money or anything like that. Like I said, I’m a competitor. I want Georges because Georges left on top. Georges can still do it. I see him training.”
Now that the challenge is out there, it was St-Pierre who has refusal rights. He was a guest on The Good Show and explained why this matchup will not happen.
“To go back and give three months of my life in a training camp to get a win over Kamaru Usman doesn’t get me motivated. I don’t think there’s anything that would get me motivated to go back to competition now,” St-Pierre said. “Try to put yourself in my shoes and try to come back. First, if I come back to fight Kamaru Usman, I would literally have to leave the country. I would have to bring my coaches somewhere, find a base camp, fly in training partners to get ready for Usman. But leaving my home, I don’t want to do it. I’m healthy, I’m wealthy. It’s not appealing to me to lose three months of my life, the stress, to try and get a win over Usman. As time passed by, it’s getting less and less appealing. And I don’t think there’s anybody now that would make me come back. I’m good. I will always train and be in shape.”
St-Pierre’s name has been popping up quite a bit lately, with a potential matchup with Khabib Nurmagomedov being the more likely fight. Even the talks of a GSP vs. Nurmagomeodov fight doesn’t seem to be gaining any ground either. It seems Georges St-Pierre will remain in retirement for now.
