Georges St. Pierre News

Drake Riggs - March 5, 2018

“Ben Askren, I don’t understand why he’s not in the UFC. He’s one of the best in the world and I think it has to do with maybe a problem he has with Dana White, you know but he’s one of the best fighters in the world. If there is a guy that in my career, for my legacy that would have been good to fight, it’d be Ben Askren because he beat everybody. All the guys at Bellator, he beat all the champions outside the UFC but unfortunately, I think he has a fallout with Dana and he never had a chance to fight in the UFC and therefore is stuck. Never went to the value that he’s supposed to be at.

Justin Golightly - February 22, 2018

Ben Askren has made it no secret his retirement has one, big Canadian asterisk. He’s only coming back to fight Georges St-Pierre to finally prove to all the naysayers that, despite the fact that he never fought in the UFC, that he’s the very best welterweight in the entire world. But what if that fight can’t happen? What about a money fight with the likes of Nate Diaz or even Conor McGregor? Don’t get your hopes up. Askren essentially shrugs at the names and says he’s going to stay on course in campaigning for a fight with GSP. “Nate Diaz sucks. I mean, yeah. [Conor] McGregor is barely the best in the world. I mean, the guy beat up Nate Diaz barely a couple of times and Nate Diaz himself is a very mediocre UFC fighter. There is no way you can argue that sentiment because all you have to do is look at [Diaz’s] record. The record shows he’s a very middle-of-the-road UFC fighter, he’s a 500 guy. He wins half, he loses half. Sure, he’s had some good wins, but he’s also had some terrible losses.”

Justin Golightly - February 17, 2018

The year of the superfight is truly upon us. Whether they all go down or not, three giant fights between champions in different divisions are expected to fight each other. Whether this is the UFC’s big explosion like the death of a star, or their metamorphosis to survive in the future, it’s clear that things are changing. So, if we’re going to crack open the door to allow for epic fights like these, why not just kick it off the hinges? Let’s take down the political boundaries between organizations and have champions be able to fight other champions to really decide who are the top fighters on our humble spinning rock. Unfortunately, that’s impossible until some sort of MMA Ali Act is passed. However, there is no red tape on our imagination, so this is what we’ll explore in the very first edition of Fight Think. 5.  Bellator World Grand Prix winner vs. Stipe Miocic/Daniel Cormier winner (Bellator heavyweight champion vs UFC heavyweight champion)

Drake Riggs - February 12, 2018

As it stands right now, labeling the career of undefeated Bellator and ONE  welterweight champion, Ben Askren a “mystery” wouldn’t feel very outrageous. How so? Everyone who has ever seen Askren fight can see how very clearly talented he was and is. The mystery just remains, “exactly how good was he?” Askren capped off his eighteen fight career in November fighting for ONE Championships and never stepping foot into a UFC octagon. Despite making it clear he’s retired, Askren has still left the door open to a possibility. Proving he truly was the best regardless of whether he fought for the UFC or not. To do so, Askren believes he must face one of the greatest of all time across all weight classes, Georges St-Pierre. Askren made a bold prediction when speaking with MMAJunkie today:

Justin Golightly - February 7, 2018

The status of UFC great Georges St-Pierre is still up in the air after the grueling process of moving up to middleweight contributed to contacting ulcerative colitis. This weekend, Luke Rockhold and Yoel Romero will be fighting for the interim version of the undisputed title St-Pierre handed over to Robert Whittaker. We knew that if GSP came back, it’d probably be at his old welterweight home. …But that’s if he came back. That question may have been partly answered today from the leader of the Danaher Death Squad, John Danaher. He posted a statement after a training session between St-Pierre and former foe Jake Shields. “How would you do if you had to fight yourself? This is always an interesting hypothetical question — in the case of Georges St-Pierre and Jake Shields it is actually a practical question. I have never seen two athletes so closely matched in skill level, tactics, technique etc. in ground grappling. When they spar each other the only difference I see is their appearance and accent — other than that — identical. It’s great to see Mr. St-Pierre back in the gym despite his battle with ulcerative colitis.”

Tom Taylor - January 31, 2018

In the wake of last weekend’s UFC Charlotte card, the UFC has adjusted its official rankings. The biggest shakeup this time surrounds Former UFC middleweight and welterweight champion Georges St-Pierre’s ejection from the middleweight rankings. Given that St-Pierre is not expected to fight again for quite some time – if ever – his ejection from the middleweight rankings makes some sense. Contrary to this logic, however, Ronda Rousey, who is now a full-time pro wrestler for WWE, is still ranking at women’s bantamweight. Why? Who knows…

Justin Golightly - January 26, 2018

Georges St-Pierre came, he saw, he conquered. The welterweight legend came back after four years removed from competition in the UFC and didn’t skip a beat. He looked amazing as he fought middleweight champion Michael Bisping and submitted him, capturing a title in a higher weight division. Understandably, fans were surprised and devastated to find out he compromised his health for the accomplishment, would vacate the belt and take yet another break from the sport. All eyes are on St-Pierre to return this year, perhaps at welterweight, but his coach doesn’t think that’s going to happen. “I honestly don’t bother [Georges St-Pierre] about [the next fight], because I know everybody is always asking him about it 24 hurs a day. When I see him, I don’t talk about the next fight. We don’t talk about it. I know what he’s thinking, he knows what I’m thinking and that’s it. We just leave it at that. Personally, I think he’ll fight again.He doesn’t know, nobody knows, but I think he’s just so hyper-competitive that eventually he’s going to wake up one day and he’s going to be like, ‘I need something. I need a challenge.'”

Justin Golightly - January 19, 2018

UFC welterweight champion Tyron Woodley is sidelined waiting for his shoulder to heal, but he’s made no question that he wants Georges St-Pierre when he comes back. After vacating the middleweight title due to health issues from gaining weight, it seemed like it was a fight that made sense for St-Pierre. Meanwhile, former title challenger Stephen Thompson is coming off a win over Jorge Masvidal and is gunning for another fight with Woodley himself. Friends with St-Pierre, Thompson recently sat down and gave us some insight on the potential welterweight title fight told us why he believes it doesn’t happen. “Do I see [Tyron Woodley] fighting Georges [St-Pierre]? Hell no. Well, that’s the thing. [St-Pierre]’s a very good friend of mine. I really, I don’t want that to happen. He understands that that’s my goal is to get that belt, you know what I mean? If that does come down to it, I would actually put that in his arena if he would like to [fight me] or not because he would be the champion if he beats Tyron. I would put that in his arena and say, ‘Hey,’ — make UFC go to him and say — ‘Hey, does this fight seem right?’ or whatever. Cause before I fought Tyron, we talked. [St-Pierre]’s like, ‘Man, I’m coming back. I have no interest in fighting you,” stuff like that as a friend.”

Justin Golightly - January 12, 2018

While Tyron Woodley recuperates from his shoulder surgery, welterweight contenders are pacing back and forth itching at their shot to try and take his gold away from him. Rafael dos Anjos feels like he has earned it with his dominant performance against former champ Robbie Lawler, but Woodley already told him he has other plans. Colby Covington has had Woodley’s name in his mouth since his win over Demian Maia, but T-Wood thinks he doesn’t deserve it. What the UFC welterweight champion wants is to prove he is the best of all time. Something he can only do against Georges St-Pierre. “I’d say that’s my big prediction for 2018. Big prediction for me is I fight Georges St-Pierre on my first fight back. Georges, my shoulder is sore. I can’t even punch. Georges, I can’t even punch. I can’t punch.Georges, it’s hard to sleep. Georges, if you want to fight me brother, this is the time. If you want to get me Georges, it’s right now. He’s a G. He would exit the sport and nobody would give him that much stuff for losing to me.”

Justin Golightly - December 27, 2017

Heading into 2018, the middleweight division has been basically returned back to normal, but there is still a big mysterious cloud surrounding Georges St-Pierre. He came, he saw, he conquered, but now no one has any idea what his plans are. The only thing certain, is that he will not be coming back to middleweight after his diagnosis of ulcerative colitis. Fans aren’t the only ones unclear of what St-Pierre’s plans are, Dana White thinks it was a cash grab and he’s out for good. “There is no status [update on Georges St-Pierre]. I knew what he was doing. That’s why I put [a mandatory title defense] into his contract. We both knew what was going on. I don’t know, man. I don’t think the guy wants to fight. I think he jumped in, grabbed some cash and went back to Canada. He ain’t fighting Conor McGregor. If he wants to come back, [UFC welterweight champion] Tyron Woodley or [middleweight champion] Robert Whittaker is waiting for him. They’re both waiting, if Georges wants to come back.” — Dana White speaking to Brett Okamoto of ESPN.

Russell Ess - December 26, 2017

Would a Conor McGregor and Georges St-Pierre matchup be the biggest fight in UFC history? It would certainly make for an interesting match of styles and with both fighter’s star power, it would definitely make for some massive numbers. St-Pierre’s longtime Tristar Gym coach Firas Zahabi spoke with Express Sport recently on the matchup that he says he has been interested in this fight for St-Pierre for some time.

Justin Golightly - December 23, 2017

We don’t have to tell you that Georges St-Pierre’s life is ridiculous. He came back after four years away from the sport and took the UFC middleweight title away from Michael Bisping. That accomplishment is extraordinary in and of itself, but even away from the sport, St-Pierre does some awesome stuff. He literally went searching for dinosaur bones with the History channel. As famous as he is here, he’s practically a deity in Canada. Even celebrities and athletes from other sports want to hang out with the man. Even Hulkamania was running wild getting to chill with Georges St-Pierre. Last night, had the chance to hang out with two good guys – @davidguetta and the one and only @HulkHogan!!! pic.twitter.com/asAz1h23XJ

Tom Taylor - December 18, 2017

Shortly after he won the UFC middleweight title with a third-round submission of Michael Bisping, Georges St-Pierre vacated it, citing an ongoing battle with colitis and uncertainty about his fighting future. Since then, there has been widespread doubt as to whether the MMA great will ever fight again. According to his head coach Firas Zahabi, however, St-Pierre is likely to return if he’s offered a fight that interests him. Apparently, there are a few names that stand out to that end – one of which will definitely surprise you.

Justin Golightly - December 14, 2017

After the shake-up at middleweight, everything seems to have returned to normal. Not only is there movement, not only does Robert Whittaker get a fight, it’s with Luke Rockhold for the undisputed title thanks to Georges St-Pierre vacating the belt. While everything seems to be coming up Whittaker, he still lost out on a huge fight with the former welterweight king. It would have been a giant chance for the fighter just now reaching his prime, especially since Whittaker grew up watching him, to potentially put that win on his record. Belt or not, Whittaker wanted the fight out of respect. “I don’t think there was a doubt in any one’s mind who the real [UFC middleweight] champ was. I fought my way up through some hard dudes to get to where I am, and yeah, I am the champ, I was the champ. Yeah, it was [disappointing I couldn’t fight Georges St-Pierre for the belt], because I wanted to fight Georges out of respect more than anything. I idolized him as a child coming up and as a young man coming up in my career he was always like one of my biggest idols. To be able to fight him would’ve been great, to put him on my resume and say I fought Georges St-Pierre, that was great. But I don’t think I ever really convinced myself that he would fight me. I think it was a dangerous fight for him, a hard fight for him and it is what it is.” Perth make sure your ready 👊🏽 #ufc221 @ufc @lukerockhold pic.twitter.com/uEOtMOTh1k

Justin Golightly - December 14, 2017

Ever since Ben Askren walked away from combat sports, he made no mistake that only a fight with the best in the world could bring him back out of retirement. He threw the offer down on the table for a fight with Georges St-Pierre, but not a lot of people had faith it happened. Then, St-Pierre relinquished the UFC middleweight title and left the division leaving only two options: Retire for good or go back to welterweight. After hearing this news, he doubled down on his offer and even was willing to put some Bitcoin on the line. In his latest interview with Submission Radio, he talked in depth about St-Pierre and how he’s a stylistic nightmare for the former two-division champ. “Wasn’t that what you expected? I expected that [Georges St-Pierre would vacate the UFC middleweight title]. I knew that, I mean, my suspicion was that there’s no way that he’s ever going to fight again at middleweight. This was the one time he would because I think he had a good idea that he was gonna beat Michael Bisping, but there’s no way he wanted to fight Robert Whittaker. He didn’t want that fight. So, I definitely think we’ll never see him in middleweight again. Now, will we see him fight again? I’m not sure. GSP versus Conor [McGregor] is not a super fight. Conor McGregor is 2-1 in his last three fights against someone who is not even very good, so I don’t think Conor deserves a super fight against Georges. I see it pretty simply. Georges doesn’t like tough fights. And when Georges gets in a tough fight, he takes people down repeatedly and he’s very good at it, very good at it. He’s very good at maintaining top position. I’m not gonna go away easily, I will be a tough fight and Georges will not repeatedly take me down. And if he somehow takes me down he absolutely will not keep me down.”

Justin Golightly - December 12, 2017

Just last week, Georges St-Pierre vacated his freshly won UFC middleweight title, directly promoting Robert Whittaker’s fight with Luke Rockhold in Perth for the undisputed belt. It was the fallout from his UFC 217 health scare that led to his decision. St-Pierre basically tortured himself to move up a division, which culminated in a ulcerative colitis diagnosis. It became so bad, the fight was almost called off. Now John Danaher admits he even though St-Pierre would lose in his impaired state. “Halfway through this camp we knew there was something very seriously wrong. There was a point where we lost a week and a half of training. Even the day of the [Michael Bisping] fight, [Georges St-Pierre] was dealing with serious medical problems. I’m not going to lie to you, two weeks out I had a talk with Firas Zahabi and I said that the St-Pierre I saw train today gets knocked out by Michael Bisping. He did exactly what the plan was designed to do. He finished the fight with a beautiful strike setting up a submission hold. […] And he did it on a man above him in weight class. What made it all the more impressive if he did this with all the health problems he was dealing with.”

Justin Golightly - December 8, 2017

There have been mixed reactions to the recent news of Georges St-Pierre leaving middleweight and vacating the title he just won a month ago. It was his battle with his stomach in the arduous rode to weight gain that resulted in ulcerative colitis, prompting St-Pierre to abandon the division. Ignoring the negativity, we’ll focus directly on the positive. Eighth-ranked Derek Brunson has his eyes set on a springboard right at the top of the middleweight rankings with a win over Ronaldo “Jacare” Souza. GSP vacates. That’s a real martial artist. Way to not stall the division. Best of luck bro! A win over #3 Jacare puts me next in line for the title shot 👊

Justin Golightly - December 8, 2017

When Ben Askren retired with a squeaky clean record at ONE: Immortal Pursuit, he left an asterisk above the ‘R’ word. He said that the only thing that could lure him back was a shot at the best welterweight in the world, not the third best, not the second best, but the best. The only problem with that was that Georges St-Pierre was a middleweight now and Tyron Woodley is too great of a friend for Askren to look for a fight with. However, as of last night, St-Pierre is no longer a middleweight and has vacated his middleweight title. That was enough for Askren to double-down on his call-out. @GeorgesStPierre if you want to make it more interesting I’ll put my bitcoin against yours as a side bet that you don’t make it 5 rounds against me.