Georges St.
Pierre remains the gold standard by which all welterweights are
compared in mixed martial arts.
So when Kamaru
Usman surpassed the former champion’s record for most
consecutive wins at 170 pounds on Saturday not, it was only natural
that talk turned to how the current title holder might fare against
the division’s GOAT. Usman, for one, said he would welcome the
challenge.
“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. Georges, I’m watching you. I see you training.
Georges can still do it.
“So, if there’s potential for that big fight and Georges wants to
come back, then of course, Georges can cut the line,
absolutely.”
However, St. Pierre’s interest in such a pairing doesn’t seem to be
high at the moment. The Canadian discussed the possibility during
an appearance on SN590’s “The Good Show.”
“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,” St. Pierre
said. “I don’t think there’s anything that would get me motivated
to go back to competition now. I’m not sure.”
St. Pierre hasn’t fought since defeating Michael
Bisping for the middleweight crown at UFC 217 in November 2017.
He officially announced his retirement in 2019, revealing that
negotiations for a clash with lightweight champion Khabib
Nurmagomedov fell through. The two stars have continued to be
linked, even after Nurmagomedov annnounced his own retirement last
year, but thus far nothing has come to fruition.
While St. Pierre admits that he’ll always continue training, the
prospect of beginning the grind of a full training camp for a fight
against someone such as Usman just isn’t appealing.
“Try to put yourself in my shoes and try to come back,” St. Pierre
said. “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, who turns 40 in May, is also smart enough to realize
that his prime years are in the past. As it stands, he doesn’t see
anything special enough to lure him back into the Octagon — and
that includes a date with Usman. St. Pierre would prefer to keep
his legacy intact rather than compete at something less than the
peak of his powers.
“It seems like people want to see me go on my shield,” St Pierre
said. “A lot of guys wait too long to retire and they kind of go on
their shield, and I never wanted to do this. I wanted to compete at
my best and now I’m at the point, are my best years behind me? They
could be. I said to myself I don’t want to compete if my best years
are behind me. Your knowledge grows, but your physicality is
diminished.
“I’m 39 – going to be 40 soon. If I would have done something, it
would have needed to be something that was really special that
would really get me to the core of my motivation. I don’t have the
same motivation right now. It’s not appealing to me. I’m a big fan.
I like to watch fights. But I look at them with the stress and I’m
like, ‘Hell no. I’m not doing it.’”