Georges St-Pierre ‘Leaving’ UFC For Big Name?

Could a GSP vs. Jake Paul or Oscar De La Hoya exhibition bout be taking place in the not-too-distant future?

 


 

While no one is in a rush due to contractual obligations, Georges “Rush” St-Pierre is already floating the idea when discussing his future plans in media interviews these days.

During a recent discussion with Sports Illustrated, the former UFC Welterweight and Middleweight Champion spoke about the possibility of returning to the fight world for an exhibition bout when his contract with the UFC expires in two years.

“My contract with UFC will finish in almost two years, and I will be free—and I will still be in shape,” St-Pierre told Barrasso. “I’m still a fighter and an entertainer.”

From there, GSP said the keyword “exhibition,” which has also fueled online speculation about a potential boxing exhibition with Oscar De La Hoya, which was in the works before the Golden Boy Promotions founder inked the dotted-line for a return bout against a different MMA legend — “The Phenom” Vitor Belfort.

“If there is an exhibition fight or a novelty fight for charity, then never say never,” St-Pierre added.

With Jake Paul being another “exhibition” fan, particularly against past-their-prime MMA legends, a future Paul-GSP bout could be on the horizon as well.

Then again, GSP could stick to his retirement and continue his post-fight life as a guy who went out on top without much damage to himself.

He is, of course, additionally a smart mind when it comes to analyzing the sport, noted in the same interview as he gave his thoughts on the upcoming trilogy bout between Conor McGregor and Dustin Poirier at UFC 264.

So, how does St-Pierre see the McGregor-Poirier rubber bout going down?

“If you look at Conor’s history, he’s very good in rematches,” St-Pierre told Sports Illustrated. “He knows how to adjust himself. He did that when he fought Nate Diaz [at UFC 202].”

GSP added, “Conor made a mistake against Poirier [at UFC 257]. Conor is used to finishing a lot of his fights early on. He had Poirier hurt and in trouble early on, but he spent too much energy trying to finish him. He got emotional. Normally that works for him, but Poirier was able to weather the storm and later knocked him out.”

From there, GSP made it clear — he sees “The Notorious” returning to his winning-ways when he meets Poirier at the UFC pay-per-view event scheduled to emanate from T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada on Saturday, July 10.

“Conor is a great martial artist,” he said. “And he won’t make the same mistake twice.”

Who do you think is going to win at UFC 267 on 7/10 — McGregor or Poirier? Do you think GSP should return to the fight game, and if so, in what capacity and against whom? Let us know by sounding off in our comments section below, or by chiming in on our official Twitter feed @WrestlingEdge.

Matt Boone
Matt Boone
Matt Boone has two decades of experience in wrestling and MMA journalism, dating back to WrestleZone.com and co-hosting Wrestle Zone Radio.

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