Georges St-Pierre might have returned if not for tension with Dana White at UFC 167
The talk surrounding Georges St-Pierre possibly returning to the UFC continues, but according to the former welterweight champion, his comeback already could have happened if not for the events surrounding his last fight in the Octagon.
The story goes back to UFC 167 in November 2013 when St-Pierre defeated Johny Hendricks by unanimous decision and then spoke about taking a break from fighting following his latest title defense.
UFC president Dana White stated at the time that St-Pierre was taken to the hospital from the fight before erupting about St-Pierre's decision to take a break while still holding onto the welterweight title following a close decision to Hendricks just minutes earlier. St-Pierre now says that night played a large part in his decision not to fight again.
"The truth is if this whole thing had not happened after the fight, they would not have given trouble to the VADA (drug) testing that I did and if they would not have acted like that, maybe I would have already been back or maybe I would have given the rematch to Johny Hendricks," St-Pierre told Chael Sonnen recently on his podcast.
"But because of that I was all burned out, angry, I was frustrated and a lot of things. I needed to let go because I didn't have fun fighting and I lost the fun and that's one of the reasons I stopped, you know?"
St-Pierre claims that following the fight he was getting stitches in the back of the MGM Grand Garden Arena and a UFC official came in to tell him he wasn't going to attend the post-fight press conference. It's customary that the winning fighters from the main card and especially the main event are always in attendance at the press conference unless an injury necessitates a trip to the hospital for care.
That wasn't the case according to St-Pierre, and once he was told he couldn't attend the press conference, he immediately decided that there was no place he would rather be and made his way to the dais.
"After I'm done with the doctor, I wanted to go to the press conference so the girl from the UFC says 'No Georges, you're not going to the press conference' and I'm like 'Why?' And (she says) 'you're not allowed to go, it's OK' and I'm like 'Then I understand', I'm like 'There's something weird going on.' I said 'OK I'm going' and she's like 'No, you're not allowed to go!' and I said 'Yeah, try to stop me'," St-Pierre said.
"Then I walk in and I saw that everybody looked weird when I arrived and then I found out Dana said I was going to the hospital and I was badly hurt, so I was like 'What is wrong with this?' Because I didn't know what was going on.
"I understand Dana was pissed because I was leaving with the belt, I got it, but he could have done it in a little better class."
Two years later, St-Pierre says he understands that White was just being a promoter and protecting his best interests, but it still rubbed him the wrong way and left him feeling like a sabbatical from fighting really was the best choice at the time.
"Dana does what will serve him best,” St-Pierre said. “To serve him best in that situation was he doesn't like when people leave with the belt and I understand, business-wise it's not good. Dana does what is good for his own interests and I do what is best for my own interests."
Since that night, St-Pierre never has completely stepped away from fighting although he hasn't asked to book a fight for himself. The 34-year-old still routinely spends hours in the gym training alongside his teammates and occasionally will pop up to corner one of them as well.
Most recently, St-Pierre's boxing coach Freddie Roach has come forward and stated that the former UFC champion is planning a six-week camp with him to find out if he still has the hunger to come back and compete again. St-Pierre says it was Roach's idea to do a training camp just to see how he felt rather than book a fight and then get halfway through preparation and realize he didn't actually want to come back.
"I had a talk with Freddie Roach and he says to me 'Georges, I've had boxers in the past that tried to make a comeback after a long period of inactivity, what you should do when you're ready, you should try to do a training camp for six weeks just alone by yourself see how you feel and if you're still hungry and it's still fun in it, now you can come back. But if you feel like you're not having fun and the stress and the same feeling as before comes back, maybe it's time to hang the gloves and stop'. That was what this talk was about," St-Pierre revealed.
"I'm thinking about it, the training camp, I think it's a very good idea. I don't know when I'm going to do the training camp if I do it. I haven't started yet."
St-Pierre did say the training camp wouldn't start before the end of 2015, but chances are he's going to at least test the waters for a potential return to action because he never wants to look back later in life with regret that he never did it.
While St-Pierre doesn't want to tarnish the legacy he's built through title defenses and becoming one of the most well-known and well-received fighters in UFC history, there's still an itch deep down to compete again and it hasn't been extinguished in his time away from the sport. St-Pierre acknowledges that he has enough money tucked away that he'd never need to fight again if he didn't want to, but he also doesn't want to be haunted by regret either.
"It's a good argument for not coming back but an argument for coming back, I don't want to end up at 80 or 85 years old and tell myself I should have done (it), I wonder if I would have been able to win the title again?" St-Pierre said. "One thing for sure, if I do one day decide to come back, I will make sure that I've been tested in training. If I come back, I put the odds on my side.
"I'm a smart guy. Because you can come back and make a fool out of yourself and that would be terrible for me. So if I ever want to come back, I'm going to make sure I've been tested in training and get guys who will really test me and if I survive the test, that means I'm ready to go and I'll be hungry and better than ever."
St-Pierre also stated that if he does decide to return, it won't be done for one more fight just to prove he can still do it. Chances are, St-Pierre coming back means he would do it for at least a few fights before finally calling it a career.
"If I ever plan coming back, I'm not going to come back for maybe one fight," St-Pierre said. "I'm still young and I'm still in great shape, I feel better than I've ever been. If I come back, I'll come back maybe for a few (fights) and not come back for just one."
