Georges St-Pierre's coach thinks former UFC champ will return in 2015
Georges St-Pierre back in the UFC in 2015? His coach thinks it's a possibility.
Firas Zahabi, the close friend and coach of St-Pierre at Tristar Gym in Montreal, told ESPN.com this week that he believes GSP will come back to the UFC in 2015 after recovering from surgery to repair a torn ACL.
“My personal opinion is he still has plenty of competitive juice in him," Zahabi said. "I don’t think he’ll be anywhere near fight shape until he’s late-34 -- mid-34. I think he’s got a few fights in him but I don’t want to speak for the guy. He might retire and no one could blame him.”
St-Pierre, 33, is one of the greatest champions in UFC history. He held the welterweight title for six years before vacating it in December to take some time off from the sport. GSP cited personal reasons for leaving the UFC at the time, but within the last year he has been very vocal about performance-enhancing drugs and said he will not return to the UFC until it dramatically improves testing procedures.
"I will never fight again in MMA without my opponent and myself being thoroughly tested for the most advanced PEDs by a credible independent anti-doping organization like VADA or USADA under the strictest standards of the World Anti-Doping Association (WADA) Code," St-Pierre told Bloody Elbow last month.
He might get his wish. Marc Ratner, the UFC's vice president of regulatory affairs, told ESPN recently that the UFC hopes to introduce year-round drug testing by the end of the year. According to Ratner, the organization is currently listening to proposals from independent sample collectors.
Zahabi said GSP will return to Tristar in October for "light" training. The Canadian superstar tore his ACL in March. Typically, a fighter who tears his ACL takes a little over a year to step into the Octagon again. This will be St-Pierre's second ACL surgery, but on different knees.
“It’s looking way better than the first time,” Zahabi said. “We just finished training and were talking about how his quadriceps got back to size so much faster this time around. No two ACL injuries are the same. We’re learning that."
Does that mean GSP is any closer to deciding whether or not he will make his return to the UFC? Not at all. But fans can only hope it'll play a role.
“Right now, every time I talk to him, we never talk about his comeback,” Zahabi said. “I’m being 100 percent honest with you. I tell him people ask me about it every day. I think we both just know that there is no answer until he gets back in the gym, in his routine and sees if he wants to continue."
