Georges St-Pierre Signs New Deal With the UFC

As previously reported, Georges St-Pierre was reportedly very close to signing a new deal with the UFC to make a return to the Octagon, and now the Los Angeles Times is reporting that the former UFC welterweight champion and king has signed a new contract and will be making his MMA return very soon. UFC President Dana White reportedly confirmed that GSP has officially signed a new fight agreement with the UFC.

White stated on the news, “He’s back. I’m excited. We worked at it for a long time and finally got it done.” GSP has not fought since UFC 167 in November 2013, where he won a controversial split decision over title challenger Johny Hendricks. After the fight, St-Pierre took a sabbatical from the sport and relinquished the title.

White added on who GSP might face for his first UFC return bout, “It could be the winner [of the March 4 welterweight title fight] between Tyron Woodley and Stephen ‘Wonderboy’ Thompson, or it could be [middleweight champion] Michael Bisping. Georges has also talked about fighting at 155 pounds [lightweight]. He says he can make the weight.” He continued, “But I have no idea when he’s going to fight right now. We don’t have anything booked and literally haven’t talked to anybody about it.”

The fight will be GSP’s first fight inside the Octagon in nearly four years. After he unified the welterweight title against Matt Serra, GSP went on to defend his welterweight title on nine separate occasion before ultimately relinquishing the title. His only loss in the last 10 years was a stunning upset to Matt Serra at UFC 69 in 2007.

According to White, two of St-Pierre’s friends played a key role in brokering the new agreement to bring the former champion back to the UFC. He stated, “Two guys who care about Georges came to me and said, ‘Do you want to a deal?’ I said, ‘Yeah, I want to a deal.’ We got it done.” The LA Times indicates the two individuals who brokered the deal were boxing trainer Freddie Roach and GSP’s CAA agent, Nick Khan.