mma / News

Georges St-Pierre Announces Retirement From MMA

February 21, 2019 | Posted by Jeffrey Harris

UFC legend and former two-weight division champion, Georges St-Pierre, officially announced his retirement from the sport of MMA today. “Rush” St-Pierre made the announcement official earlier today at a press conference in his native home of Montreal, Quebec.

Considered by many of as the greatest welterweight fighter ever, Georges St-Pierre retires with the record for most title defenses at the weight of 170 pounds with nine. He ends his career with a professional record of 26-2. His only two losses were to Matt Hughes in 2004 at UFC 50 and Matt Serra in 2007 at UFC 69. GSP stated the following at the press conference:

“It takes a lot of discipline to become and stay champion. It also takes a lot of discipline to stop while still feeling that you’re in the best physical and mental shape of your life but I’ve always planned to leave the sport when I’m at the top and in good health. I want to thank my family, my fans, my coaches, trainers and training partners, my sponsors and my agents for their indefectible support during all these years. I will forever be grateful for the work of Lorenzo and Frank Fertitta, as well as Dana White and all UFC employees for giving me the opportunity to showcase my skills before the world, from UFC 46 to UFC 217. I also want to thank each of my opponents. All of them are incredible athletes who brought out the best in me. I retire from competition with great pride at having had a positive impact on my sport. I intend to keep training and practicing martial arts for as long as I live and I look forward to watching the new generation of champions carry our sport into the future.”

Some of GSP’s signature victories over the course of his career include wins over Nick Diaz, Carlos Condit, Jake Shields, B.J. Penn (twice), and Josh Koscheck (twice). He would later go on to avenge his sole losses over Matt Hughes and Matt Serra. In November 2017, he defeated Michael Bisping to capture the UFC Middleweight Championship with a third-round submission, giving GSP two different UFC titles in two different weight classes.

UFC President Dana White commented at the press conference on GSP: “Georges has cemented his legacy as one of the pound-for-pound greatest fighters ever. He beat all the top guys during his welterweight title reign and even went up a weight class to win the middleweight championship. He spent years as one of the biggest names in MMA and remains one of the best ambassadors for the sport. He put Canada on the MMA map.”

Georges St-Pierre was born in raised in Saint-Isidore, Quebec and eventually dedicated his life to martial arts. After working his way through TKO MMA, he debuted in the UFC at UFC 46 in 2004, defeating Karo Parisyan by unanimous decision. He won his first UFC title at UFC 65 after a knockout win over Matt Hughes in 2006.

Georges St-Pierre’s career also boasts the largest UFC gate outside the US at $12,075,000 for UFC 129, which he headlined at the Rogers Centre in Toronto. The fight card also still holds the record for the largest attendance in UFC history at 55,724. He was awarded Fighter of the Year by Sports Illustrated in 2009. He also appeared in the role of Batroc in the hit 2014 movie, Captain America: The Winter Soldier.