https://www.scmp.com/rss/502563/feed Georges St-Pierre is a retired former UFC welterweight and middleweight champion. en https://assets.i-scmp.com/static/img/icons/scmp-meta-1200x630.png https://www.scmp.com You can never say never in mixed martial arts, but it looks like Khabib Nurmagomedov has finally closed the door on fighting Georges St-Pierre. The retired UFC lightweight champion – whom promotional president Dana White is determined to bring back to the Octagon for one more fight – has been keen on facing the Canadian legend for years. Former welterweight and middleweight champ St-Pierre (26-2) retired for the second time in 2018, but has been holding out hope for a dream clash with the... https://www.scmp.com/sport/martial-arts/mixed-martial-arts/article/3122772/ufc-khabib-nurmagomedov-shuts-door-georges-st?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/sport/martial-arts/mixed-martial-arts/article/3122772/ufc-khabib-nurmagomedov-shuts-door-georges-st?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 23 Feb 2021 07:37:05 +0000 UFC legend Georges St-Pierre believes Conor McGregor can come back from his shock defeat by Dustin Poirier. Former two-weight champ McGregor (22-5) was a favourite with oddsmakers but lost Sunday’s UFC 257 lightweight main event by second-round TKO, leaving him with three defeats in his last six fights. A fellow former UFC double champ, Canadian icon St-Pierre (26-2) pointed to his own surprise first-round TKO defeat by Matt Serra in 2007. The now-retired 39-year-old bounced back to regain the... https://www.scmp.com/sport/martial-arts/mixed-martial-arts/article/3119591/ufc-georges-st-pierre-says-conor-mcgregor?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/sport/martial-arts/mixed-martial-arts/article/3119591/ufc-georges-st-pierre-says-conor-mcgregor?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 28 Jan 2021 06:36:03 +0000 One of the most difficult things for any athlete comes not during the games they play, or sports they pursue, but in accepting when it is finally time to call it quits. There may be no better noble warrior the UFC has ever seen than Georges St-Pierre. The 39-year-old was at one time the most dominant force in mixed martial arts, and one of the greatest to step inside the Octagon. Since 2018, there has been chatter, rumours and blog posts about St-Pierre coming out of retirement again for one... https://www.scmp.com/sport/martial-arts/mixed-martial-arts/article/3116391/ufc-georges-st-pierre-needs-pass-again-khabib?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/sport/martial-arts/mixed-martial-arts/article/3116391/ufc-georges-st-pierre-needs-pass-again-khabib?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 05 Jan 2021 01:00:18 +0000 Khabib Nurmagomedov would definitely come out of retirement to fight Georges St-Pierre, according to his manager Ali Abdelaziz – but not for a rematch with Conor McGregor. UFC lightweight champ Nurmagomedov (29-0) has not been officially stripped of his belt, and still remains top of the promotion’s pound-for-pound rankings. The 32-year-old Dagestan native shocked the MMA world by announcing he was hanging up his gloves after defending his title against Justin Gaethje at UFC 254 on Fight Island... https://www.scmp.com/sport/martial-arts/mixed-martial-arts/article/3116177/ufc-khabib-nurmagomedov-would-un-retire?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/sport/martial-arts/mixed-martial-arts/article/3116177/ufc-khabib-nurmagomedov-would-un-retire?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 02 Jan 2021 04:44:48 +0000 UFC Hall of Famer Georges St-Pierre teased an announcement to his fans on Wednesday – but quickly quashed claims that he was making a comeback. “New year, new team, announcement tomorrow. #zeroregrets,” the 39-year-old Canadian tweeted alongside a photo of himself sparring with long-time trainer Firas Zahabi wearing a mask and boxing gloves. It is not clear if he is leaving Zahabi’s Tristar Gym in Montreal, Quebec. St-Pierre (26-2) has intermittently fuelled rumours he could come out of... https://www.scmp.com/sport/martial-arts/mixed-martial-arts/article/3115836/ufc-georges-st-pierre-teases-announcement?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/sport/martial-arts/mixed-martial-arts/article/3115836/ufc-georges-st-pierre-teases-announcement?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 30 Dec 2020 08:24:31 +0000 Unless Khabib Nurmagomedov and Justin Gaethje deliver a stunner at UFC 254 in October for the lightweight title, fight of the year honours will go to Zhang “Magnum” Weili and her absolute slugfest with Joanna Jedrzejczyk. At UFC 248 in March in Las Vegas, the Chinese and Polish stars went toe to toe for five brutally beautiful rounds. They threw playbooks out the window and brawled, exchanging combinations with little regard for defence. It was a classic, a brilliant masterpiece and Zhang’s... https://www.scmp.com/sport/martial-arts/article/3099897/ufc-zhang-weili-and-rise-chinas-first-mma-superstar-one-year?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/sport/martial-arts/article/3099897/ufc-zhang-weili-and-rise-chinas-first-mma-superstar-one-year?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 03 Sep 2020 02:00:12 +0000 Khabib Nurmagomedov insists the UFC has told him they will attempt to make a super fight against Georges St-Pierre if he beats Justin Gaethje. The lightweight champion (28-0) takes on interim champ Gaethje (22-2) on October 25, despite the death of his father and coach Abdulmanap, 57, last month from health issues related to contracting Covid-19. “If I beat Gaethje, then in April I could fight St-Pierre,” Nurmagomedov said a press conference in Russia announcing his own promotion, MMA Global.... https://www.scmp.com/sport/martial-arts/mixed-martial-arts/article/3097502/khabib-says-ufc-will-negotiate-gsp-fight-dana?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/sport/martial-arts/mixed-martial-arts/article/3097502/khabib-says-ufc-will-negotiate-gsp-fight-dana?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 15 Aug 2020 06:00:46 +0000 Georges St-Pierre knows he‘ll be haunted by rumours of a possible return to the cage until he’s of such an advanced age they can no longer be taken seriously. For the moment, though, “Rush” is still on the right side of 40, and not that far off fighting condition thanks to daily workouts. And that means he’s still being thrown up as a possible opponent for those considered the best in the business right now – welterweight champion Kamaru Usman and even lightweight king Khabib Nurmagomedov among... https://www.scmp.com/sport/martial-arts/mixed-martial-arts/article/3096620/my-favourite-fight-ufcs-georges-st-pierre?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/sport/martial-arts/mixed-martial-arts/article/3096620/my-favourite-fight-ufcs-georges-st-pierre?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 09 Aug 2020 00:16:48 +0000 Georges St-Pierre believes his Hall of Fame career would never have happened if not for Bruce Lee and his famous words of inspiration: “Be water.” It was a philosophy for life as much for combat and St-Pierre revealed he looked to Lee when he was plotting his rise in MMA, a journey that would take in both the UFC’s welterweight and middleweight titles, an overall record in the sport of 26-2, and, coming soon, a place in the UFC’s Hall of Fame. “Bruce Lee changed my life,” St-Pierre told the... https://www.scmp.com/sport/martial-arts/mixed-martial-arts/article/3087905/ufcs-georges-st-pierre-says-bruce-lee-changed?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/sport/martial-arts/mixed-martial-arts/article/3087905/ufcs-georges-st-pierre-says-bruce-lee-changed?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 07 Jun 2020 11:00:17 +0000 Georges St-Pierre is still coming to terms with the moment, and its meaning, after the UFC formally declared he would be entering the Hall of Fame. “I don’t really have the words to describe how I feel,” he tells the Post. “I’ve been lucky. I am standing on the shoulders of giants. There have been some other great athletes before me who inspired me to accomplish what I have done. They led the way.” The announcement – which came during the staging of UFC 249 back on May 9 – confirmed what has for... https://www.scmp.com/sport/martial-arts/mixed-martial-arts/article/3086812/ufc-georges-st-pierre-believes-he-could-still?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/sport/martial-arts/mixed-martial-arts/article/3086812/ufc-georges-st-pierre-believes-he-could-still?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 30 May 2020 07:15:39 +0000 As Hall of Fame-bound Georges St-Pierre continues with a daily workout routine he says still has him in fighting condition in case he makes a return to the Octagon, he makes sure to follow the fortunes of his favourite UFC fighters. Just like any other fan of a sport he says “gave me everything”. “I don’t watch all the fights but I watch some of my favourite fighters. I’m still big fan,” St-Pierre tells the Post from his home in Montreal, Canada. St-Pierre then rattles off a list of the fighters... https://www.scmp.com/sport/martial-arts/mixed-martial-arts/article/3086064/ufc-georges-st-pierre-says-israel-adesanya?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/sport/martial-arts/mixed-martial-arts/article/3086064/ufc-georges-st-pierre-says-israel-adesanya?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 26 May 2020 04:57:24 +0000 Conor McGregor says he is ‘number two, if not tied one’ for MMA’s greatest of all time (GOAT) – behind only legendary middleweight Anderson Silva – and will ‘easily’ be number one before he retires. In a Twitter thread, former UFC featherweight and middleweight champion McGregor (22-4) gave his thoughts on why he should be considered above the likes of Georges St Pierre and Jon Jones but has yet to surpass Silva (34-10, 1 no contest). “The array of finishes, across [two] divisions, with champion... https://www.scmp.com/sport/martial-arts/mixed-martial-arts/article/3085828/ufc-conor-mcgregor-says-he-number-two-if-not?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/sport/martial-arts/mixed-martial-arts/article/3085828/ufc-conor-mcgregor-says-he-number-two-if-not?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 24 May 2020 06:17:05 +0000 Georges St-Pierre says he is shadowed by rumours of a return to the Octagon, every single day of his life, but the UFC great is sticking to retirement. For the time being. Maybe. “I’m 39 years old now but a lot of the young guys I train with they always ask me ‘Hey Georges, tell me the truth. You’re coming back, aren’t you?’ And I say “No, no’,” laughs St-Pierre. “You never say never but in order for me to come back it would have to be a 180 degree turn. Something drastic. A fight that I really... https://www.scmp.com/sport/martial-arts/mixed-martial-arts/article/3085764/ufc-georges-st-pierre-open-octagon-return?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/sport/martial-arts/mixed-martial-arts/article/3085764/ufc-georges-st-pierre-open-octagon-return?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 23 May 2020 04:21:53 +0000 It was announced during Saturday’s UFC 249 card that the legendary Georges St-Pierre is to be inducted into the UFC Hall of Fame’s Class of 2020, with the former welterweight and middleweight champion receiving one last accolade to add to his massive trophy case. The thinking goes this might mean a super fight with Khabib Nurmagomedov is now probably off, but it did not stop St-Pierre fans from sharing their favourite moments from his iconic career. There is one anecdote, a story that not only... https://www.scmp.com/sport/article/3083811/how-ufc-hall-famer-georges-st-pierre-went-bullying-victim-greatest-fighter?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/sport/article/3083811/how-ufc-hall-famer-georges-st-pierre-went-bullying-victim-greatest-fighter?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 11 May 2020 12:00:14 +0000 Georges St-Pierre revived talk of a super fight against UFC lightweight champion Khabib Nurmagomedov last week, but admitted it’s still a long shot. Ali Abdelaziz thinks it can still happen, though. “He’s the greatest fighter of all time. And he’s a very good friend of mine, I love Georges,” Abdelaziz told ESPN’s Brett Okamoto. “Khabib is my brother, I’m very close with him. If Georges St-Pierre wanted to fight, it’s very simple: we can make this happen.” Former UFC welterweight champion... https://www.scmp.com/sport/martial-arts/mixed-martial-arts/article/3081269/ufc-khabib-manager-gives-georges-st-pierre?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/sport/martial-arts/mixed-martial-arts/article/3081269/ufc-khabib-manager-gives-georges-st-pierre?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 23 Apr 2020 11:00:13 +0000 Georges St-Pierre has said he needs the UFC to offer him “something from left field” if he is going to reconsider his retirement from MMA. The 38-year-old former welterweight and middleweight champion said he hasn’t spoken to UFC president Dana White since retiring for the second time, apart from sharing some text messages immediately afterwards. “It would need a complete 180 degree turnaround right now,” St-Pierre told ESPN’s Ariel Helwani. “Sometimes I’m training with the guys and I still get... https://www.scmp.com/sport/martial-arts/mixed-martial-arts/article/3080028/ufc-georges-st-pierre-needs-something-left?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/sport/martial-arts/mixed-martial-arts/article/3080028/ufc-georges-st-pierre-needs-something-left?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 15 Apr 2020 07:49:34 +0000 UFC welterweight champion Kamaru Usman’s next title defence is still up for discussion, but there are two divisional champions that the Nigerian-American vows never to face in the Octagon. The first is undefeated lightweight champion Khabib Nurmagomedov who, similar to Usman, tends to dominate his opponents using high-level wrestling and ground-and-pound. The fighters also appear to be friends outside the combat world. “I would never fight Khabib – that’s my brother,” Usman said on the Joe Rogan... https://www.scmp.com/sport/martial-arts/mixed-martial-arts/article/3048212/ufc-i-would-never-fight-khabib-nurmagomedov?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/sport/martial-arts/mixed-martial-arts/article/3048212/ufc-i-would-never-fight-khabib-nurmagomedov?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 30 Jan 2020 06:33:01 +0000 You would think Jorge Masvidal has enough big fights on his plate, what with Conor McGregor and Kamaru Usman making so much noise. But he’s thrown another huge name into the mix. Asked by Australia’s Submission Radio about whether he would be interested in a potential super fight with retired former UFC welterweight and middleweight champion Georges St-Pierre, Masvidal was open to the idea. “They’ve said this about me, that I resurrect fighters. And then I retire them again. So I wouldn’t mind... https://www.scmp.com/sport/martial-arts/mixed-martial-arts/article/3045356/ufc-jorge-masvidal-open-georges-st-pierre?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/sport/martial-arts/mixed-martial-arts/article/3045356/ufc-jorge-masvidal-open-georges-st-pierre?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 09 Jan 2020 07:42:11 +0000 Conor McGregor is the overwhelming favourite against Donald Cerrone, but UFC legend Georges St-Pierre sees a path to victory for “Cowboy”. Former featherweight and lightweight champion McGregor returns to the UFC Octagon on January 18, but faces veteran Cerrone at 170 pounds in the main event of UFC 246. “If it’s a quick fight it’s going to be McGregor,” former UFC welterweight and middleweight champion Georges St-Pierre told the TriStar Gym’s YouTube channel. “If it’s a long fight it’s going to... https://www.scmp.com/sport/martial-arts/mixed-martial-arts/article/3045241/ufc-246-georges-st-pierre-predicts-conor?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/sport/martial-arts/mixed-martial-arts/article/3045241/ufc-246-georges-st-pierre-predicts-conor?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 08 Jan 2020 12:03:43 +0000 Jorge Masvidal and Leon Edwards seem to be the main two names in the frame to next fight Kamaru Usman. But if the UFC welterweight champion could pick his ideal opponent, there’s a different name on his mind. “Honestly, I’m an equal opportunities kind of guy. But if I had to choose, of course I want Georges St-Pierre,” Usman told TMZ Sports. Usman underlined his status as the best welterweight in the game with a dramatic fifth-round TKO of Colby Covington at UFC 245 in Las Vegas last... https://www.scmp.com/sport/martial-arts/mixed-martial-arts/article/3042591/ufc-kamaru-usman-calls-out-georges-st-pierre?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/sport/martial-arts/mixed-martial-arts/article/3042591/ufc-kamaru-usman-calls-out-georges-st-pierre?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 18 Dec 2019 06:18:38 +0000 Georges St-Pierre’s coach thinks Kevin Lee can be a world champion if he stays disciplined like the UFC legend. Lee (18-5) put an exclamation point on his comeback to the lightweight division with a stunning head kick KO of previously undefeated prospect Gregor Gillespie. It was his first fight working with Tristar Gym head coach Firas Zahabi, coming off losses to Al Iaquinta at 155 pounds and Rafael dos Anjos at 170, and the improvement was plain to see. “He had a great training team already.... https://www.scmp.com/sport/martial-arts/mixed-martial-arts/article/3040712/ufc-georges-st-pierres-coach-says-kevin-lee?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/sport/martial-arts/mixed-martial-arts/article/3040712/ufc-georges-st-pierres-coach-says-kevin-lee?utm_source=rss_feed Thu, 05 Dec 2019 04:30:37 +0000 Georges St-Pierre’s coach has claimed the former UFC two-weight champion would have no problem stepping in at UFC 245 if Colby Covington or Kamaru Usman got injured. St-Pierre hung up his gloves for the second time after coming out of retirement to win Michael Bisping’s middleweight title in November 2017. Tristar Gym head coach Firas Zahabi thinks the 38-year-old would be willing and able to win his old welterweight title back though on short notice later this month. “He trains all the time,... https://www.scmp.com/sport/martial-arts/mixed-martial-arts/article/3040620/ufc-georges-st-pierre-could-kill-anybody-and?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/sport/martial-arts/mixed-martial-arts/article/3040620/ufc-georges-st-pierre-could-kill-anybody-and?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 04 Dec 2019 10:55:26 +0000