No matter how many times we say it, it never sounds less crazy. Georges St-Pierre really did come back after four years away from the UFC and take a belt in a higher weight class. Honestly, he could walk away from the sport just like he vacated the title and no one could question his career. If he does decide to stay and finish out the last three fights on his contract, there simply aren’t a lot of huge options for the former two-division champion. Kenny Florian recently gave his insight on what St-Pierre’s next moves could be and there is no question they’d have to be giant fights.
“I think [Georges St-Pierre] who has done it all in this sport, and I think if there’s one guy who deserves the super fight or a mega fight, it’s GSP. And talk about a guy who was old school, who did it the old fashion way of just clearly beating anyone and everyone. He wasn’t a guy who was going, ‘Oh, well this guy, he doesn’t promote himself enough so I’m not gonna fight Jon Fitch, or I’m not gonna fight Josh Koscheck, or I’m not gonna fight,’ he would just fight whoever the hell it was, whoever the UFC had for him is who he would face. So I think that he does deserve a mega fight. […] As far as asking or demanding a fight with Conor McGregor, I don’t think you’ll ever hear it from GSP because being a guy who was bullied when he was a kid, he feels like that’s kind of a bully mentality. You know, you don’t try to pick a fight with someone smaller than you, that’s kind of what has been GSP’s mentality.”
Is @GeorgesStPierre the #Goat if he doesn’t want to fight me!?🤔 @ufc https://t.co/aK0xyXlOpm
— Tyron T-Wood Woodley (@TWooodley) November 15, 2017
“If it’s a fight that is offered to him and the fans want it enough, I think he would do it, and I think it would be the largest UFC fight in history. So I think it would be interesting for that fight to happen. And of course we would hear all the complaints, ‘Why isn’t Conor McGregor defending his belt, blah, blah, blah’. I think Conor McGregor for better or worse, he also obviously deserves a big fight as well. He’s the biggest name in the sport, he has changed the game for a lot of people, as far as showing the potential of what a mixed martial arts fighter can make in this game. So he has gained a lot of leverage business-wise in what he can demand as a fighter. So that’d be an interesting fight. And maybe a Tyron Woodley/GSP fight would be amazing as well. So I’m really curious to see what GSP does next.” — Kenny Florian speaking to Submission Radio.
Other than finally giving us a fight with a declining Anderson Silva or answering undefeated Ben Askren’s call outs, the most obvious choices for Georges St-Pierre are title fights. Going back down to welterweight to contend his greatest 170-pounder of all time status against Tyron Woodley sounds like a great move. Of course, there is no bigger fight in the UFC — despite the weight discrepancy — than against Conor McGregor. Who knows what McGregor wants to do, but if Tony Ferguson or Max Holloway isn’t enough to drag the Irish ‘Champ Champ’ back, St-Pierre might be.
This article first appeared on BJPenn.com on 12/21/2017.