According to his latest appearance on The MMA Hour Monday morning, Canadian superstar and former UFC Welterweight champion Georges St-Pierre has announced that he is no longer a UFC fighter.
“You heard it right,” St-Pierre said “I’m a free agent.”
Georges St-Pierre (25-2, 20-2), largely considered to be the greatest fighter in MMA history, claimed his lawyer, James Quinn, terminated his UFC contract after the promotion did not meet a deadline to offer him a fight recently. “GSP” said he was under a 2011 contract with the UFC and was working on a new deal, but talks had stifled after the UFC was sold to WME-IMG this past July. GSP said WME-IMG pulled the offer on the table from former CEO Lorenzo Fertitta and put negotiations on ice.
“It was like a shock, because we felt like we were making progress, we were almost there,” St-Pierre said.
GSP said he is free now to sign with any other MMA promotion, though he isn’t sure what will happen next. He said he wants to get out of the limelight after an “emotionally draining” few months negotiating with the newly-run UFC.
“The reason I wanted to go back and fight is because i feel right now that I’m at my best,” St-Pierre said. “I’m truly confident I can beat the guys that are champions right now. I’m that confident. At least I’m a free man. Now, I know I’m free. I have other options. I’m not caught up legally with a contract. I’m a free man.”
St-Pierre claims one of the things the UFC’s new ownership explained to him was that the promotion would have to spend a lot of money to re-introduce him to the new audience. St-Pierre said he felt very confident he could have sold out Air Canada Centre for UFC 206 in minutes, a feat not yet accomplished by the UFC despite holding three events there.
“I don’t take it personal,” St-Pierre said. “I found it a little bit funny to tell you the truth. I know it’s a lie. Sometimes I start to ask myself if they started to believe what they’re saying.
“To come back, it would have been a win-win situation. I think now what happened with this situation, the biggest loser is the fans. I’m a loser. The UFC is a loser. Even the UFC is a loser. They would have made good money.”
A request for response from the UFC was not immediately returned Monday by MMA Fighting
“I was very pumped up a few weeks ago when we talked,” St-Pierre said. “Now, I’m not as pumped up as I was. I’m entering unknown water, unknown territory. I just don’t know what’s gonna happen.”