I’m announcing my retirement from the UFCand mixed martial arts competition. I intend to keep training andpracticing martial arts for as long as I live, but now is the timethat I chose to end my career as a professional MMA athlete. Readmy official statement in the images. pic.twitter.com/uMP0LE5XeF
— Georges St-Pierre (@GeorgesStPierre) February 21, 2019
The era of Georges St.Pierre has officially come to a close.
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At a press conference in Montreal, Quebec on Thursday morning, St.Pierre sat down in front of cameras with two Ultimate Fighting Championship belts flankinghim at his table. Without any notes or written statements otherthan the contents of his cell phone, St. Pierre stated that he didnot want to have to keep referring to a piece of paper because itcould get “boring.”
Starting the press conference purely in French, St. Pierre (26-2)went on to apologize for having to do this in multiple languages,and then translated his remarks into English for the audience.
He opened, saying, “It takes a lot of discipline to retire on top.It was a long process on my mind, but it’s time to do it. Only afew people have done it and I always said that I want to retire onmy own and not be told to retire. It takes discipline, and incombat sports that’s how you should retire -- on top.”
St. Pierre thanked UFC staff and dignitaries including UFCPresident Dana White; former company officials like LorenzoFertitta; and friends and teammates Renzo Gracieand his coach Firas Zahabi, among many others. He also thanked hisvarious managers and advisers throughout his career, remarkingthat, “They’re more than advisers, they’re friends.”
He then went on to voice his appreciation for those that inspiredhim to persevere in MMA as a fighter and as an ambassador of thesport: “When I was young the reason why I started doing mixedmartial arts was because I watched Royce Graciegrowing up when he won the first UFC. At that particular moment Iknew that’s exactly what I wanted to do. It’s weird, it’s like Ihad a vision; and I wanted to say thank you to Royce Gracieto have inspired me.” He also thanked hockey all-time great WayneGretzky for being an incredible athlete and role model, claiming hemodeled his career after Gretzky. “Everything starts with a dream.I was able to have a dream because of these guys.”
After he concluded his opening remarks, the floor was opened up tomedia, who began by asking about his potential fight with KhabibNurmagomedov. He replied “We tried to organize the fight withKhabib, I know Khabib want it and I want it, but the UFC had otherplan[s]. To the point where I am in my career, for me it’s moretaking one fight at a time instead of being there for severalfights, and the way the business works … if they promote someone,they want to keep him somewhere … it’s like an investment.”
Firmly in a different state of mind than earlier in his career, hisapproach to fighting changed drastically, which led to the officialdecision announced today. St. Pierre unabashedly admitted, “I don’thave the same motivation I used to … I used to want to go there andbeat everybody, I don’t care who and when, I want to destroyeverybody. I don’t have the same anger -- the same hunger --anymore. Even though physically I’m on top of my game, the hungeris not the same.”
He was quick to praise potential opponent Nurmagomedov, wishingNurmagomedov the best of luck and proclaiming that he thinks Khabibis the “best fighter.” Following up, he was asked about hisreaction when he received a message from Nurmagomedov asking towait until November for one final fight. He responded, “For afighter where I am right now in my career, the most exciting thingwas also the scariest thing to do, is to fight an opponent whoseems invincible. And Khabib is that guy right now, that’s why wewanted to fight him.
“It’s a fight that could elevate my legacy, and I knew he wanted tofight me and this message excited me but unfortunately it takes twofighters and the organization for that fight to happen,” headded.
When asked about the proudest moment of his career, instead ofpointing at a particular win, or his comeback at a higher weightclass to take the middleweight belt from MichaelBisping, he had this to say: “The moment I’m the most proud ofmy career is when I got dropped, in the fight game, it’s when I gotdropped by the head kick by CarlosCondit and I fall down and I was able to stand up … It shows Ihad the guts to come back from an obstacle and I was able toovercome it.”
Discussing his retirement as a whole, and his thoughts on movingon, he related to the crowd that only a few potential opponentswould have intrigued him enough to face in the cage. He stressedthe importance of staying motivated, but was quick to state that hewas satisfied with his career as a whole and that this was theright time to retire.
St. Pierre maintained that he owes his life to martial arts, as hedescribed that they gave him purpose and kept him on the righttrack: “Martial arts taught me confidence, you know peoplesometimes they link martial arts to violence and a lot of badstuff, but for me martial arts saved my life…If it would not be formartial arts, I don’t know where I would have been … it savedme.”
Wearing a wry grin, he remarked that the end of his fighting careerdid not mean the end of his life, nor that he would be moving onfrom the sport in any other capacity beyond professionalcompetition. “I’m always gonna be training, for me it’s just an ‘aurevoir,’ it’s just a goodbye, I’m not dead, I’m always gonna betraining, I see a lot of athletes they become fat … it ain’t gonnahappen with me.”
For now, though, St. Pierre beamed that he was ready to finallyenjoy retirement. Planning on taking a trip to “someplace exotic,”he appeared genuinely relieved that he no longer had to beconcerned about the sport and those involved. “I’m out of the grid,that’s good news, I don’t ever care about the other guys, I don’twant them to call me out because I’m out.”
While he may no longer compete, he stressed that he would not losea major part of his life, saying “Fighting, it’s what I love to doin my life, but this is not my life. It’s just a little part ofwhat I do that goes away … for me it’s a very happy day.”
As is customary for some MMA retirements, an announcement may nottruly spell the end of a fighter’s career. One merely needs to lookback a few years in St. Pierre’s career, where after defeatingJohnyHendricks at UFC 167 in 2013, he vacated his title andannounced he would be taking an “indefinite hiatus,” only to comeback about four years later. St. Pierre did not rule out that hewould never again return to MMA and the UFC in particular if theygave him an offer he couldn’t refuse. He likened a potential returnopportunity to something one would see in a movie, bringing aretired fighter back out for one last appearance.
Although he last competed over 15 months ago when he became one ofa small class of fighters to win belts in two divisions, he wasconfident that he was leaving the sport at the right time.“Especially in full contact sports like fighting -- MMA, boxing --athletes should not be told to retire, they should take theirretirement when they’re on top,” he said.
St. Pierre retires with a storied 17-year career spanning 15 yearswith the UFC from 2004 to 2019. He ends his career riding a13-fight win streak in the Octagon, tied with MaxHolloway and DemetriousJohnson for the third-longest win streak in the history of theorganization. Only Jon Jones (14)and AndersonSilva (16) held longer win streaks in their careers. Arecord-holder in several other categories as well, St. Pierreretires as one of the greatest fighters in MMA history.