UFC president Dana White has fired back at Georges St-Pierre after the former welterweight champion had some choice words for the MMA promotion.
In an interview Tuesday, GSP said he didn’t appreciate the lack of support from the UFC in regards to efforts he made to undergo extra drug screenings prior to UFC 167 last November.
At the UFC Fight Night 35 post-fight press conference Wednesday, White said GSP’s comments were “ridiculous” and that “everything Georges St-Pierre says is a little kooky.”
After narrowly defeating Johny Hendricks in the UFC 167 main event, St-Pierre announced he needed to step away from the sport for a while, citing personal reasons; he officially vacated his title in December, but has not ruled out potentially returning to the cage one day.
“He said he needed some time off because he had all these personal issues going on in his life. We said do your thing” White said. “He vacates the title … and we’ve left the guy alone. We’re not asking him to do anything. Guy’s out doing more interviews now than he did when he was fighting. Said he wanted to disappear for a while and go away. But here we are, talking about Georges St-Pierre. We’re trying to get him on the phone. It’s so weird.”
UFC chairman and co-owner Lorenzo Fertitta called GSP’s comments disappointing and, according to White, attempted to contact the Canadian.
“Lorenzo reached out to him. Lorenzo still hasn’t heard from him. If Georges St-Pierre wants to talk like a man he can pick up the phone and call us or come see us face to face but everything that he said is ridiculous,” White said. “If Georges felt that way he should have said it to our faces, or to my face. I’m not very sensitive, you’re not going to hurt my feelings.”
The outspoken UFC president added that he believes GSP’s comments might stem from White’s post-UFC 167 speech where he stated he thought GSP lost the fight.
“What I heard is Georges St-Pierre is upset about some of the things I said at the press conference and he’s upset that I said that he didn’t win the fight, that I thought Johny Hendricks won the fight,” White explained. “But if that’s the case, call me man-to-man. Let’s talk on the phone, let’s sit down face-to-face. I talked to him after the fight face-to-face (and) he didn’t say any of that to me. So the whole thing is a little weird.”
As of early Thursday, GSP has yet to respond to what White and Fertitta had to say.
