If Georges St-Pierre ever decides to return to the UFC there’s a strong chance he’d get an immediate shot at the title he vacated last December.
“It would be tough to deny that GSP comes right back and doesn’t fight for the title, you know what I mean?” UFC president Dana White told UFC.com. “GSP can do whatever he wants. If he wants to come back and fight for the title, or if he wants a fight before that—he can do whatever he wants.”
St-Pierre hasn’t fought since a controversial win over Johny Hendricks at UFC 167 last November. After his win he announced he’d be stepping away from mixed martial arts indefinitely to deal with personal issues; a month later he officially vacated his welterweight title.
“It’s always a huge debate on a guy who’s had a career like GSP—to go out on top and walk away with the belt,” White said. “That’s a personal decision that a fighter has to make. Being the competitor that GSP is, I can’t see GSP [walking away yet]. But that’s up to him.”
Typically when a champion vacates a title or when there’s an interim belt in play, the champion gets a shot whenever they’re healthy and ready to fight, however that’s not always the case.
Dominick Cruz vacated his bantamweight title after a long layoff due to injury and he’s not getting an immediate shot to regain his title. Instead, Cruz is set to face Takaya Mizugaki in the featured preliminary bout at UFC 178 on Sept. 27.
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If St-Pierre, who has never referred to his leave of absence as a retirement, decides to make a comeback, the Canadian likely wouldn’t be ready to compete until late 2015 at the earliest, according to his trainer, Firas Zahabi.
Earlier this week, Zahabi told ESPN that St-Pierre will begin martial arts training in October. St-Pierre has been recovering from ACL surgery since April and Zahabi added he doesn’t think St-Pierre, who turned 33 in May, would be able to get into proper fight shape for a while.
“I don’t think he’ll be anywhere near fight shape until he’s late-34 — mid-34,” Zahabi said. “I think he’s got a few fights in him but I don’t want to speak for the guy. He might retire and no one could blame him.”
Although St-Pierre has made no formal plans to return to competition, Zahabi has told Sportsnet in the past he felt there was a 50/50 chance St-Pierre would one day return to fighting. Also, in April, St-Pierre’s former trainer Greg Jackson told Sportsnet he believes St-Pierre will eventually decide to fight once or twice more.
St-Pierre is 25-2 in MMA and debuted in the UFC in January 2004. He is a two-time champion that holds the promotion’s all-time records for most wins, strikes, takedowns and total time spent competing in a UFC cage.
