"Fighting is not who I am”: Georges St-Pierre opens up about retirement and UFC return

When Georges St-Pierre first walked away from fighting in 2013, he did it the way every fighter dreams: still a champion, still at the top. But like most stories in MMA, things didn’t stay neat and tidy for long. A few years later, St-Pierre found himself back under the bright lights at Madison Square Garden, pulling off one more incredible win before stepping away again — this time for good. Looking back, St-Pierre says he has no regrets about how it all played out, even if he did leave some people, Dana White included, pretty unhappy along the way.

By the time he fought Johny Hendricks at UFC 167, Georges St-Pierre had been through the wars. He’d lost his belt once, won it back, and defended it against nine straight challengers. When he edged out Hendricks, he knew he needed a break — and just like that, he walked away.
Four years later, he came back. It wasn’t supposed to be some half-hearted return, either. St-Pierre jumped right back in at the deep end, moving up to middleweight and submitting Michael Bisping to become a two-division UFC champion.

But not long after that historic night in New York, St-Pierre started battling something much tougher than any opponent: ulcerative colitis. His health struggles left him with no choice but to relinquish the middleweight belt shortly after capturing it.
“You have to prepare before it happens and I retired with a smile," St-Pierre told Bloody Elbow. "I mean at that time when I retired, I had ulcerative colitis. I had bad symptoms and I didn’t want to hold the belt because I think it’s disrespectful for the other competitors so I needed to make sure, to know what I wanted to do so I relinquished the belt so the other guys had a chance to fight for it.”
Reflecting on it now, St-Pierre realizes his brief comeback ruffled a lot of feathers behind the scenes. "My short-lived UFC return p—– off everyone, especially Dana White," he said, laughing. But still, he wouldn’t change a thing.
Because at the end of the day, Georges St-Pierre doesn’t define himself by fighting anymore. “Fighting is not who I am, it’s what I used to do. Of course, I made peace with it. I will probably never feel that rush of adrenaline, that feeling of winning a fight, it’s crazy addicting, but I have to get some of that competitive edge that I need, to put it in other things.”
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These days, St-Pierre is healthy again and still has that competitive spark, but his priorities have shifted. He’s open to grappling matches — but only if the cause is right, the event is fun, and the risks are low.
“I’m trying to get back 100%. If it’s for a good cause... something fun like grappling, the risk of injury is minimized. I still like to compete but for different reasons,” he said.
Fighting made Georges St-Pierre a legend, but it’s everything he’s done after that makes his story really worth telling.