Manager denies White’s claim GSP is retired

UFC president Dana White made it crystal clear that he wants fighters to take every fight offered. Welterweight G.O.A.T. Georges St-Pierre is interested in just a few fights, and was not interested in for example Nate Diaz; for that matter, Nate wasn’t interested either, saying it was Nick’s fight. However, White has returned to a public stance that GSP is retired.

During an interview with Canada’s TSN, White was asked what fight was more likely to happen, Conor McGregor vs. Khabib Nurmagomoedov or McGregor vs. St-Pierre?

“We’ve been talking about a fight with GSP, but GSP is retired,” said White. “As far as I’m concerned GSP is retired right now. He’s not interested in fighting anybody. … We were trying to do a fight with him and Nate Diaz in Los Angeles, and GSP doesn’t want the fight. GSP doesn’t want to fight right now. He’s not interested in fighting.”

White’s position was identical during the negotiations leading to his return, and GSP did, in fact, come back. And he will again.

St-Pierre’s manager Rodolphe Beaulieu said his fighter is not retired.

He was on Ariel [Helwani’s] show a few weeks ago and on Joe Rogan’s podcast a couple weeks ago and during a three-hour interview he never said he was retired, texted Beaulieu to Mike Bohn for MMAjunkie. He mentioned on both what would interest him. On both interviews he said exactly why he had no interest for the Diaz fight. He explained all his reasoning.

St-Pierre explained to Rogan exactly what he was looking for, and it isn’t retirement.

I don’t have much left. And for what I have left, I want to make the big fight, the fight that the fans want to see, want to enjoy,” said GSP, as transcribed by Shaun Al-Shatti for MMA Fighting. “I want, personally for me, to achieve something that is unique, that is rare, that maybe has never been attempted before. That would be something that excites me. And I’m not only driven by money. It’s good to have money, we like money, it drives us all, including myself, but it’s not the unique thing that drives me.”

Satisfaction is a death blow. If you’re satisfied, if you’re a champion and you’re satisfied: Retire, man, because you’re going down. You’re finished. You’re going to get hurt, as an athlete, especially in our game. Everything I do, I go further and further. That’s why I didn’t want to fight Nate Diaz, because if I fight Nate Diaz, it’s been done before. It’s not exciting for me. And I would be going into that fight satisfied, and if I do that, it’s very dangerous. I want to do something like … 155, I never did it before, [getting that] title. Or beating a certain guy that he’s on a freaking rise.

It could be Khabib. The thing is with Khabib, he called me out. Physically, now is not a good time for me. I need to wait a little bit. However, I feel the 155 division now, it’s Conor, the champion, there’s Ferguson but I think Ferguson is out, and there’s other guys too, but those are the two guys: Conor and Khabib. But Khabib now I think is the champion, but he needs to fight maybe Conor to be [the man].

GSP was asked when he might return.

It’s hard to say, he said. Maybe a few weeks. Maybe, I think, a few weeks. Maybe one, two, three months max. Maybe, maximum. Maybe less than that. I want to make sure I get past that [colitis], because I feel like if I go back into it [before I’m 100 percent], then it will start all over again, and I don’t want that.

Forty years old, I’m a grown man. I’m not going to fight in a freaking cage at 40 years old. So it has to happen fast. And if it doesn’t happen, I’m happy. I’m happy too.