St-Pierre’s contract ‘frozen’ during hiatus
Yesterday during a special media conference call Georges St-Pierre announced a hiatus from MMA and that he was vacating the…
Yesterday during a special media conference call Georges St-Pierre announced a hiatus from MMA and that he was vacating the welterweight title. He did however leave the door open for a return, but exactly how the situation works logistically was furthur explained by UF President Dana White:
Once “Rush” dropped off the call, UFC President Dana White was asked the status of St-Pierre’s contract with the promotion. White confirmed that while he was free to pursue options outside of MMA, St-Pierre’s contract with the UFC was frozen until he returned from his indefinite sabbatical.
This decision is important for two reasons. The first is that it allows the UFC to set up a returning St-Pierre with whoever is holding the UFC title at the time. That match up would surely bring one of the biggest pay-per-view (PPV) buy rates in the promotion’s history.
More importantly is that it prevents St-Pierre from attempting to sign with a different promotion. With the precedent set with the legal battles with Couture, the contract with the UFC would be upheld in court should St-Pierre’s camp attempt to challenge the legality.
