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#4. St-Pierre vs. Tyron Woodley
After Georges St-Pierre took a break from the sport, the welterweight division was wide-open. Johny Hendricks and Robbie Lawler had reigned as UFC welterweight champion, but Tyron Woodley separated himself in the division. He knocked out Lawler at UFC 201 to become welterweight champion and successfully retained his title on four occasions.
In 2017, there was talk of St-Pierre returning to challenge Woodley for the UFC welterweight championship rather than moving to 185lbs. At the time, ‘The Chosen On’ was unbeaten in 5 fights and had back-to-back title defenses against Stephen ‘Wonderboy’ Thompson. If he retained against Demian Maia at UFC 214, it looked like a bout with GSP would be imminent.
Despite it being a successful title defense for Woodley, UFC President Dana White wasn’t impressed with his performance. With that in mind, White confirmed that ‘Rush’ would be fighting then-UFC middleweight champion Michael Bisping instead.
#3. St-Pierre vs. Johny Hendricks 2
One of the biggest Georges St-Pierre fights that never happened was a rematch with Johny Hendricks. The two fought at UFC 167, which ended up being GSP’s final UFC welterweight title defense.
‘Rush’ absorbed a significant amount of damage and it looked like ‘Big Rigg’ was about to become champion. However, when the fight went the distance, the judges scored the bout 48-47, 48-47, and 47-48 in favor of St-Pierre. He earned his ninth title defense with the split-decision win. The judges' decision made White furious in his post-fight press conference.
Based on what transpired in the fight, a rematch could have generated a greater pay-per-view buyrate. Hendricks defeated Robbie Lawler for the vacant UFC welterweight championship at UFC 171. After ‘Big Rigg’ became champion, it would have been the perfect opportunity to capitalize on a rematch.
Instead of fighting Lawler again at UFC 181, perhaps the UFC could’ve persuaded St-Pierre to return in 2015. ‘Rush’ had recovered from a torn ACL, so the rematch would have been a possibility.
