5 of the longest spells of inactivity from a UFC champion

#3 Georges St-Pierre – 1 year and 7 months

GSP missed the majority of 2011 and 2012 with a knee injury

After defeating Matt Serra to begin his second Welterweight title reign in April 2008, Georges St-Pierre was one of the UFC’s most consistent champions. Up to April 2011 he made six title defences, with his longest layoff being eight months between July 2009 and March 2010.

After defeating Jake Shields at UFC 129, his next defense was booked against Nick Diaz – who was then removed and replaced by Carlos Condit - at October 2011’s UFC 137.

St-Pierre ended up withdrawing from that fight with a knee injury, and in a strange turn of events, Diaz then defeated BJ Penn in the main event.

That put Diaz back in line for a shot at GSP, but when the fight was booked for February 2012’s UFC 143, the champion was again forced out with a more severe knee injury, sidelining him for most of the year. Condit stepped in and fought Diaz in his place, winning an Interim title.

It would be another nine months before we’d see St-Pierre again – 1 year and 7 months after his win over Shields he returned to action following a full knee reconstruction and beat Condit to unify the titles at November 2012’s UFC 154.

Some five years later he somehow topped that feat and returned from four years on the shelf to beat Michael Bisping for the UFC Middleweight title, showing layoffs apparently don’t mean a lot to the Canadian superstar.