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Former UFC champion Georges St-Pierre recently spoke about his struggles with mental health and how it contributed to his decision to retire from the sport of MMA.
Speaking on MMA Junkie's Legend 2 Legend series, 'Rush' started by talking about his issues with the UFC regarding performance enhancing drugs.
"I was struggling with UFC. I had a lot of issues with the UFC because of performance enhancing drugs... I know they know that a lot of their athletes were using performance enhancing drugs but...they didn't want to test them because they know that a lot of their champions would fall," said Georges St-Pierre.
Georges St-Pierre then discussed how his mental health issues played a part in him vacating the welterweight title.
'I think I carry too much pressure for too long. I was champion for a long time and it's hard to become champion but it's even harder to stay champion because you have a lot of pressure on yourself... I think I just needed [a] vacation and I was in some kind of depression at the time...I was ashamed to admit it because I had a dream life, you know, I have a lot of money, I'm healthy... I didn't know what all people would think about me... I was going through mental depression and on top of that was fighting UFC against performance enhancing drugs, and I had a lot of personal issues... I just needed a break."
You can watch the full episode of the series below:
Georges St-Pierre vacated the welterweight title after his win against Johny Hendricks at UFC 167
Georges St-Pierre last competed in the UFC's welterweight division in November 2013.
'Rush' was pitted against Johny Hendricks for his ninth consecutive title defense at UFC 167. The razor-close fight ended with a split decision victory for the Canadian.
St-Pierre then vacated his title and disappeared from the UFC for four years before returning in November 2017 to take on then-middleweight champion Michael Bisping in a title fight.
It took Georges St-Pierre less than three rounds to finish Bisping and become the new middleweight king. The 40-year-old then vacated the title and a few years later officially announced his retirement from the sport.
