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What's the story?
You can't accuse Georges St-Pierre or being cryptic in his public statements regarding his retirement.
Having not taken a fight since capturing the UFC middleweight title from Michael Bisping back in 2017, GSP publicly removed himself from the USADA testing pool and retired from active competition earlier this year. However, that hasn't stopped regular calls from the Diaz brothers, who seem intent on setting up a rematch between St-Pierre and Nick Diaz.
In case you didn't know...
GSP and Diaz first faced off back in 2013 in the main event of UFC 158 with GSP earning a decision victory on the night.
Both fighters have been largely inactive since that fight, but that hasn't seemed to stop rumblings that a rematch may one day come to fruition in the UFC.
The heart of the matter
During a recent interview with Chael Sonnen, GSP was asked to address Nate Diaz's suggestion that he turned down a fight with St-Pierre due to the unfinished business between the Canadian fighter and his brother Nick [H/T BJ Penn]
“I think this guy’s gonna hate me until the day I die. It’s unbelievable. I know he doesn’t like me, and he looks to get me all the time. But, I genuinely like the guy. I’m telling you the truth."
“I don’t know what to say… he’s one of my biggest adversaries. Even if we only fought once, we are very different personalities. I think that’s why the clash of the personalities makes it very interesting. But I’m retired now, I don’t want to go back and fight."
“I don’t want to fight his brother, Nick Diaz, it’s not interesting for me. There’s nothing I can gain from that. The risk is not worth the reward… There’s nothing good that can come out of it, even if I win. I think the odds will favour me and expect me to win, and if I lose it will be a complete disaster. I don’t want to put myself into another training camp and make all the sacrifices of a three-month training camp for that type of fight. It’s not worth it for me.”
What's next?
As always, St-Pierre was to the point in his statement on Sonnen's podcast. No fight will be getting made with Nick Diaz in the near future.
What is interesting is that he did appear to remain somewhat open to a potential return against an opponent who offers more in terms of legacy.
Could there be another chapter in Georges St-Pierre's MMA journey yet to come?
