It is nearing two years since GSP went on a hiatus from MMA and relinquished his UFC welterweight title. This came a few weeks after he defended his title when he beat Johny Hendricks at UFC 167.
This stretch is among the best ever runs in MMA. GSP infamously lost his first title to Matt Serra via a shock first round TKO at UFC 69 back in 2007, this turned out the be his very last loss. He beat Josh Koscheck in his next fight before submitting Matt Hughes to win the interim title. Then GSP got his revenge on Matt Serra and unified the UFC title.
From there the Canadian defended his title nine times against the likes of BJ Penn, Jake Shields, Jon Fitch, Carlos Condit, Nick Diaz and the aforementioned Johny Hendricks. Mix in a couple of serious knee injuries too. During those nine defences he fought an incredible 44 full rounds of MMA as all but one of the fights went the distance.
Ever since he left the sport everyone always questioned him about returning but he never really said much. But now ‘Rush’ hinted that a return could be on the way as he spoke to Canadian outlet RDS.ca.
“I’m starting to get the feeling, more and more, to come back,” St-Pierre said (as translated by MMAJunkie.com). “I watch the fights to see what’s going on in my division, and I’m staying in shape. It’s like a knife that I have to keep sharp just in case I ever decide to jump back in the mix. It’s most likely not going to happen in 2015, but I don’t know, yet.”
Alan’s Angle: Just over 2 months left in 2015, no surprise that he said it isn’t likely to happen this year. However there are two massive dates in 2016 that could do with GSP’s participations – UFC 198 in New York and UFC 200 in Vegas.
It is crazy to think that GSP is gone two years now and that he is still only 34-years-old. He has been around the UFC since 2004. Current champ Robbie Lawler is 33-years-old and first made his appearance in the UFC in 2002.