FILE — (Top) Georges St. Pierre battles Thiago Alves during their welterweight title bout during UFC 100 on July 11, 2009 in Las Vegas, Nevada. Jon Kopaloff/Getty Images/AFP
Firas Zahabi, head trainer of Georges St. Pierre, hinted at the possibility of the former UFC welterweight champion making a return to the Octagon.
St. Pierre has been inactive since successfully defending his title against Johny Hendricks in November 2013. A month after his split-decision win, the Canadian fighter vacated his title and announced he will be taking a leave from MMA.
Zahabi is convinced it’s only a matter of time before St. Pierre decides to fight again.
“I personally think, if you ask me my own personal opinion, I think he cannot stay away. I think he’ll eventually get bit by the bug and he’ll eventually do something spontaneous. That’s just Georges,” Zahabi said in an appearance on MMA Hour. “I think he’s doing so much in his life, that it has to be a fight that really excites him enough to pause everything he is doing.”
“MMA competition has taken such a huge chunk out of his life, that for him to comeback and put his life on pause again, put all his time and energy into training camp and all that, it has to come down to his management and UFC working something out, working a deal, and a fight that makes him want to comeback,” added Zahabi, who suggested St. Pierre may return this year when he was pressed to make a forecast on his ward’s future.
Should St. Pierre make a comeback, his opponent could be either Conor McGregor or Nate Diaz and it will likely depend on who wins in their potential rematch that would headline UFC 200 in July, as per bleacher report.
“If McGregor had won, he’s just a guy that stirs the pot like nobody else,” said Zahabi. “It could have been crazy if he called out Georges, it could have been crazy if Nate called out Georges. Anything could have been motivating for Georges, I think it could have happened. Nothing happened.”
Interestingly,the 34-year-old St. Pierre was in attendance when Diaz made McGregor tap out in the second round of their welterweight fight early this month in Las Vegas.
“The Quebec native spoke to UFC’s Megan Olivi before the fight and described McGregor as “fantastic” before going on to say he was strictly on hand to see friends, not surveying any potential opponents,” Tom Sunderland of bleacher report wrote.