Dana White: Georges St-Pierre doesn't want to fight
It doesn't look like Georges St-Pierre will be returning to the UFC in 2016 after all.
The former welterweight champion declared earlier this year that he was committed to come back to fighting to resume his career after a three year long hiatus from the sport.
Before he could book a fight, however, St-Pierre voiced concerns about his contract with the UFC because of the new uniform deal with Reebok that prevents him from now wearing sponsors and endorsements into the Octagon when he competes.
Since that time, St-Pierre and his team and been negotiating with the UFC to try and reach an agreement on a new deal but it still hasn't come together.
UFC president Dana White doesn’t buy the contract talk as much as he questions St-Pierre's own desire to compete after walking away from the sport in 2013. White used light heavyweight champion Daniel Cormier as an example when talking about a fighter who really wants to compete versus someone who just doesn't want it anymore.
"When you're somebody that wants to fight, I'll give you an example — (Daniel Cormier) called me, I was trying to have him sit on the shelf for a minute, I wanted to do Anthony Johnson versus (Jon) Jones but Jones' stuff isn't going to be cleared up," White explained on "UFC Tonight".
"(Cormier) was champing at the bit, calling me, calling me and I said 'are you cool sitting on the side while these two fight, cause I think it builds a bigger fight for these two to fight and then come up and fight you?'. He goes 'I don't love it, I prefer not to but if that's what you want me to do, I'll do it'. Then while this whole thing was playing out, nothing had been announced and he's calling me like 'what's going on? Why don't we just fight? Why's this guy calling me out?'. That's the mentality of a fighter."
White doesn't begrudge St-Pierre for wanting to take time off from fighting because he says that's no different than granting Ronda Rousey the last year off after she kept an extremely busy schedule ever since arriving in the UFC.
The moment Rousey asked for time off, White said he told her to take as much time as she needs because he didn't want to see her fighting when she had no desire to be there.
White says that's still the case with St-Pierre and he just doesn't buy that the former welterweight champion really wants to compete again.
There has been a ton of speculation that St-Pierre could return in December to headline the upcoming UFC 206 card in Toronto, but it appears that won't be the case.
White confirmed on Wednesday that the title fight between Daniel Cormier and Anthony "Rumble" Johnson will be the main event in Canada. Of course, St-Pierre could still technically fight on the card as the co-main event, but it's not likely his return would be seen as anything other than a headline bout.
"You're the main event," White said to Cormier. "There shouldn't be a (to be determined) above you."
