UFC officials: 'Georges St-Pierre remains under an existing contract'
UFC officials have countered Georges St-Pierre comments regarding the status of his contract in a statement
Earlier today, former UFC welterweight champion Georges St-Pierre announced he was a free agent, thus ending his time with the world’s leading mixed martial arts promotion.
“Right now, I’m a free agent,” said St-Pierre during an appearance on The MMA Hour. “You heard it right, I’m a free agent. My lawyer terminated the contract with the UFC.”
St-Pierre (25-2) has not competed since defending his 170-pound title against Johnny Hendricks at UFC 167 in November 2013. This victory marked the Canadian’s ninth consecutive title defense and 19th total win under the UFC banner. However, immediately after his win, “Rush” announced he would be taking an indefinite hiatus from competition.
Earlier this year, the man known as ‘Rush’ revealed he was feeling the itch to compete again. Specifically targeting the upcoming UFC 206 in Toronto, the French-Canadian continuously made it known his team was working with the UFC on a new deal. But these talks fell apart when the UFC was sold to WME-IMG in July.
St-Pierre also revealed he was offered a last-minute fight against former champion Robbie Lawler, but the American Top Team product said he was still taking time off from MMA after a knockout loss to Tyron Woodley in July. At that point, St-Pierre’s lawyer told him his UFC contract was terminated.
“I think we were close to agreement towards the end, until the big news arrived,” said St-Pierre. “News was the UFC got sold, and we were told everything was put on ice until the new owners took charge. So we waited for weeks without any news from the new owners. They said Lorenzo’s offer was off the table.”
UFC officials later counter their former champion’s comments regarding the status of his contract in a statement released to ESPN.
“Georges St-Pierre remains under an existing agreement with [UFC parent company] Zuffa, LLC as his MMA promoter. Zuffa intends to honor its agreement with St-Pierre and reserves its rights under the law to have St-Pierre do the same.”
St-Pierre holds several UFC records including the most wins in title fights (12), second most consecutive title defenses (9), second most wins (19), most wins by decision (12), most successful title defenses in the UFC Welterweight division (9), second longest combined title streak in UFC history (2,204 days) and the most consecutive title defenses in the Welterweight division (9).
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