Legendary former welterweight champion Georges St-Pierre appears to be closer than ever to finalizing his return to the UFC after taking more than three years out from the sport.
That’s the word according to MMAfighting.com, who claim that the 35 year-old is “on the verge” of agreeing a new multi-fight deal with the promotion.
The Canadian superstar had hoped to return to the Octagon late last year, but contractual discussions with the UFC broke down and a stalemate ensued.
It’s not clear what’s changed since then at this stage, but the UFC will surely be more eager than ever to welcome one of their biggest ever pay-per-view draws back into the fold at a time when it appears as if Ronda Rousey has fought for the last time, Brock Lesnar has just confirmed his retirement and Conor McGregor is on an extended hiatus, while pursuing a potential boxing mega-fight with Floyd Mayweather Jr.
While nothing is definite at this stage, the word is that St-Pierre may be targeting the third quarter of 2017 for his comeback fight, and on The MMA Hour radio show yesterday middleweight champion Michael Bisping claimed that he’d heard rumors that GSP had set his sights on fighting him.
Widely regarded as one of the best pound-for-pound fighters of all time in the sport, St-Pierre vacated his welterweight title in November of 2016 while still riding a 12-fight winning streak, leaving his career record standing at 25-2.
