Not only has Freddie Roach been Georges St-Pierre’s boxing coach for a number of years, it turns out he also helped the former welterweight champion in sorting out his contractual situation with the UFC.
GSP and his advisors had been negotiating with the UFC for some time beforehand, but as was well publicized at the time, the talks stalled, preventing him from making a return to the Octagon at the tail-end of 2016.
At that stage Roach stepped in and offered to help GSP out, believing that his experience, clout and contacts could lead to a deal being reached.
“We started a couple of months ago,” Roach told Ariel Helwani on The MMA Hour radio show on Monday. “We met with Georges, and I introduced him to Nick [Khan, an agent from CAA]. We all worked on the game plan together, and it worked out very well.
“We weren’t looking to steal anyone away from anybody. We just wanted to make the best deal we could for Georges. I do train him quite a bit, and he is a great guy. He needed some help, and that’s what we did.”
Things went smoothly from there on, with Khan and Roach managing to wrap up the deal in just two meetings with the UFC brass.
“Georges was a little disappointed (before) because his people couldn’t get the deal done, and couldn’t negotiate the deal with Dana,” Roach said. “I think there was a little ‘dislike’ there somewhere along the way. Me and Nick being neutral parties and having a good game plan, I think we pulled off a great deal for him. I think it was a very fair deal.
“It all worked out really well. At the end of the day, I think everyone was happy. I’m looking forward to getting Georges ready for these fights. I think it will be a lot of fun.”
