Georges St-Pierre Announces Retirement From MMA

Arguably one of the greatest MMA fighters of all-time has retired.

Georges St-Pierre announced his retirement from MMA on Thursday morning at a press conference in Montreal.

The news that he planned to retire was first reported by RDS' Benoit Beaudoin and confirmed by ESPN's Ariel Helwani.

At the press conference, St-Pierre said, "In combat sports, you should retire on top. I’m thankful I get to do that."

St-Pierre also said Wayne Gretzky inspired him to reach for the stars. He said he always wanted to be like him and be a gentleman.

Accoridng to Helwani, St-Pierre was hoping to secure a fight Khabib Nurmagomedov. But once that didn't happen, St-Pierre decided it was time to retire.

However, Nurmagomedov posted to Instagram on Wednesday, writing, "Let’s do it in November. After this fight you can retire. I grow up on your fights, and have nothing but respect for you, and I believe showed that to you George when you were in Moscow. But, it would be honor for me to share Octagon with one of the greatest fighters of all time."

The 37-year-old from Canada won UFC’s welterweight belt in 2008 and defended it nine times. He was named the Canadian Athlete of the Year by Rogers Sportsnet in 2008, 2009 and 2010. But after a violent fight in 2013, St-Pierre walked away from the sport.

He returned in 2017 to the Octagon at UFC 217 where he defeated Michael Bisping by submission to win the middleweight title. With the victory, he became the fourth fighter in the history of the UFC to be a multi-division champion.

Nurmagomedov was suspended nine months and fined $500,000 by the Nevada State Athletic Commission for his role in the post-UFC 229 brawl after he defeated Conor McGregor.