GSP Officially Retires, Khabib Sends Him Some Love

Well, Georges St. Pierre made it official today, and with the help of a UFC-promoted press conference, told the world he’s hanging up the gloves for good.

Yes, we should all feel a tinge of sadness, although the dude had already retired, and only came back to throw the middleweight division into disarray. But hey, the man was a legend and a star.

Here’s the UFC’s official release:

UFC® legend and former two-division champion Georges St-Pierre announced his retirement from mixed martial arts (MMA) today at a press conference in Montreal. Widely considered the greatest welterweight champion of all time, he holds the record for the most 170-pound title defences at nine.

“It takes a lot of discipline to become and stay champion. It also takes a lot of discipline to stop while still feeling that you’re in the best physical and mental shape of your life but I’ve always planned to leave the sport when I’m at the top and in good health,” said St-Pierre (26-2, fighting out of Montreal, Canada). “I want to thank my family, my fans, my coaches, trainers and training partners, my sponsors and my agents for their indefectible support during all these years. I will forever be grateful for the work of Lorenzo and Frank Fertitta, as well as Dana White and all UFC employees for giving me the opportunity to showcase my skills before the world, from UFC 46 to UFC 217. I also want to thank each of my opponents. All of them are incredible athletes who brought out the best in me. I retire from competition with great pride at having had a positive impact on my sport. I intend to keep training and practicing martial arts for as long as I live and I look forward to watching the new generation of champions carry our sport into the future.”

Meanwhile, the last guy who jockeyed hard to get a fight with him – lightweight champ Khabib Nurmagomedov – gave GSP some love and respect on Instagram.