UFC
Georges St-Pierre thinks he should have stopped fighting one or two fights earlier than he did
Jul 27, 2015 - 2:55:23 PM Georges St-Pierre thinks he should have stopped fighting one or two fights earlier than he did

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By: Jamie Penick, MMATorch Editor-in-Chief

"There is different reasons of why I took a break. What I can say is, I'm not sure, I don't know right now if I wanna come back or not. I'm not sure when, if I do. So it's still the same answer as before... I've been doing this sport at the elite level for a very long time. I've been champion for like nine years, eight years. And it's a very stressful life. You have a lot of criticism, a lot of pressure and critics, and everything put together, it hit you a lot. You don't wanna hear the critics sometimes, but it's still there. I'm a sensitive guy, and it hit you, hit you, and you're never good enough and stuff. So for my mental health, I needed to step out and get a little bit of a social life.

I became world champion by training for fun. And then the fun became business, and business became stressful, and then you lost fun. I didn't have fun at the end, I did it because I had to, not because I wanted to. I should have actually stopped maybe one fight before, or two fights before, but I couldn't. It was always constantly another guy challenging me. Carrying all this weight on my shoulders, I felt like I needed to do it, instead of wanting to do it."

-Georges St-Pierre talks about his exit from MMA and why he feels he should have taken his hiatus earlier in an interview in Germany with GroundAndPound.de (via BloodyElbow.com).

Penick's Analysis: It really seems like St-Pierre's just done. And I don't blame him if he never comes back. He made his money, he left on top, and he's got nothing to regret in his fighting career. Given the way he continues to speak about things, he's clearly in no rush to get back in the cage, and it would be surprising at this stage if he actually decided to fight again. Few guys get to actually go out on their own terms, so good on him if he's decided there's no reason to return.

[GSP art by Travis Beaven (c) MMATorch.com]