It's good to be king (of pay-per-view events).
Former Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) welterweight champion Georges St. Pierre, who walked away from the sport of mixed martial arts (MMA) to escape the rigors of life as the biggest star in the promotion, was recently on hand in Brazil to greet fans and meet with reporters.
Among the topics?
His return to the Octagon, of course, now that MMA has begun to crack down on some of the issues that irked St. Pierre, including drug testing. While regulating bodies are still limited in its application of drug testing, "Rush" called the recent ban on testosterone (read it) a "step in the right direction."
From MMA Fighting:
"UFC has been great to me. I always be proud to be with UFC, they make me who I am. If I'm wealthy right now it's because of UFC. I would not be where I am in my life without UFC. It's never to put down UFC that I've [criticized drug testing], it's to help the sport. Because of the UFC I am very wealthy now. Very wealthy. They give me the life, the exposure that I have, the sponsorship and everything. If I ever come back it's for the love of the sport. If I come back things would have to change a little bit, otherwise I'm not interested to come back. Right now I'm glad to see things headed in the right direction... Who knows, in a few times maybe I'll be bored and come back."
He would have to be really bored.
Right now, there is no reason for St. Pierre to come back, outside of his adoring fan base. He's generated a tremendous amount of money as one of the world's best fighters not just from UFC, but also through his sponsorships with Gatorade and Under Armor, just to name a few.
And let's not forget his big-budget movie role.
"Rush" can train when he wants, eat what he wants and most of all, live stress free. Unless he starts living his life like a rap video, he probably won't run out of money anytime soon, so let's hope he gets tired of twiddling his soon to be 33-year-old thumbs before it gets too late.
Tick-tock, tick-tock...
Get the latest gear
