Pic: Georges St. Pierre 'unconditionally apologizes' for controversial support of 'King of Pot'

Former Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) welterweight champion and clean-sport crusader Georges St. Pierre came out in support of his "good friend" and fellow Canadian, Jimmy Cournoyer, after the "King of Pot" plead guilty to drug trafficking (more on that here).

Turns out, some of his fans were not too happy about it.

"Rush" penned a letter for the mixed martial arts (MMA) community earlier today (Sun., June 29, 2014) to explain the circumstances behind their relationship, forged by a love for combat sports, and insists he was unaware of any illegal activity prior to Cournoyer's arrest.

See for yourself:

Click the photo to enlarge.

The letter St. Pierre sent to the sentencing judge was asking for leniency. The minimum sentence for Cournoyer's conviction is 20 years in the big house, while the maximum is ... well, let's just say we'll all be dead before that term expires.

But that's up to the courts.

As for "Rush," he's sorry for causing such a stir, but doesn't want to abandon a friend in need and believes in "redemption." Maybe that same stance can help him mend some of the fences over at UFC, and therefore get him back inside the cage in 2015?

Right after he takes care of this, of course.