Matt Hughes tells Georges St-Pierre 'get out' of UFC

After defending his Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) welterweight title for a division-record ninth consecutive time against Johny Hendricks at UFC 167 in Nov. 2013, Georges St-Pierre announced that he would relinquish his title and take an indefinite leave of absence from mixed martial arts (MMA).

Because according to the former champion, the pressure and his battle with obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD), had finally caught up to him. Nonetheless, "Rush" has made sure to avoided using the word "retirement" when talking about his break from the combat world, leaving hope that he would return someday.

But, according to former division champion Matt Hughes -- a man who knows St-Pierre all too well ... inside the Octagon, at least -- the Canadian should forget about making a comeback and go ahead and put a bow on his career.

He gave his reasons Canada.com:

"The UFC would hate me saying this but I'm going to say it anyway. If I was GSP, I'd probably hang them up. Here I am a guy that lost my (last) two fights and I'd love to get back in there (to finish on a win). And Georges got his hand raised the last fight.So if I had to give advice, I'd say, ‘You want to get out? Get out.'"

According to Hughes, St-Pierre banked more than enough money in the sport to walk away comfortably (proof), so fighting for cash isn't exactly a proper motive to return.

Plus, the fact that he has failed to actually finish an opponent in his last nine outings leads Hughes to believe that St-Pierre may have lost some of the drive he had early on and that he's simply going through the motions.

He explains:

"I like him. He always gets his hand raised and he always does it with a method. But, he took a punishment with Johny Hendricks and you could tell that by his face at the (post-fight) news conference. He's made a lot of money. I don't know what he makes a fight, but he's made a lot of money. He made a lot more money than I have. And I'm retired. So he could step back, retire. He's got plenty of money. And it seems like maybe he's even lost a little bit of the drive. I wish he was more wanting to go out and finish somebody nowadays. It's just like he's going out there and kind of going through the moves, so I don't think his heart's there."

If that wasn't enough reason to scratch a comeback, Hughes says St-Pierre should consider his health, seeing as how he took quite a beating at the hands of "Bigg Rigg" in his last outing. And if he does return, Hendricks -- the new division champion -- will still be there waiting to fight him again.

Not to mention the other younger, stronger contenders who have can bring the pain with their punching power.

His words:

"He did get beat up last time. I don't know if he wants to come back and take a beating like that. He's going to come back against a guy like Robbie Lawler, who's going to hit him. And Johny Hendricks, who's going to hit him. So there's not many reasons for him to come back ... You tell me what's he got to come back for?"

Having fought one another three times, Hughes and St-Pierre have a history that dates back to 2004. At the time, Hughes was sitting on top of the MMA world as ruler of the 170-pound division, while St-Pierre was just three fights into his UFC career.

In their first bout at UFC 50, Hughes submitted St-Pierre in the first round to retain the 170-pound title. Two years later, "Rush" got some revenge, knocking out the UFC Hall of Famer at UFC 65 to become the new champ.

The rivals then met for the third and final time in 2007, as St-Pierre submitted Matt in the second round of their trilogy bout at UFC 79.

Hughes retired four years later on the heels of a two-fight skid and went on to take a front office position with UFC.

Though St-Pierre is unlikely to join his old foe at Zuffa headquarters should he choose to retire, it's safe to assume that the French-Canadian will have other ways to supplement his income.

Perhaps another reason the long-time champ should consider calling it a day on his storied combat career.