Georges St-Pierre retirement announcement set after Khabib superfight fails to materialize

Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) welterweight champion Georges St-Pierre, who also held gold at 185 pounds, was unable to convince promotion president, Dana White, to grant him an immediate shot at reigning lightweight champion, Khabib Nurmagomedov.

Even though “The Eagle” was on board.

“Rush” was hoping to use that once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to make history (yet again), becoming the first mixed martial arts (MMA) fighter in UFC to hold championship titles across three different weight classes.

Sorry, Conor.

Unfortunately for St-Pierre — and fight fans — White never had the best relationship with the French-Canadian phenom (call it “tense”), particularly in the wake of his hasty exit from combat sports back in late 2013 (leading to this outburst).

St-Pierre (26-2) will host a special media press conference on Thursday (Feb. 21, 2019), where he is expected to announce his retirement, according to Benoit Beaudoin. “Rush” turns 38 in May, so expect this farewell to stick, unless something dramatic happens over the next 24 hours.

Not likely.