One of the all-time greats has officially retired. Former UFC welterweight and middleweight champion Georges St-Pierre announced his retirement Thursday at a press conference at Bell Centre in Montreal. “It takes a lot of discipline to become and stay champion. It also takes a lot of discipline to stop while still feeling that you’re in the best physical and mental shape of your life but I’ve always planned to leave the sport when I’m at the top and in good health,” St-Pierre said in a statement. “I want to thank my family, my fans, my coaches, trainers and training partners, my sponsors and my agents for their indefectible support during all these years. “I will forever be grateful for the work of Lorenzo and Frank Fertitta, as well as Dana White and all UFC employees for giving me the opportunity to showcase my skills before the world, from UFC 46 to UFC 217. I also want to thank each of my opponents. All of them are incredible athletes who brought out the best in me. I retire from competition with great pride at having had a positive impact on my sport. I intend to keep training and practicing martial arts for as long as I live and I look forward to watching the new generation of champions carry our sport into the future.” The news comes 15 months after St-Pierre’s last fight in the main event of UFC 217, where he returned from a four-year hiatus to defeat Michael Bisping and capture a 185-pound title. Shortly after, St-Pierre would vacate that belt citing a diagnosis of ulcerative colitis that was related to his bulking up to compete at middleweight. Recently, St-Pierre said he was fully recovered, but unsure of his fighting future. At Thursday’s press conference, St-Pierre wanted to make it clear that this would be the end for his fighting career and went on to thank his friends, family, coaches, fans, and influences. “When I was young, the reason why I started doing mixed martial arts is because I watched Royce Gracie growing up when he won the first UFC,” St-Pierre said. “At that particular moment, I knew exactly that’s what I wanted to do. It’s weird, it’s like I had a vision. So I want to say thank you to Royce Gracie for inspiring me. Also thank you to (kickboxer) Jean-Yves Theriault for inspiring me, not only as an athlete, as a good role model. “And thank you to Wayne Gretzky. He’s probably the best athlete all sports combined, his records will probably never be broken. Not only is he an incredible athlete, for me he’s an incredible role model and through my career I always tried to mold myself like Wayne Gretzky.” St-Pierre, 37, made his pro debut on Jan. 25, 2002, defeating Ivan Menjivar by first-round TKO at a show in Montreal. He would go on to win his first seven bouts to earn the right to challenge Matt Hughes for the UFC welterweight championship at UFC 50, but lose by first-round submission. The two would rematch at UFC 65 and St-Pierre would pick up a second-round TKO victory to capture his first UFC title. After a stunning upset at the hands of Matt Serra in his first defense at UFC 69, St-Pierre would win their rematch one year later and successfully defend the title nine times, a UFC welterweight record. Over the course of his UFC career, St-Pierre went 26-2 with wins over top names like Hughes (twice), B.J. Penn (twice), Nick Diaz, Jake Shields, Carlos Condit, Josh Koscheck (twice), Jon Fitch, and Sean Sherk. According to St-Pierre, it was the Condit fight that produced the most memorable moment of his career, though not for the reasons that one might assume. “The moment I’m the most proud of in my career is when I got dropped in the fight game,” St-Pierre said. “When I got dropped with the head kick by Carlos Condit and I fall down and I was able to stand up. It sounds weird, people think it would be about a victory or a knockout. For me, it’s when I got dropped by a head kick and I survived. “That’s the most proud thing in my career, because it shows that I have the guts to come back from an obstacle and I was able to overcome it.” St-Pierre took a break from the sport following a close split decision win over Johny Hendricks at UFC 167 on Nov. 16, 2013 and even as the years passed, he refused to call it an outright retirement. In November 2017, he returned to action to beat Bisping, making him the fourth (of six now) fighter in UFC history to win championships in two divisions. In regards to UFC president Dana White, with whom St-Pierre has had the occasional philosophical disagreement, St-Pierre said they were friends and on good terms and that White complimented him for retiring at the right time. “Georges has cemented his legacy as one of the pound-for-pound greatest fighters ever,” White said in a statement. “He beat all the top guys during his welterweight title reign and even went up a weight class to win the middleweight championship. He spent years as one of the biggest names in MMA and remains one of the best ambassadors for the sport. “He put Canada on the MMA map.” Despite rumors that St-Pierre was angling for a fight with Khabib Nurmagomedov before deciding to retire, and the UFC lightweight champion’s own request to fight “GSP” this Noevember, St-Pierre sounded content to call it a day. “There’s no tears,” St-Pierre said. “I’m very happy to do it. It takes a lot of discipline to retire on top, it was a long process in my mind, but it’s time to do it. Only a few people have done it and I always said that I want to retire on my own and not be told to retire. So it takes discipline in combat sport and full contact sports, that’s how you should retire. You should retire on top.”<doc-sep>With titles in both the welterweight and middleweight divisions, Canadian UFC fighter Georges St-Pierre is a legend. He's had a phenomenal career with a record 26-2. He has the second most all-time wins and has been a beacon of consistency throughout his tenure in the UFC. The 37-year-old held a press conference in his native Montreal today, where he announced that he is retiring from the sport, a decision that many fans have seen coming for a while now. "There are no tears, I'm very happy to do it," St-Pierre explained according to ESPN. "It takes a lot of discipline to retire on top. It was a long process in my mind, but it's time to do it. Only a few people have done it. I always said I wanted to retire on my own and not be told to retire. It takes discipline. In combat sports, that's when you should retire. You should retire on top. That is very hard to do. I'm happy I have the discipline and wisdom to do it." UFC president Dana White released a statement regarding GSP's retirement saying: "Georges has cemented his legacy. He beat all the top guys during his welterweight title reign and even went up a weight class to win the middleweight championship. He spent years as one of the biggest names in MMA and remains one of the best ambassadors for the sport. He put Canada on the MMA map." What do you think of St-Pierre's retirement?<doc-sep>View this post on Instagram Now look at this video and you’ll understand why I wanted to fight with him, simply he’s one of the best оf all times. I just wanted to share cage with him while he’s active, that’s the history and people be watching it again and again, I want to fight with the best. Anyway, good luck to you Legend @georgesstpierre time is merciless, and your decision is right. And don’t forget, when you’re in Russia next time, I’ll introduce you with Dagestan cuisine, you don’t need to cut weight anymore #Legend<doc-sep>After earlier reports, Georges St-Pierre has confirmed that he is officially retired from mixed martial arts competition. In a Thursday press-conference in Montreal, the decorated UFC champion announced that he is indeed stepping away from the sport. St-Pierre has tried to book what he called “legacy” fights with the UFC during the twilight of his career, but notably struggled with negotiating with the promotion to make these happen. Late in 2018, the former two-division UFC champion said he would ‘take the holidays’ to decide on his future as he is unsure about his willingness to deal with ‘BS’ politics at that stage of his career. Less than two months later, and he has made it official. Speaking in French initially, St-Pierre addressed the assembled media at the Bell Centre, announcing his retirement and thanking his team, coaches, and training partners that have helped him along the way. “There’s no tears. I’m very happy to do it,” St-Pierre said in English after. “It was a long process in my mind, but it’s time to do it. I always said I want to retire on my own, and not to be told to retire. It takes discipline to retire on top.” GSP campaigned and negotiated to get a bout with current lightweight champion Khabib Nurmagomedov, but said it just didn’t work out despite both fighters wanting to make it happen. “It takes three people to make a fight. The two fighters and the organization,” he said. “It just didn’t happen. I wish Khabib the best of luck. I’m a big fan and I think he’s the best fighter right now.” St-Pierre, 37, will end his 17-year career with a 26-2 record. The two-division champ has had victories in 13 UFC championship bouts — 12 straight title fights to close out his career — and a long and dominant reign in the sport’s deepest division at the time. From winning his first welterweight title at UFC 65, to getting the middleweight belt at UFC 217, St-Pierre has defeated some of the best fighters in the world in multiple eras of the sport. Arguably the greatest fighter in MMA both in and out of the cage, St-Pierre has had iconic wins over UFC champions such as Matt Hughes (twice), Sean Sherk, B.J. Penn (twice), Matt Serra, Carlos Condit, Johny Hendricks, and Michael Bisping. He also has quality victories over champions in other organizations like Nick Diaz, Jake Shields, Jon Fitch, Karo Parisyan and Jay Hieron. GSP has accomplished just about everything he possibly could in MMA, and the all-time great has had lucrative options outside his fighting career as well. He always had the option to walk away from the sport, as evidenced by his four-year hiatus prior to winning the middleweight title, but he still wanted to take super-fights that could further that legacy. Even after failed negotiations during the latter stage of his career, St-Pierre still managed to be one of the rare fighters who gets to leave on his own terms. St-Pierre always wanted to go out “on top, healthy, and wealthy” and it looks like the first ballot hall-of-famer will follow through and get his wish.<doc-sep>
UFC legend Georges St-Pierre announces his retirement from mixed martial arts and says he wanted to leave on his own terms. (0:47) Georges St-Pierre, arguably the greatest mixed martial artist of all time, officially announced his retirement Thursday at a news conference in Montreal. St-Pierre, 37, exits the sport as the most dominant UFC welterweight of all time. He defended the 170-pound title a record nine consecutive times from 2008 to 2013 and became a two-weight champion in November 2017 when he submitted Michael Bisping at UFC 217 for the middleweight belt. He is tied with Bisping for the second-most wins in UFC history (20), behind active lightweight Donald Cerrone (22). Fighting out of Montreal, St-Pierre, who had an overall professional record of 26-2, was one of the UFC's biggest pay-per-view draws. "There's no tears. I'm very happy to do it," St-Pierre said Thursday. "It takes a lot of discipline to retire on top. It was a long process in my mind, but it's time to do it. Only a few people have done it. "I always said I wanted to retire on my own and not be told to retire. It takes discipline. In combat sports, that's how you should retire. You should retire on top. That is very hard to do. I'm happy I have the discipline and the wisdom to do it." St-Pierre confirmed that he recently expressed interest in a fight against undefeated lightweight champion Khabib Nurmagomedov (27-0) to the UFC, but he said the promotion has "other plans" for the Dagestani titleholder. Nurmagomedov, who is not expected to fight again until November, publicly asked St-Pierre on Wednesday to put off his retirement for one last fight. "We tried to organize the fight," St-Pierre said. "I know Khabib wanted it and I wanted it, but the UFC has other plans. For me, it's about taking one fight at a time, instead of being there for several fights. The way the business works, I believe, if the UFC promotes someone, they want to keep him there -- to have a guarantee. I don't have that same motivation. "I knew [Nurmagomedov] wanted to fight me, and his message excited me. Unfortunately, it takes two fighters and also an organization to make that fight happen. The UFC has other plans for Khabib, and I wish him the best of luck." St-Pierre said he left on "very good terms" with his longtime promoter. "Georges has cemented his legacy as one of the pound-for-pound greatest fighters ever," UFC president Dana White said in a released statement. "He beat all the top guys during his welterweight title reign and even went up a weight class to win the middleweight championship. He spent years as one of the biggest names in MMA and remains one of the best ambassadors for the sport. He put Canada on the MMA map." St-Pierre began his professional career in 2002. He debuted with the UFC in 2004 and remained in the organization the rest of his career. He won his first welterweight championship in November 2006 by knocking out Matt Hughes at UFC 65. He surrendered the belt in his very next fight to Matt Serra in what remains one of the most iconic upsets in UFC history. That would prove to be the final loss of St-Pierre's career. He reclaimed the title in 2008 and remained champion until 2013, when he willingly vacated the belt to take a break from the sport. He returned to face Bisping in late 2017, after which he vacated the middleweight title as well. When asked to describe his proudest moment in the sport, St-Pierre said it was surviving a head kick knockdown in a title fight against Carlos Condit in 2012. "The moment I'm most proud of is when I got dropped with the head kick by Carlos Condit, fell down and was able to stand up," St-Pierre said. "It sounds weird. People think it would be a victory or a knockout, but for me it was when I got dropped by a head kick and survived it."