Georges St-Pierre to announce future at Friday press conference in Montreal
After a well-deserved break, UFC welterweight champion Georges St-Pierre is ready to reveal his plans for the future.
The 32-year-old fighter will announce his next step at a press conference held at his longtime gym, Montreal’s Tristar, on Friday.
Le Journal De Montreal passed along word of the gathering. A UFC official told MMAjunkie the promotion hopes to have more information on the event shortly.
St-Pierre’s future has been the subject of much speculation since his controversial split-decision win over Johny Hendricks at UFC 167, which took place Nov. 16 at Las Vegas’ MGM Grand Garden Arena.
St-Pierre said he would be taking time off from the sport in an emotional post-fight speech and declined to identify the apparently serious issues gnawing at him at the event’s press conference.
UFC President Dana White blasted the champ’s decision before meeting with him privately. He then expressed confidence that the popular fighter would return to defend his belt and rematch Hendricks.
Two days after the event, a TMZ report claimed St-Pierre was grappling with an unplanned pregnancy with his girlfriend, as well the illness of his father. St-Pierre denied the report.
Subsequently, the fighter vacationed at an undisclosed location and, according to the report, taught jiu-jitsu classes at Tristar.
St-Pierre (25-2 MMA, 19-2 UFC) is the UFC’s top pay-per-view draw and would be a huge loss for the promotion in the event he retires. A rematch with Hendricks (15-2 MMA, 10-2 UFC) would do big business at the box office should he decide to keep fighting.
St-Pierre’s split decision win represented the ninth defense of his welterweight title, which he retook from Matt Serra at UFC 83 after losing via upset at UFC 69.
