Yahoo Sports Georges St-Pierre Felt Insulted by New UFC Owners
Former UFC welterweight champion Georges St-Pierre shocked the mixed martial arts world on Monday, not by returning to the UFC, but by leaving it.
St-Pierre announced that, at least from his perspective, he is now a free agent.
“Right now, I’m free agent. My lawyer terminated the contract with the UFC,” St-Pierre declared on Monday’s edition of The MMA Hour. UFC officials have not commented on the situation.
The former champ went on to explain that his team had been in negotiation with the UFC, primarily with former owner Lorenzo Fertitta, since February. Despite some ups and down, St-Pierre felt that the negotiation had gotten close to a resolution before everything came crumbling down. Things fell apart, he said, when the UFC was sold to new ownership, who allegedly scrapped the Fertitta forged contract.
“I believe if Lorenzo had been there maybe it would have been different, because we were making a lot of progress towards the end when we were talking to Lorenzo, but when the new owners came, all the offers were off the table. It was a big step back. It was insulting.”
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It was a harsh slap across the face, which led St-Pierre to hire attorney James Quinn and, eventually, to declaring his UFC contract terminated.
Even if he were able to keep emotion out of the business dealings, St-Pierre said it was disappointing that a deal couldn't made, particularly with his heart set on returning at UFC 206, when the promotion makes its return to Toronto for the first time in three years.
“I’m very sad for to not be fighting in Toronto,” said St-Pierre in Monday's interview. “I truly believe it would have been a win-win scenario if I had fought in Toronto. They would have made a lot of money. I would make good money. It would have been win-win scenario. But, unfortunately, because it’s not happening, I’m losing, I believe UFC is losing, but the biggest loser in all that is the fans.”
As he frequently stated, St-Pierre tries not to take things like negotiating a contract personally. After all, it is simply business. But in today's business climate, particularly in the UFC, fights frequently get negotiated through public venues such as social media, interview, and the like.
UFC president Dana White has long taken the public stance that he doesn't believe St-Pierre really wants to fight again. St-Pierre, of course, realizes this could simply be White's way of attempting a bit of a Jedi mind trick on him to get him to acquiesce to the promotion's terms.
That didn't really bother him, but when the allegations turned towards the insinuation that St-Pierre was simply manipulating the system to do things like try and keep sponsors on board, it started to get to him.
“They never called me, but a lot of things has been said in the media. I try to not take these things personal, but I feel a little bit attacked on a personal level when things are said like I tried to manipulate the system and stuff like that,” St-Pierre admitted.
“I truly believe in what I stand for. I truly believe what I asked for was totally reasonable. For me, it’s completely illogical that the fight did not happen in Toronto. We would have been winners on both sides, but now we are all losers, especially the fans. We are all losers.”
