‘It’s not easy to come back’ – GSP had some advice for UFC champ Francis Ngannou

Few fighters have had a career as remarkable or successful as all time welterweight great Georges St-Pierre. ‘Rush’ put together a welterweight title reign…

By: Zane Simon | 2 years ago
‘It’s not easy to come back’ – GSP had some advice for UFC champ Francis Ngannou
Bloody Elbow 2.0 | Anton Tabuena

Few fighters have had a career as remarkable or successful as all time welterweight great Georges St-Pierre. ‘Rush’ put together a welterweight title reign unlike any the UFC had seen before or since, defending his belt successfully nine times over a nearly six-year championship reign. Then, still at the top of his game – and only 32-years-old – he walked away from MMA.

That’s not where the story ended for GSP’s amazing combat sports career, however. Four years later he came back to the Octagon to take on middleweight champion Michael Bisping, submitting the ‘Count’ late in round 3 to take home another UFC title.

It’s a remarkable feat of physicality, will, and prowess. Apparently it’s also something that St-Pierre wouldn’t readily recommend to anyone else. In a recent video released to his YouTube channel Francis Ngannou talked about meeting the Canadian legend backstage, just after his win over Bisping at UFC 217 (transcript via MMA Fighting).

“I think Georges St-Pierre is just a legend,” Ngannou said. “I wasn’t around when he was here, but I had the opportunity to meet him a couple of times. Very great guy, very humble, you couldn’t imagine that he’s the Georges St-Pierre that he was on TV, which is a superstar and everything. Very calm guy, French-speaking so he’s very proud of that side of that French connection, that’s why we connected. Great fighter.

“I watched his last fight in Madison Square Garden against Michael Bisping, that was his comeback after four years and his performance that night was just incredible. But he told me backstage, ‘Man, it’s not easy to come back. If you ever retire, don’t come back after four years.’ Really cool. So I got to connect with his friend who was his manager at the same time. Yeah, very good person.”

Considering that Ngannou is just a year shy of the same age that GSP was when he won middleweight gold, a prolonged layoff and return to the biggest stage in mixed martial arts seems like it’s not likely to be in Ngannou’s future. That said, if his contract situation for the UFC isn’t sorted soon, opportunities to see the ‘Predator’ fight inside the Octagon may be gone in the not too distant future.

For the moment, Ngannou is set to take on and former training partner Ciryl Gane, in the first defense of his heavyweight title. Gane currently holds an interim UFC belt, a result of his August 7th victory over former title challenger Derrick Lewis. Ngannou vs. Gane is expected to take place on January 22nd in Anaheim, CA.

Share this story

About the author
Zane Simon
Zane Simon

Zane Simon is a senior editor, writer, and podcaster for Bloody Elbow. He has worked with the website since 2013, taking on a wide variety of roles. A lifelong combat sports fan, Zane has trained off & on in both boxing and Muay Thai. He currently hosts the long-running MMA Vivisection podcast, which he took over from Nate Wilcox & Dallas Winston in 2015, as well as the 6th Round podcast, started in 2014. Zane is also responsible for developing and maintaining the ‘List of current UFC fighters’ on Bloody Elbow, a resource he originally developed for Wikipedia in 2010.

More from the author

Bloody Elbow Podcast
Related Stories