Dana White: ‘Toronto makes sense’ for Georges St-Pierre’s UFC return

MMAfighting.com

By MMA Fighting Newswire

LAS VEGAS — Oh, Canada.

Georges St-Pierre said earlier this week during his speaking tour in Australia that he would not mind returning to the UFC later this year. If that’s the case, UFC president Dana White has an idea of where he’d like the former multiple-division champion.

“Toronto makes sense,” White said Tuesday after the Contender Series. “Toronto wouldn’t be bad.”

GSP, a Canada native, sold out the Rogers Centre, notching the highest attendance number in UFC history at the time of 55,724 in 2011 for his UFC 129 fight with Jake Shields. UFC 231 is currently scheduled for Scotiabank Arena in Toronto on Dec. 8.

St-Pierre, the former longtime welterweight champion, has not fought since UFC 217 last November, when he took the middleweight title from Michael Bisping. Heading into that bout, GSP was coming off a four-year sabbatical from the sport of MMA.

White said he and St-Pierre, who have had an up-and-down relationship over the years, have not spoken, but “it sounds like we will,” he said.

St-Pierre told Submission Radio that he could return before the end of 2018 and UFC 230 at New York’s Madison Square Garden and UFC 231 are possibilities.

“November? Yeah,” GSP said. “There’s also Toronto in December. The thing is, what excites me is what can I have to improve my legacy? What can I do to improve my legacy? That’s number one. And also the money. But legacy number one, the money is there.”

St-Pierre, 37, mentioned the possibility of fighting the winner of the UFC title fight between champion Khabib Nurmagomedov and former champ Conor McGregor at some point in the future. While White seemed on board with GSP returning this year, he was not as into that idea.

“Yeah, that’s probably not gonna happen,” White said. “He gave up the 170-pound division, he gave up the 185-pound belt. You know what I mean? It’s like, pick a division.”