Morning Report: Georges St-Pierre explains why he doesn’t want to fight Tyron Woodley ‘right now’

Since winning the welterweight title at UFC 201, Tyron Woodley has been chasing a fight with former champion Georges St-Pierre, with the primary objective being to capture the title of Greatest Welterweight of All Time. But after his win over Darren Till earlier this month at UFC 228, Woodley says he is no longer chasing a fight with GSP because he no longer needs to to prove his GOAT status. Woodley and his team believe that a few more wins over the challengers in line will cement him as the greatest 170-pounder to lace up the gloves.

Georges St-Pierre, respectfully, disagrees.

Speaking with FanSided recently, St-Pierre addressed Woodley’s claims about taking the GOAT mantle, saying that Woodley has already secured a great legacy as champion but determining who is The Greatest is a very complicated issue.

“Fighting is a very complex thing,” St-Pierre said. “I actually think it is good for him to think he is the greatest welterweight of all time because it makes him confident and confidence has a big role for a fighter, but there are other fighters out there who can claim the same thing.

“The greatest is hard to say, there is also another guy named Matt Hughes who at one point was one of the greatest,” St-Pierre explained. “There are some fighters, I’m not saying Tyron Woodley is one of these guys – he is an incredible fighter – but there are guys in this sport sometimes they become champion and they have an easier time than others in terms of opponent, in terms of challenges. Tyron had to go through great fighters like Stephen Thompson and his last performance was outstanding against Darren Till. There was a lot of hype on Darren Till because he was undefeated. Tyron just shut him down incredibly good. Tyron is in a good way in terms of legacy and in terms of being the greatest.”

Of course, there is one way to settle the issue for good, but there are definite hurdles to making that happen. For one, after St-Pierre came out of retirement to submit Michael Bisping and claim the middleweight title, he promptly vacated his newly won belt and re-retired, citing medical issues stemming from gaining weight to face Bisping. However, after nearly a year off, St-Pierre says he is managing his ulcerative colitis and feels great, though he would need to be very careful about returning to fighting.

“For me, it was a bad experience,” said St-Pierre. “I won my fight, everything was great, the result was okay, however, I compromised what is the most important thing for me which is my health. I never want to compromise my health ever again. However, now I feel a lot better. I feel great. I’ve done some intermittent fasting with some medication and with some anti-inflammatory to help with the symptoms of my ulcerative colitis.”

So does that mean a title fight between GSP and Woodley is on the way? Unlikely. Aside from his health issues, St-Pierre also was candid about the main reason he doesn’t care to face Woodley right now: it doesn’t do enough for his legacy. But, GSP implies, if Woodley keeps building himself up, that may give “Rush” enough incentive to step back in the cage again.

“In terms of coming back to fighting, you have to realize I have a lot more to lose than to win,” St-Pierre concluded. “Tyron Woodley wants to fight me because he has a lot more to win than to lose because if he beats me in terms of legacy, in terms of popularity, he has a lot more to win. It’s not that I’m scared, actually, I’m always scared when I go fight. I’m scared of everybody but being scared is irrelevant because I’m going to walk the walk if I have to do it.

“I have to choose carefully what is my next move. For at this point, I am with cementing my legacy it is not a straight line. I have to check what can I gain, what can I lose. That is why when I fought Michael Bisping it was a win/win situation from both sides. If I were to lose I lose but if I win, I win big so it was good. Fighting Tyron Woodley right now, now that he won his last fight it elevates his stock a little bit more but it’s still not a complete win/win situation for me.”