Former two-division UFC champion Georges St-Pierre has revealed that before he was diagnosed with his physical condition, ulcerative colitis, he thought he was potentially battling cancer, forcing him to give up his middleweight name before retiring from active competition in 2019.
St-Pierre, a former undisputed middleweight and welterweight champion, made a stunning return to the octagon at UFC 217 at Madison Square Garden, earning an impressive fourth-round victory with a naked choke from behind over then-middleweight champion Michael Bisping to win the title and cement himself as the weightlifting duel champion.
However, amid ties to a name-unification bout with Robert Whittaker following his victory over Bisping, St-Pierre relinquished his crown at 185 pounds, before revealing he was battling a condition called ulcerative colitis.
Officially confirming his retirement from combined martial arts in 2019 at a press conference in his home Canada, St-Pierre revealed that he was concerned that, prior to his diagnosis by doctors, he was battling cancer in some form.
“The explanation I retired was because it took a lot of work and I started to develop a disease called ulcerative colitis,” Georges St-Pierre said on the Pound-4-Pound podcast. “It’s an inflammation of the gut and my last fight in combat when I fought (Michael) Bisping, I tried to eat, I tried to gain weight and I’m having a hard time gaining weight. I forced myself to eat and maybe the doctor told me that’s probably why I evolved like this.
“When I was diagnosed with ulcerative colitis, I was relieved, but I also started intermittent fasting and it cured all my symptoms,” says Georges St-Pierre. “I don’t take medication anymore. I used to take serious medications. I go to the bathroom and there’s a lot of blood, I thought I might have cancer.
Linked with a return to the octagon just a year after retiring from the sport, Hall of Fame star St-Pierre revealed that he offered to fight former lightweight center Khabib Nurmagomedov before the Russian retired, which he claimed most likely would have beaten him in a long-awaited grudge match.
What do you think of Georges St-Pierre’s decision to retire?
Site Administrator and Editor: MMA journalist in Ireland. Follow @Ross_Markey on Twitter for the latest news, combat announcements, opinions, and highlights.
© 2003 – 2024 LowKickMMA. com