Georges St-Pierre reveals scare with health condition led to UFC exit: ‘I thought maybe I had cancer’
Former two-division UFC champion, Georges St-Pierre has revealed that prior to the diagnosing of his battle with health condition, ulcerative colitis, he believed he was potentially dealing with cancer, forcing him to relinquish his middleweight title before retiring from active competition back in 2019.
St-Pierre, a former undisputed middleweight and welterweight champion, made a stunning return to the Octagon at UFC 217 in Madison Square Garden, turning in a spectacular fourth round rear-naked choke win over then-middleweight titleholder, Michael Bisping to win the title and mint himself as a duel-weight champion.
However, amid links to a title unification bout with Robert Whittaker in the aftermath of his win over Bisping, St-Pierre relinquished his crown at 185lbs, before revealing he was battling with a condition called ulcerative colitis.
Georges St-Pierre reveals cancer scare led to retirement
Officially confirming his retirement from mixed martial arts in 2019 at a press conference in his native Canada, St-Pierre has revealed that he was worried that prior to his diagnosis by doctors, that he was dealing with a cancer of some form.
“The reason why I really retired is because it took a lot out of me, and I started developing a condition called ulcerative colitis,” Georges St-Pierre said on the Pound-4-Pound podcast. “It’s an inflammation of the intestine and my last fight when I fought (Michael) Bisping, I tried to eat, to gain weight, and I have a very hard time gaining weight. I forced myself to eat and maybe the doctor told me that’s probably why I developed that.”
“When I got diagnosed with ulcerative colitis, in terms of stress, I got relieved, but also I started doing intermittent fasting, and it cured all my symptoms,” Georges St-Pierre explained. “I’m no longer on medication. I used to be on severe medication. I used go to the bathroom and it was a lot of blood, I thought maybe I had cancer.”
Linked with a return to the Octagon just a year after he retired from the sport, Hall of Fame star, St-Pierre revealed an offer was fielded to him to fight with former lightweight kingpin, Khabib Nurmagomedov, before the Russian retired – whom he claimed he would have likely beaten in a long-anticipated grudge fight.
What are your thoughts on Georges St-Pierre’s decision to retire?
