Georges St-Pierre explains why a fight with Tyron Woodley doesn’t interest him at this time.

There is always an ongoing debate about who the greatest fighter of all time is. Many people have their opinion on this matter, the fighters themselves included. One fighter who never worries about such things is the man who might very well be on top of that list — former welterweight and middleweight champion Georges St-Pierre.

St-Pierre retired from fighting three years ago at the top of his career. That retirement didn’t last long. When he decided to make his return at UFC 217 in November of 2017, many thought he would face welterweight champion Tyron Woodley. Instead, St-Pierre chose to move to middleweight and face then-champion Michael Bisping, a choice that worked out quite well for the Canadian superstar as he defeated Bisping in spectacular fashion.

The choice to make the move up in weight came with a price however, St-Pierre attributes his current health problems to the move to 185 pounds.

“For me, it was a bad experience, I won my fight, everything was great, the result was ok, however, I compromised what is the most important thing for me which is my health,” St-Pierre said. “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.”

Woodley has been critical of St-Pierre’s choice to face Bisping instead of him. He has publically criticised him for it and since his UFC 228 win over Darren Till is calling himself the greatest welterweight of all time.

“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.”

Just because St-Pierre is giving Woodley praise doesn’t mean the two will be fighting anytime soon. St-Pierre has secured his legacy already and keeping that legacy intact is very important to him.

“In terms of coming back to fighting, you have to realize I have a lot more to lose than to win. 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,” St-Pierre explained. “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.”

If the fans never get to see these two warriors fight inside the Octagon how will the greatest of all time debate get settled? As for Woodley calling himself the greatest, that doesn’t bother St-Pierre at all.

“Fighting is a very complex thing, I actually think it is good for him (Woodley) 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,” St-Pierre said.

St-Pierre is currently on hiatus, with no fight booked currently.