Another Georges St-Pierre UFC Return Tease: Is it All Just a PR Ploy?

Former UFC welterweight champion Georges St-Pierre continues to fuel the fire of speculation swirling around a possible return to the Octagon.

Although he has never uttered the words, “I’m retired,” St-Pierre also hasn’t fought mixed martial arts for the past two-and-a-half years. The last time he set foot in the Octagon was at UFC 167 in November of 2013, when he won a split-decision victory over Johny Hendricks. Since then, St-Pierre has been content to focus on life outside of the cage, all the while blowing on the coal of a return just enough to keep the spark from going out, keeping people talking about him.

But is that all his continuous taunts about a possible return to fighting are? Is St-Pierre simply playing the promotional game, keeping his name in the media so that he can pursue other interests?

As time goes by, it certainly seems more and more likely.

Case in point is St-Pierre’s current round of media appearances. Yes, the former welterweight kingpin has been teasing left and right about talking with the UFC, although he is careful to never fully commit… to anything.

“I’m on good terms with the UFC. We’re talking,” St-Pierre said in a recent interview at a Toronto Raptors basketball game. “Everything is possible, but I don’t know right now. I can’t tell you everything. I have to keep some secrets.”

He kept the same tenor in an interview with RDS.

“I can say that I am on good terms with them. But we sometimes do not agree on some things,” St-Pierre told RDS in French (translated by Bloody Elbow‘s John Nash).

Although in the interview with RDS, he took things a step further, saying a return to the Octagon “doesn’t need to be (UFC) 200. I know it will have Conor McGregor who will be fighting against Nate Diaz, and with that they will already have a good card.”

He added, “We will see what will happen, but again, there are things I cannot say. It depends on the plans of my agents and the UFC, We will see what is best for us and for them.”

Of course, this latest media blitz comes when St-Pierre is trying to drum up interest in a new television show he is hosting on the History Channel. The Boneyard with Georges St-Pierre is a series that allows St-Pierre to “live out his childhood dream by tracking down the most vicious predators to ever walk the earth,” fulfilling his dinosaur chasing fantasies.

After upsetting McGregor at UFC 196, Diaz ranted and raved about wrecking the UFC and McGregor’s plan to welcome St-Pierre back to the Octagon. It’s true that St-Pierre was in attendance at UFC 196, but nothing concrete — at least publicly — has come out of any of St-Pierre’s recent dealings with the UFC, whether formal or casual.

So despite Diaz’s recent rants about spoiling St-Pierre’s coming back party, don’t be surprised if there is a lot more chatter about a possible St-Pierre return before there ever really is one.

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