JARAGUA DO SUL, Brazil – If Georges St-Pierre was hoping to escape the limelight by stepping away from MMA and his UFC title, he may have been unsuccessful.

The former welterweight champ has been in the news arguably as much as ever since announcing he was vacating his belt to take time away from the sport. Part of that, of course, is his own doing – speaking out against the UFC’s drug-testing policy in recent weeks. But the Canadian knows one thing, and that is that he’s enjoying the time away from competition.

“I am happy,” St-Pierre on Thursday told MMAjunkie while in Jaragua do Sul, Brazil, to corner teammate Francis Carmont. “One thing you can see is I’ve gained muscle mass. The stress (of being champion) was eating me alive and I was losing weight. It was not a healthy lifestyle. I needed to take that break mentally, and if I come back, I’ll come back stronger.”

St-Pierre in November beat Johny Hendricks by unanimous decision at UFC 167 in Las Vegas. Most major media outlets scored the fight for Hendricks, as did UFC President Dana White – who wasn’t shy about saying so.

After the fight, St-Pierre teased that he may need some time off from the sport, and a few weeks later, he announced he would vacate his title to take a break. Hendricks and Robbie Lawler meet next month at UFC 171 to fight for the new title.

But this past month, St-Pierre drew the ire of White when he went public with his view on the UFC’s drug-testing policy. He also called the UFC a “monopoly,” leading White to call his comments “kooky” – believing GSP was merely trying to get back at White for saying he thought Hendricks beat him at UFC 167.

St-Pierre was dogged by PED allegations throughout his long run as the UFC’s welterweight champion. For his fight with Hendricks, the two sides could not agree on which external testing agency would do additional testing.

St-Pierre told MMAjunkie he has gotten support from other fighters, as well as media members, for speaking out about performance-enhancing drug use in the sport – but that it wasn’t his intention to be overly critical of the UFC.

“I’m a public person, and things I say come out like a bomb,” St-Pierre said. “The last thing I want to do is hurt the UFC or hurt the sport. I’ve been fighting for the sport since the beginning of my career. (The UFC) made my career and made me who I am. My sport, my wealth, everything I have is because of that. The last thing I want to do is do something bad for them.

“I just want some stuff to change. I had a lot of (private) messages from people, and reporters, saying, ‘You’re doing the right thing. Keep going. We’re behind you.’ That’s what’s happening. We’ll see how things go. I know (change is) going to happen sooner or later.”

In the meantime, St-Pierre said he’s been enjoying his time way. It meant spending the holidays with family without having to worry about an upcoming fight. St-Pierre has maintained that there are personal issues away from the sport that helped contribute to him stepping away. And he has maintained that he won’t get into those reasons.

There has been speculation as to what the reasons are, and he said he sees that speculation. Once everything clears, he may consider a return. But he knows the break has been what the doctor ordered so far.

“I don’t know the time; I’m waiting a little bit,” he said. “But it’s very therapeutic for me, taking a break. A lot of stuff happened in my life, and I’ve seen some crazy things happening. Some reporter came up to me and was like, ‘I read something that you were in detox for drugs.’ I was like, ‘Hell no.’ It made me laugh. The reason I took a break is to keep my mental health. Only a few people understand how hard it is to stay on top for a long time when you have so much pressure. It’s not like a regular fight. It’s a championship fight every time that takes a lot of promotion.”

With no fight to train for, St-Pierre said he’s in the gym every day, anyway – and said he might be in the best shape of his career because now he’s relaxed.

“I’m training for fun – I’m not training for competition,” he said. “I’ve gained probably five pounds of natural muscle since I stopped. I sleep better, and I’m more happy. When you’re happy in life, you’re doing well.”

Will a happy Georges St-Pierre mean one who eventually starts to eye a return to the UFC? Time will tell.

“I did it by choice, I did it because I loved it. I was happy to do it, and I would do it again. I took a break the same way – my choice, and I don’t regret it,” he said.