4. Legacy
As it stands, Georges St. Pierre is one of the greatest mixed martial artists of all time. He defended the welterweight title 9 times, second to only Anderson Silva’s record of 10. He avenged both of his only losses against Matt Serra and Matt Hughes. He helped pioneer in the USADA drug testing era by being openly critical of PEDs in the UFC. There can be no arguing that he is one of the sports true legends.
But what would spending his last few years fighting outside the UFC do to that legacy? It’s not as if he can go to Pride, or another organization that has the same level as talent as the UFC. While Bellator and WSOF each have a few divisions with some talented fighters, there just is not a way for Georges to build on his reputation outside of the UFC currently.
At this point Georges needs to be having super-fights or championship fights only, and the opportunity for those just don’t exist to the degree they do in the UFC.
