George St. Pierre says he might retire if…

By Mike Johnston

(Canadian MMA Examiner)

He is an international superstar, Canadian ‘Athlete of the Year’ two years running. He is known simply by the three-letter moniker, GSP. He holds a record of 20-2 and has avenged both of his losses. He is arguably the greatest and most popular welterweight of all time. So, what more is there for UFC Welterweight Champion and Canadian sports icon Georges St. Pierre to accomplish in the sport of mixed martial arts?

In a recent interview, St. Pierre said that under certain circumstances, he would consider an early retirement from MMA. “People are going to be shocked,” St-Pierre told MMAjunkie Radio.

"Growing up in my career, I always fix my goals very high," said St. Pierre. "And every time I achieve one of my [goals], I fix another goal to reach. It's important as a martial artist [never to be] satisfied because otherwise there is no point to keep doing what you're doing."

St. Pierre said that his ultimate goal is to be considered the best pound-for-pound fighter in the world. In order to do that, he would eventually need to move up to middleweight and fight Anderson Silva, widely considered the pound-for-pound king.

"If one day I fight at 185 pounds for a superfight to know who is the best pound-for-pound in the world, (and) if I reach my goal, then my goal will be reached," said St-Pierre. "There will be no point for me to still compete because I'm not going to have a goal left."

GSP fans shouldn’t fret an imminent retirement, though, because this scenario would not likely surface for a few years. "If I go up in weight, it's going to be hard to go down," said St. Pierre. "If I put on lean muscle like I already did recently, it's going to be hard to come back down. So it's not like I go up and I go down. I have to be very careful with what I do."

Currently, St. Pierre is filming the twelfth season of The Ultimate Fighter. When filming is finished, GSP will begin preparing for his next title defense against fellow TUF coach Josh Koscheck later this year. If St. Pierre successfully defends his title, he will tie Matt Hughes with a record fifth consecutive title defense.

For more information on TUF 12 visit ultimatefighter.com.