When Georges St-Pierre introduced Canada before its Four Nations Face-Off showdown against the United States at the Bell Centre in February, three fights followed in a span of nine seconds.
On May 10, the former two-division UFC champion will be back at the arena for 12 bouts as the mixed martial arts promotion returns to Montreal for UFC 315.
St-Pierre, who retired in 2019, will be cornering Canadian Aieman Zahabi, ranked 14th among UFC bantamweight contenders, against No. 11 Jose Aldo, a former featherweight champion and UFC Hall of Famer, in the featured event of the preliminary card.
The 37-year-old Zahabi is the younger brother of former GSP trainer Firas Zahabi, who will also be working his corner.
Now 43, the chiselled St-Pierre looks like he could still step into the Octagon.
"Well I could, but I will not," St-Pierre said with a chuckle.
The UFC Hall of Famer says he feeds his competitive spirit in the gym "with the young guys" these days.
"It's enough for me now," he said in an interview. "I don't need to go back and prove (anything). A lot of guys they retire way too late and I don't want to be like that. I'm very happy. I don't need the money."
An entrepreneur nowadays, St-Pierre has instructional MMA videos, his own clothing line (Still Standing Strong), a line of fitness equipment (Baseblocks), a signature hot sauce (in collaboration with Ontario-based Lord's Hot Sauce), and a line of vodka (Pur Sang) and supplements (Warrior) among other ventures.
He continues his acting career and is a pitchman for Bet99.
On June 7, he is taking the stage at Montreal's Th茅芒tre St-Denis for "Georges St-Pierre 鈥� The Instinct of a Champion," described as GSP speaking "without a filter" on challenges faced inside and outside the cage, with more tour dates to follow.
"I think it's important as an athlete that when you retire, you need to find yourself other motivation. And I'm very motivated and I love it," he said in an interview.
His latest sponsorship is linked to the Montreal UFC show. Bud Light, the UFC's official beer sponsor, is launching a limited edition "gold-edition can" ahead of UFC 315 with gold from a UFC championship belt infused into the paint of the can.
The special can will be available nationally while quantities last, starting April 28.
The Montreal card features two championship bouts with welterweight Belal (Remember The Name) Muhammad and Kyrgyzstan flyweight Valentina (Bullet) Shevchenko putting their titles on the line.
Muhammad takes on Australian Jack Della Maddalena, ranked fifth among 170-pound contenders, while Shevchenko faces No. 2 Manon (The Beast) Fiorot of France in the co-main event.
Muhammad holds the belt that used to belong to St-Pierre.
"He's very good," said St-Pierre. "He's not the best at one thing but he's very good everywhere. He can do it all. And he's got a lot of stamina and he's very relentless 鈥� He's very unorthodox and he breaks people down mentally."
Aiemann Zahabi comes into the Aldo bout having won five straight.
St-Pierre, who continues to work out regularly at Tristar Gym and H2O MMA among other sites, believes Zahabi (12-2-0) is up for the challenge of the 38-year-old Aldo (32-9-0).
"It's now or never. If you want to crack the top of his weight class, he needs to beat Jose Aldo. It would bring a lot of opportunity for him," he said.
St-Pierre says Zahabi's No. 1 attribute is his fighting IQ.
UFC 315 marks the UFC's eighth show in Montreal 鈥� and first since UFC 186 in April 2015 鈥� and the 35th overall in Canada, spread among 11 cities.
There are five other Canadians on the card: flyweight Jasmine Jasudavicius, featherweight Gavin (Guv'nor) Tucker, bantamweight Brad (Superman) Katona, welterweight (Proper) Mike Malott and middleweight Marc-Andre (Powerbar) Barriault.
Montreal staged the UFC's first show in Canada, UFC 83, in April 2008, when St-Pierre stopped Matt (The Terror) Serra in the second round to regain his welterweight title. St-Pierre defended his championship belt for more than five years before taking a break from the sport in late 2013 when he vacated the 170-pound crown after nine successful title defences.
He retired on a 13-fight win streak with a 26-2 record, having avenged both losses (to Serra and Matt Hughes). In his final outing, at UFC 217 in November 2017, St-Pierre dethroned middleweight champion Michael Bisping in Madison Square Garden.
St-Pierre, also a member of Canada's Sports Hall of Fame, has fond memories of the Bell Centre, having won all four of his UFC fights there.
"Winning a fight, especially in your hometown, there's nothing like it 鈥� I mean it's a crazy rush of adrenalin," he said.
"I never liked to fight. But I always loved to win. And when you win, you realize that all the sacrifices you made, everything is worth it. That's the reason I did it. But it's something I need to make peace with it and (that) I will never feel again. But I can help some of my friends have that feeling. And that's how I get it back in some ways."
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This report by The Canadian Press was first published April 23, 2025.
Neil Davidson, The Canadian Press
