Brazilian MMA has managed to recapture quite a bit of its earlier glory lately. Not too long ago Charles Oliveira was the lightweight champ, Alex Pereira was the Middleweight champ and Glover Teixeira was the Light-heavyweight champ much akin to the ‘Three African Kings’ era that existed just a while ago.
But now seems like another veteran of Brazilian origins is making a comeback and that too against the former two-division champion and Hall of Famer George St-Pierre for a grappling match under the ‘UFC Invitational’ banner!
Demian Maia revealed as St-Pierre’s potential opponent
Recently, Georges St-Pierre made a significant announcement, stating that he will be making his UFC comeback in December of this year. The plan is for GSP to participate in a high-profile grappling match, which will be available on UFC Fight Pass. There were speculations about who might be his potential opponents, and several big names were considered.
On Thursday afternoon, it was revealed that UFC veteran and former title challenger Demian Maia will be stepping up to face St-Pierre in the matchup. Maia has been previously praised by GSP as one of the best grapplers in UFC history. Hailing from Brazil, Maia is an expert in Brazilian jiu-jitsu, boasting a 28-11 overall record in MMA, with an impressive 14 victories via submission.
Every now and then, something comes up that still does really motivate you.
Grappling @GeorgesStPierre will be a huge challenge & great motivation.
You GSP are one of the greatest competitors ever, whom I respect a lot. I’m game! Looking forward to competing at @ufc invitational.— Demian Maia (@demianmaia) July 20, 2023
When asked about his preferences for opponents, the 5-foot-10, 170-pound superstar mentioned that he always enjoys putting himself in situations where he is considered the underdog. As a result, he expressed openness to the idea of facing welterweight phenomena Khamzat Chimaev in a potential match. He also talked about running it back with Nick Diaz and finally having a bout against Khabib ‘The Eagle’ Nurmagomedov.
When did Georges St-Pierre retire?
At the age of 37, Georges St-Pierre has solidified his position as one of the most dominant UFC welterweights in history. He successfully defended the 170-pound title an unprecedented nine consecutive times between 2008 and 2013. Furthermore, in November 2017, he achieved a milestone by becoming a two-weight champion, securing the middleweight belt by submitting Michael Bisping at UFC 217.
In February 2019, Georges St-Pierre formally retired from mixed martial arts, cementing his legacy as a UFC Hall of Famer. However, despite his retirement, he had not entirely ruled out the possibility of a comeback.
While there were heavy rumors pitting him against the then-dominant lightweight king Khabib Nurmagomedov, that match never materialized after ‘The Eagle’ announced his retirement following the Justin Gaethje bout.
Now that GSP is finally back, do you have any dream matchups for him? Share with us below!
