MMA Georges St-Pierre Announces He’s a Free Agent; UFC Disagrees by Kristine Haugsjaa October 18, 2016 You had to know the UFC wouldn’t just let this happen without a fight. Former UFC Welterweight champion and MMA legend, Georges St-Pierre, told MMAFighting.com’s Ariel Helwani’s that he was no longer under contract with the UFC, stating he was out of his contract and now a free agent. The news flooded social media after airing on Helwani’s Monday edition of The MMA Hour. Hours later the promotion released a statement denying St-Pierre’s announcement: “Georges St-Pierre remains under an existing agreement with Zuffa, LLC as his MMA promoter. Zuffa intends to honor its agreement with St-Pierre and reserves its rights under the law to have St-Pierre do the same.” GSP explained on The MMA Hour that his lawyer had terminated his contract due to the UFC’s inability to offer him a fight by a certain deadline. Prior to WME-IMG purchasing Zuffa in July, GSP explained he was in negotiations with former-Zuffa CEO Lorenzo Fertitta for a new contract. After the company was sold, that went unsettled. Here’s where it gets interesting. Closely prior to the offer deadline, the UFC messaged GSP with an offer to fight former UFC Welterweight Champion Robbie Lawler. With Lawler’s recent decision to sit on the sidelines of MMA for a bit, GSP’s lawyer James Quinn advised him that the contract was terminated, making him a free agent. Or so he thought. For something as simple as an offer deadline to be grounds for a contract termination, we’d be seeing a lot more upset fighters becoming free agents without a legal war. Even if GSP was released from his contract with Zuffa, there are stipulations in their contracts (for the 99.9% most part) preventing fighters from then signing with rival promotions (ahem bellator ahem). Nearly making it impossible to make a living in the fight game. That is, unless you’re GSP. Just over a week ago, I reported from a close source that there was a near super-fight signed between GSP and former UFC Middleweight champion Anderson Silva at UFC 206 in Toronto this December. Days later, another source stated there were sponsorship issues between Reebok, the main sponsor the UFC and Under Armor, one of GSP’s major personal sponsors. Once it became inevitable no agreement was going to come from the two parties, the thought of GSP’s long awaited come back in his home country quickly faded. Is this the beginning of a major war between GSP and the UFC? Or will they come to an agreement? Post Views: 1,329 The following two tabs change content below.BioLatest Posts Kristine Haugsjaa Kristine is a Managing Editor for DoubleGSports.com as well as UFC/MMA Lead Writer. She also hosts a column known as Fighting Words. Latest posts by Kristine Haugsjaa (see all) NJ’s Chookagian makes flyweight debut at UFC Charlotte - November 7, 2017 Fighting Words: Bellator is Giving Hardy the Credit She Deserves - October 20, 2017 Frankie Edgar to face Champion Max Holloway at UFC 218 - October 3, 2017 Boxing’s Amanda Serrano heading to MMA - September 21, 2017 Related Topicsfree agentgeorges st-pierregspufcufc 206 Click to comment You must be logged in to post a comment Login Leave a Reply Cancel replyYou must be logged in to post a comment. Newsletter Subscription Can't Miss Posts! Women in Sports: NHL Network Host, Jackie Redmond by Nicholas Durst | posted on March 4, 2019 Lochte, Dressel and Ledecky all Chasing Gold at 2021 Tokyo Olympics by Anthony Paradiso | posted on April 18, 2021 You Know I’m Right, Episode 109: The Athletic’s Marc Carig (Audio/Video) by Nicholas Durst | posted on April 19, 2021 Michael Jordan Could Change the Future of Nascar for the Better by Inesh Chari | posted on March 30, 2021 WNBA Rolling Out Red Carpet For Upcoming 25th Anniversary Season by Jason Cordner | posted on March 16, 2021 More in MMA The Mockery of A Sport: Paul vs. Askren Jake Paul and Ben Askren are set to fight tonight, and as a fan... The Leverage Game: What’s Going on Between Jon Jones and UFC? After Francis Ngannou knocked out Stipe Miocic, fight fans everywhere were already excited about... Athletes and their “Charitable” Contributions The other day I was watching TV when I saw a commercial for Conor... Should the Holloway vs. Katter fight have been Stopped in the 4th Round? Dana White thought so… In my honest opinion, when it comes to sports there is nothing like watching... UFC Senior VP of Public Relations Heading to Philadelphia 76ers Heavyweight Showdown II: Fabricio Werdum to face Cain Velasquez at UFC 207