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Georges St-Pierre rooting for Vitor Belfort against Oscar De La Hoya, hopes to fight the latter in future

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Former UFC stalwart and one of the greatest mixed martial artists of all time, Georges St-Pierre has been ardent in showing support for his former colleague Vitor Belfort in his upcoming boxing fight against Oscar De La Hoya.

A former 10-time world champion across six weight divisions who held the WBC, WBO and IBF titles during his prime, De La Hoya is set to make a stunning comeback to professional boxing after a gap of 12 years.

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The Golden Boy CEO’s comeback will be against former UFC Light Heavyweight Champion Vitor Belfort on 11th September at the Staples Center in Los Angeles, which will be promoted by Triller.

ALSO READ: Georges St-Pierre’s coach hails Nate Diaz as the ‘scariest street fighter in MMA’

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St-Pierre willing to face De La Hoya after his UFC contract expires

Even though GSP himself is very willing to kickstart a career in boxing, the former UFC welterweight and middleweight champion is still under contract with Dana White’s company and will only be able to don the sparring gloves once that contract expires.

For now, the Canadian is focused on seeing his buddy Belfort pick up a victory in his debut as a pugilist, against the former six division world champion, who GSP himself is willing to square off against in the future.

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“I’m cheering for Vitor, Vitor is a friend of mine. But if something happens and maybe Oscar wins, or something happens like that, maybe I’ll get Oscar after. We’ll see. I’m still under contract for, I think, another year or two with UFC. But I’m not going nowhere. If the idea interests me still when I’ll be 41 or 42, maybe I’ll jump back in it,” St-Pierre said in an interview with The MMA Hour.

A former two division champion in the UFC and having won titles in both welterweight and middleweight divisions, St-Pierre was last seen in action against Michael Bisping at UFC 217 on 4th November 2017, which was his debut as a middleweight fighter and in the same bout, GSP won the UFC middleweight title and retired as the same before vacating it.

Back in May, GSP revealed that there were even rules set for a boxing match against De La Hoya, but White had thumbed down the idea of a fight, primarility because “Rush” is still under contract, on top of a couple of other reasons as well.

“At first he (White) says to me that the reason why he did not want it is because he thought that Oscar would basically destroy me in a boxing match,” St-Pierre went on, “and at first he refused. Then he thought about it but he came back with the argument that, oh, no, it’s not because he thinks Oscar is going to win; he thinks it’s because he doesn’t like the fact that Triller takes me and makes money off my back while I’m still under contract with UFC.” [H/T BoxingScene]

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Saikat Banerjee
Saikat Banerjee
A wordsmith who indulges in the world of combat sports, Saikat is an MMA, boxing, and arm wrestling content writer at The MMA India Show and The Sports Room. Apart from combat sports, he also engages in Indian sports content at The Sports India Show. Currently pursuing an MBA from Jadavpur University, Saikat's other interests lie in motorcycling, working out, and travelling.

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