Expectations were once through the roof for the UFC 300 main event.
From 46 year-old Brock Lesnar to the retired Ronda Rousey, fight fans were expecting something from way out of left field to headline the historic event this weekend from Las Vegas. After weighing several different options, the UFC ended up booking a light heavyweight title fight with Alex Pereira and Jamahal Hill as the two men on the marquee with 55 days to go.
GSP Return? ‘It Was Only A Rumor’
For a time, it looked like the promotion was scrambling to find a headliner for UFC 300 with calls made to Jon Jones, Dricus Du Plessis and more. Some rumors even suggested Georges St-Pierre, 42, could be making a comeback, but the former two-division champion was quick to put those theories to bed.
“No, I wasn’t,” St-Pierre said in an interview with ‘Covers‘, when asked if he was approached about fighting at UFC 300. “It was only a rumor, but it’s true that there was a lot of big names that we were expected to be there.”
“I’m thinking of Conor McGregor, perhaps. I don’t know who else, but Conor. Just him. He’s probably the most popular fighter and we all thought that his comeback would have been for UFC 300.”
‘UFC 300 Is Still Very Interesting’
Conor McGregor wasn’t too happy with being left out of the UFC 300 picture, but there seems to be an announcement coming soon for the mega-star’s next fight.
While Pereira vs. Hill might not have been the first (or most popular) choice to headline the event, St-Pierre is still intrigued by the clash of styles as well as the action-packed prelims and the pay-per-view fights that precede it.
“I don’t know if the UFC had an initial plan that fell and then they had to switch their card,” St-Pierre continued. “For the purists of the sport, the finality of the the UFC 300 is still very interesting. You have Pereira versus Jamahal Hill. So, it’s gonna be very interesting. It’s an enigma.”
How Would St-Pierre, In His Prime, Do In The UFC Right Now?
Speaking of ‘enigmas’, there has always been much debate on how the ‘GSP’ of old would perform against this new generation of UFC welterweight talent. Of course, you could argue that a ‘prime’ Kamaru Usman would have beat a St-Pierre in his heyday, after all, their peaks were about a decade apart.
That is why St-Pierre presents this as in a hypothetical situation:
“If you put me in my prime, I think it’s not long time ago, and I think I would have done well. Of course, if you give me the knowledge and the the tools that they now have and you put me in my prime of having this knowledge and these tools would make me even better. So, it’s all about technology,” St-Pierre explained.
“If you talk about any other sport, it’s the same thing. Even [Albert] Einstein says it best, ‘If I’ve seen further than my predecessors because I’m standing on shoulders of giant’. It’s true in science, but it’s also true in sport. So, they learn from their predecessors. I have learned from my predecessors. So, therefore, I don’t have to commit the same mistake I’ve learned from them. It makes me having a head start on them and the future generation have a head start on me. And as good as they are today, they will be even better in the future.
Correction: It was Isaac Newton who said, “If I have seen further it is by standing on the shoulders of giants,” not Albert Einstein as Georges St-Pierre mentioned.
