“Like a poker bluff” - UFC legend Georges St-Pierre says he gambled on himself to earn better pay

Georges St-Pierre opened up about his financial struggles during his early days in the UFC. The French-Canadian fighter penned an essay for Wealthsimple Magazine, reminiscing about his journey as a young athlete on his way up.

Most MMA fighters finish broke and broken. Three-time @ufc champion turned Marvel universe actor, @GeorgesStPierre, tells us how he learned to negotiate for what you’re worth.

— Wealthsimple (@Wealthsimple) June 10, 2021

In a piece titled, "The UFC Won’t Pay You Fairly Unless You Make Them," Georges St-Pierre gave readers a perspective on money matters in MMA. He revealed that it took him four years of accepting fights for measly pay before he started making what would be considered good money.

In 2008, Georges St-Pierre's contract with the UFC was about to expire. As UFC welterweight champion at the time, 'Rush' revealed that he leveraged his looming free agency to get a better deal from the promotion.

“Like a poker bluff, we said, ‘We don’t want to re-sign before the fight – we want to just finish the contract. We took a big risk. Because it’s like a stock market. Your stock might go up if you’re successful, but it can also go down if you lose. But that’s what we decided to do. I always believed in myself, so we took the big risk," St-Pierre wrote.

Georges St-Pierre's gambit paid off in a huge way. According to the Montreal-native, the company offered him a contract that earned him "many millions of dollars" during the peak of his career.

“So after I won the championship in 2008, I took a big gamble on myself and told UFC I was not going to re-sign with them. And then, the day before my fight with Jon Fitch, the UFC came back with a big, crazy contract because they didn’t want me to become a free agent."

Georges St-Pierre's last stand

After a controversial split decision win against Johny Hendricks at UFC 167 in 2013, GSP announced that he's taking a break from cage fighting. The Canadian champion's five-year reign of terror ended as he vacated the UFC welterweight throne and went on a four-year hiatus.

Georges St. Pierre is UFC's middleweight champion, winning at #UFC217, his first fight after a 4-year layoff. https://t.co/Asx1GVXhss pic.twitter.com/0iyc70H6Nz

— The Boston Globe (@BostonGlobe) November 5, 2017

Georges St-Pierre made his long-awaited return to the octagon in 2017. He conquered then-UFC middleweight champ Michael Bisping in his comeback fight at UFC 217.

Unfortunately, GSP wasn't able to defend his newly won middleweight gold. He officially returned to retirement in February 2019 and has remained inactive since then.

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