
Former Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) middleweight champion Georges "Rush" St. Pierre came out of retirement and made an explosive comeback last November, knocking down and tapping out Michael Bisping in the third round to win the middleweight title.
It was a glorious return for the UFC Legend. Unfortunately, it could also be his last.
Mixed Martial Arts website MMA Mania recently reported that St. Pierre is currently not in the best of health and is unlikely to return anytime soon according to one of the fighter's coaches, John Danaher.
"The truth is no one knows (if he will fight again) because it comes down to medical problems. Georges has got a problem in his stomach. I'm not going to claim to be a medical expert, but it's one of the most frustrating things Georges has had to deal with because there's certain parts of the human body that are just out of your control, and the stomach is one of them."
It was revealed by the fighter himself days after winning the middleweight belt that he had been diagnosed with ulcerative colitis, which gave him so much pain that he had to skip training for two weeks during his preparation for UFC 217. The illness also explained the recent bulge around his stomach, something that was not normal, even for somebody who is putting on more weight for a fight.
St. Pierre, being the fighter that he is, somehow managed to work through the pain and endure it all the way to the event. It is unknown whether the illness bothered him during his fight with Bisping, but his trouble with it is such that he had to vacate the championship almost immediately because he wanted time to heal without holding up the division.
GSP is one of the most accomplished fighter of this generation, and many fans believe that he has nothing left to prove despite the prospect of having more exciting matches with today's younger fighters.
His win over Bisping allowed him to join the ranks of elite fighters such as Conor McGregor, Randy Couture, and former rival BJ Penn, who have the distinction of being the only fighters to hold two championships in two different divisions.