Georges St. Pierre had a successful octagon return at UFC 217, as the fighter earned a title winning victory over UFC middleweight champion Michael Bisping. However, it would appear that the newly crowned champion has not intention of hoarding his celebratory belt.
Speaking at the New York Stock Exchange, as provided by Bloody Elbow, St-Pierre explained that he has always given away his belts to people close to him.
“Every belt that I’ve won from the beginning, I always gave it to someone that was there to help me through my career. My first belt, I gave it to my mother, because my mother was the one that was most important to me. Then I gave it to Firas, then I gave it to John (Danaher), I gave it to different people who was there from the beginning.”
“After a while, at welterweight, they stopped giving me the belt, so I couldn’t give it away,” he said. “Now that I won a new belt, they gave me the middleweight belt, so I gave it to Victor Zilberman, who was my wrestling coach for more than 15 years.
“When I gave him the belt — he was a former USSR wrestler — and I think that was the first time I saw him smile ever, so it made me very happy.”
Georges St. Pierre then explained that the title is not what motivated him to return to the octagon after nearly four years away from the UFC.
“The reason why I came back isn’t because I needed the money. I wanted to comeback because I know I was in my prime and I knew I wanted to make history,” he said. “I did it not necessarily because of the belt. I did it for my legacy.
“I did it to be able to cherish a memory that will stay with me for the rest of my life. The belt, it’s a symbol,” he explains. “It’s nice, it represents hard work and dedication, but it could be stolen, it could be destroyed. The memory that I keep of that, what I’ve done (at UFC 217), it’s never going to be taken away from me.
“It will be something that I keep for the rest of my life. Maybe one day, maybe my life I will go through something negative, I will be able to sit back and think back about that moment. It will make me smile,” he said. “That’s what it is, and what people don’t understand. I do this to live a moment.”
