Georges St-Pierre (photo via Full Contact Fighter)

By FCF Staff

Following reports yesterday that Georges St-Pierre was going to announce his retirement today at a press conference in Montreal, the legendary fighter did indeed, confirm today he’s hanging up the gloves.

During the press conference, St-Pierre said the timing was right for him to walk away from fighting, and the UFC’s former welterweight and middleweight champ also thanked various people who played a role in his storied career (quote via MMA Fighting):

“There’s no tears,” St-Pierre said. “I’m very happy to do it. It takes a lot of discipline to retire on top, it was a long process in my mind, but it’s time to do it. Only a few people have done it and I always said that I want to retire on my own and not be told to retire. So it takes discipline in combat sport and full contact sports, that’s how you should retire. You should retire on top.”

The 37-year-old Canadian star noted that he had been interested in fighting lightweight champ, Khabib Nurmagomedov. But, St-Pierre also said he understood why the UFC was not interested in having him challenge for the lightweight title at this stage of his career.

St-Pierre retires armed with a record of 26-2 and having won 13 straight bouts.