Georges St-Pierre is widely regarded as one of the greatest of all time, an early pillar of the UFC, and one of the first UFC mainstream superstars. He officially retired from MMA in February 2019 with his last fight inside of the octagon being November 2017.
GSP was known for training in several different disciplines including boxing and was able to leverage his skills in order to win in a dominant fashion. Over the years, GSP has expressed interest in a potential boxing match.
Triller CEO, Ryan Kavanaugh, recently approached GSP about a potential boxing match against Oscar De La Hoya, but GSP retired from MMA under an active UFC contract. That means without Dana’s approval, there isn’t even a possibility of a boxing match.
Dana White hasn’t directly commented on a potential bout between GSP and De La Hoya, but on Saturday after UFC 262, Dana didn’t mince words about the folks at Triller.
“Oh my God, don’t even ask about me about these idiots. Who gives a shit? Does anybody give a shit?…You think I care what Triller thinks? I don’t even take their calls. This idiot calls me every day. Texts me every day – “Please answer my call. Please talk to me. Why won’t you talk to me?” Because I don’t give a fuck about you. Do your thing. Leave me alone. Go fucking do whatever it is you’re doing. Knock yourself out. I could care less. I have no interest in talking to any of those idiots. They can do their thing, Do your thing. Stop talking about me. What do you give a shit what I’m doing? Go do your thing.”
Behind the scenes, GSP and Triller’s Kavanaugh allege that White has blocked any possibility of a potential boxing match between GSP and De La Hoya.
Cinema Blend’s Mick Joest spoke with GSP and was told the following:
“I understand that Dana didn’t want me to fight. However, it would have been fun. Because my career as a professional fighter, to become the best in the world in mixed martial arts, is done. I’m turning 40 years old tomorrow; I’m going to be 40 years old. It’s a young man’s game. However, to rather fight a boxing match under the rules that Triller put on against the legendary Oscar De La Hoya? For me, it would have been a dream come true, because he is my second favorite boxer of all time, behind Sugar Ray Leonard. Plus, a lot of the money made would have been given to charity. So it would have been for a good cause, just to show that we don’t take ourselves too seriously. And it would have been serious competition because you say, I play basketball, I play hockey, but you don’t ‘play’ fighting. It would have been fun.”
From the outside looking in, it seems as if Dana has put the kibosh on any potential boxing match, however it is entertaining to think of GSP participating in a Triller circus act.
Let’s set the stage for what a Triller “boxing” events looks like. It can be best described as a poorly produced circus sideshow complete with random personalities including Snoop Dogg, Mario Lopez, Pete Davidson, Justin Bieber, Charli and Dixie D’Amelio, and Taylor Hill, never-ending poor lip-syncing performances, smoke machines, and blinding lights.
It’s entertaining and funny to imagine one of the UFC’s all-time greats fighting at such an event.
