Nate Diaz recently called the UFC title a "fairy tale." Georges St-Pierre didn't go that far, but came pretty close on The MMA Hour with Ariel Helwani on Monday.
GSP said he would rather take on the biggest stars, rather than fight again for the UFC welterweight title he held on two separate occasions. Having the belt, the Canadian legend reasoned, doesn't necessarily mean you are the best.
"I'm gonna tell you something," St-Pierre said. "The belt is the title and maybe I shouldn't say that. Maybe my manager will be angry. Yes, the belt means a lot.
"I would rather be known as the best ever than holding the belt. If you're the best and even if you don't have the belt and you're the best, it's more gratifying. The belt is a material thing. It's good. I won it a few times. But I want to fight the best, the biggest name."
St-Pierre, 34, has not yet announced a return to the UFC. He has not fought since defending that 170-pound title against Johny Hendricks at UFC 167 in November 2013. A few weeks after that, GSP rescinded the title and said he would be taking a break from MMA due to myriad reasons.
The talk lately is that he's going to come back and that's looking more and more like a probability. St-Pierre said he will do a trial training camp to see where he is physically and mentally. After that, he'll make his final decision. While that is going on, he said his manager Rodolphe Beaulieu is in discussions with the UFC that have gotten more serious in recent weeks.
If and when he does return, GSP won't exactly go back into the pack of welterweight contenders. That would be silly. "Rush" is one of the biggest stars in UFC history.
"When I do something, I want to do it big," St-Pierre said. "I want to be the best. I want to fight the guy who's the best, who's the biggest name."
St-Pierre has not lost since that stunning upset to Matt Serra in 2007, winning 12 straight fights. He defended the title nine times, one off the UFC record of 10 set by Anderson Silva.
While the belt might not be the biggest priority at this stage, GSP is still operating on an elite level, his coach Firas Zahabi told Helwani. St-Pierre said he's in the best shape of his life right now and Zahabi said he is as good in the gym now as he ever was before.
"I think he's the best welterweight in the world and the best ever," Zahabi said. ... "I think he's still training with the hunger, with the desire and with the killer instinct. He's in practice, he's the killer he's always been."