Georges St-Pierre has to spend four months in the USADA drug-testing pool before a potential return to the Octagon.
The legendary fighter started his testing Aug. 10. The UFC's return to Toronto just so happens to be at UFC 206 on Dec. 10 — four months to the very day.
Coincidence? Probably not. St-Pierre is a massive draw in his native Canada.
"All the stars are aligned, my friend," St-Pierre told MMA Fighting in a phone interview Thursday. "I'm not lying to you, it's not done yet. It's not done at this point. We still have to talk to the new owners soon, see what they've gotta say."
St-Pierre is currently promoting his new film "Kickboxer: Vengeance," which gets released Sept. 2 in the United States. GSP stars in the film alongside the likes of Jean Claude Van Damme, Dave Bautista and Gina Carano.
Soon, though, St-Pierre will be fully focused on training and hammering out a contract with the UFC. His agents at CAA will be sitting down with the UFC's new owners at WME-IMG shortly, he said. Coincidentally, CAA and WME-IMG are competing talent agencies in Hollywood. GSP said the staunch rivalry won't be an issue.
"Conflict is sometimes good," St-Pierre said. "It raises the bar. It's a good thing. Some people might not like what I have to say, but I think it's good."
St-Pierre, 35, says he isn't asking the UFC for "anything extravagant." He believes it's a question of mathematics.
"It's something fair and we have to wait," GSP said. "I'm very well represented. I'm very confident and trusting in the people that work for me. I'm very well taken care of for that. I want to go back to fighting. I don't have to. I would like to, because I feel I'm in my prime right now. I'm the best I've ever been at 35. Right now. I don't want to wait any longer, because if I wait too long I'm gonna be past that prime and I don't want that. This is a good time to be back right now. That's why I want to go back."
St-Pierre, the former longtime UFC welterweight champion, still holds the UFC gate record of $12 million at UFC 129 at Toronto's Rogers Centre. A return to that city in December would make a lot of sense.
It seems like GSP thinks so, too. It's just a matter of hammering out the numbers and putting his signature on the paper.
St-Pierre said he hopes to be back in 2016, for sure.
"It depends on them," said GSP, referring to the UFC. "We put our cards on the table, see what's going to happen. I think my agents are talking to the new owners pretty soon. So we're going to have some news."