After a stellar 15-year career, Canadian MMA legend Georges St-Pierre is set to be inducted into the UFC Hall of Fame.
St-Pierre was a three-time UFC welterweight champion and was ranked as the world No. 1 in his weight class for several years. He won 26 of his 28 professional bouts and went on a streak of 13 wins to end his career, the second-longest in UFC history.
UFC announced he would be inducted into the Modern Wing of the Hall of Fame in a Twitter post on Saturday night.
The face of Canadian MMA has a new home 🇨🇦
— UFC (@ufc) May 10, 2020
🏆 @GeorgesStPierre is set to enter the Modern Wing of the #UFCHoF. (B2YB @ToyoTires) pic.twitter.com/qNGXKvaPCI
Highlights from St-Pierre's career include wins over fellow Hall of Famers Matt Hughes, BJ Penn, Matt Serra and Michael Bisping. He also had wins over Jon Fitch, Thiago Alves, Jake Shields and Nick Diaz.
After taking a four-year hiatus from martial arts, St-Pierre made his return in 2017 after moving up a weight class to fight middleweight champion Bisping. He won via technical submission in the third round in what would be the last fight of his career. He officially announced his retirement on February 21, 2019.
The Montreal native is widely credited with helping grow the popularity of mixed martial arts in Canada. He participated in the first-ever UFC event in Canada in 2008, defeating Matt Serra at the Bell Centre in Montreal, and took down Jake Shields at Rogers Centre in Toronto three years later. The bout against Shields took place in front of 55,724 fans, the most in UFC North American history.
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"It’s a great honor to be inducted to the UFC Hall of Fame," St-Pierre said in a statement via Yahoo Sports' Kevin Iole. "I want to thank Lorenzo and Frank Fertitta, Dana White and the entire UFC team, my family, my coaches and teammates, my past collaborators, my opponents and, of course, all UFC fans. It’s been an amazing journey, without them, none of this would have been possible."
“Georges St-Pierre is a pioneer of Canadian MMA who helped build the sport globally," UFC president Dana White said. “He is the most famous athlete to ever come out of Canada and one of the greatest martial artists of all-time. We're proud to induct him into the UFC Hall of Fame Class of 2020.”
The induction will take place sometime later this year rather than the typical date in July due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
