Since stepping away from the cage and vacating his UFC welterweight championship, Georges St. Pierre has steadily spoken out about the issues of performance-enhancing drugs within the sport of mixed martial arts. St. Pierre has no plans of returning to the octagon anytime soon, and said that he won't be back until the problem of PEDs is fixed.
"I will never fight again in MMA without my opponent and myself being thoroughly tested for the most advanced PEDs by a credible independent anti-doping organization like VADA or USADA under the strictest standards of the World Anti-Doping Association (WADA) Code," St. Pierre said in an email interview with Bloody Elbow.
St. Pierre's last appearance in the cage came at UFC 167 last November when he retained his title with a controversial split decision win over Johny Hendricks. Hendricks has since won the vacated welterweight title in February.
St. Pierre cited issues in his personal life as his reasons for stepping away, and now it looks like his sole reason for staying away lies within the UFC's lack of effort to "clean up the sport." When asked about what he sees as the most negative trend in the UFC and MMA, St. Pierre replied, "The use of PEDs in the sport. A true martial artist must respect his opponent and fight clean."
St. Pierre said he would be in favor of creating a fighter union to help give him the support he needs to help rid the sport of performance enhancing drugs. As for whether he would lead the charge to organize the fighters himself, St. Pierre wasn't fully committed, though it would likely take someone of his stature within the sport to truly make a difference.
"I'm not aware of any professional athlete union that did not improve the working conditions and increase the paychecks of its members," he said. "I believe it will come someday in MMA, not because things are bad right now but because it's just part of the normal evolution of all major sports. I'm not a "politician" and people know that I'm not a confrontational person or someone who likes to be in front, so it would be hard for me to lead that kind of initiative. But I will never be against something that is good for the fighters."
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