Former Ultimate Fighting Championship welterweight champion Georges St-Pierre was spotted in Las Vegas on Saturday at UFC 196, fueling speculation about a possible comeback.
St-Pierre has not fought since scoring a split decision win against Johny Hendricks at UFC 167 in November 2013. His surprised appearance at UFC 196 on Saturday night made analysts and fans think that the Canadian superstar is ready to end his long layoff.
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MMA analyst Ariel Helwani also thinks that there could be a reason behind GSP's presence at UFC 196, especially after rumors about a possible showdown with Conor McGregor at UFC 200 circulated.
GSP isn't the type to come to Vegas to just hang out and watch fights. He played coy and I asked about 200 and McGregor. Very interesting.
— Ariel Helwani (@arielhelwani) March 6, 2016
But when asked about the talks about GSP's possible comeback, UFC president Dana White reiterated that St-Pierre's decision to watch the McGregor-Nate Diaz bout had nothing to do with the MMA superstar's future plans.
White also denied speculation that McGregor was planning to call out St-Pierre but the plan did not push through after the reigning UFC featherweight champion took a humbling submission defeat to Diaz in the second round of their showdown on Saturday.
"There was no plan," White said via MMA Junkie. "Some other people were asking tonight whether [McGregor] was going to call out Georges, and that was never a plan."
White confirmed, though, that they have reached out to St-Pierre about returning to the Octagon but the 34-year-old appears unready to make a comeback anytime soon.
"Georges just wanted to come to the fight tonight. Have we been talking to Georges? Yes we have. But who knows," White added. "I honestly, right here, right now, don't know if Georges still wants to fight."
GSP also denied that he watched the fight to gauge his interest in facing McGregor. The Canadian pointed out that he was just with some friends in Las Vegas and decided to watch the bout. But he added in the UFC.com interview that he is still training to keep himself in shape.
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