Georges St-Pierre opens up on negotiations with Floyd Mayweather for mixed-rules fight: “I’m not that stupid”

Former UFC welterweight and middleweight champion Georges St-Pierre once nearly fought Floyd Mayweather.

‘Rush’ hasn’t competed since a third-round submission victory over Michael Bisping at UFC 217. That victory saw Georges St-Pierre end a four-year layoff, to defeat ‘The Count’ in Madison Square Garden. While the Canadian later showed interest in fights against the likes of Khabib Nurmagomedov, he never fought again.

Georges St-Pierre wound up retiring in February 2019. While he hasn’t fought since, he has received many fight offers. One interesting offer was discussed in a recent interview with Cover. In the interview, St-Pierre revealed that he was once offered a “mixed-rules” fight with Floyd Mayweather.

Much like Georges St-Pierre, ‘Money’ also last competed in 2017. That August, Floyd Mayweather knocked out Conor McGregor in the boxing ring to move to 50-0. Post-fight, the former champion retired, but has continued to compete in exhibition boxing matches. It seems that Mayweather was willing to take somewhat of a gamble and step into the octagon.

However, the rules of the potential fight with Georges St-Pierre weren’t really mixed. In the interview, the former UFC champion revealed that the bout would essentially be a boxing match, but in a cage with four-ounce gloves. The only meaningful difference would be that backfists were allowed. With a ruleset like that, St-Pierre had to decline.

RELATED: DANA WHITE TEASES CONOR MCGREGOR’S UFC RETURN: “COMING SOON”

Former UFC champion Georges St-Pierre discusses fight offer against Floyd Mayweather

“There was a promoter that wanted to organize [a fight between us]. The way they described it, it was a fair compromise between boxing and MMA.” Georges St-Pierre stated in the interview, revealing that he was once approached about a fight with Floyd Mayweather. “It was against Floyd Mayweather and I was retired. I was like ‘This one, I’m interested’, and they flew in.”

He continued, “I was in Austin, Texas. He flew in on a private plane, we had a dinner. I asked ‘What’s the deal?’ and he said it was a boxing fight in an octagonal ring. It was like, ‘Okay, but what’s the rules? What’s the compromise?’, Oh it’s an octagonal ring and you’re allowed to do spinning backfists. Well, it’s not really a fair compromise. Allow me to throw me kicks? No, he’ll never accept that. I said, ‘Okay, no kicks above the belt?’ No, that’s never going to work.”

“Allow me to throw him down? ‘Oh, he never wants to go to the floor!’ I’m like, I’m not saying going to the floor. I’m saying throw him down, take him down, and we stand back up. He’s like ‘No, no’… [At that point] forget it.” Georges St-Pierre concluded. “It’s a trap, I’m not that stupid… It didn’t work.”

While Georges St-Pierre could hypothetically fight Floyd Mayweather still, that seems unlikely. ‘Rush’ has revealed in recent interviews that he set a hard deadline for himself, to stop competing by the age of 40. Now 42 years old, it’s unlikely St-Pierre will ever compete again.

What do you make of this potential fight? Who do you think would’ve won? Georges St-Pierre or Floyd Mayweather?