Georges St-Pierre reacts to recent UFC Canada layoffs

Recently, news has surfaced that the new WME-IMG owners of the UFC have been cleaning house, and plan to fire between 60 and 80 UFC employees in a major shakeup.

Several key UFC executives were let go, including Chief Global Brand Officer & Head of International Business Development in Vegas, Garry Cook, Chief Content Officer Marshall Zelaznik, UFC Executive VP & GM of UFC Asia Ken Berger, and UFC Executive VP & GM of Canada, Tom Wright to name just a few of the nearly 15% of the worldwide employees let go by the WME-IMG owners. In addition, approximately 80% of the UFC’s Canadian Office was let go.

That upset former UFC middleweight kingpin Georges St-Pierre, who recently revealed that he was able to terminate his UFC contract due to the fact that the promotion didn’t secure him a fight in a timely manner.

St-Pierre took to social media to reflect on the recent layoffs within the promotion:

Sad to hear about the layoffs at UFC Canada this morning and other UFC offices yesterday… 1/3

— Georges St-Pierre (@GeorgesStPierre) October 19, 2016

Got to know many of these good and dedicated people over the years, the UFC staff accomplish a lot of work behind the scenes and… 2/3

— Georges St-Pierre (@GeorgesStPierre) October 19, 2016

Always make the extra effort to help fighters. Big thanks to all of them! 3/3

— Georges St-Pierre (@GeorgesStPierre) October 19, 2016

While there has been quite a bit of concern regarding the recent layoffs within the promotion, with the morale at the UFC HQ in Vegas going as far as to be compared to a morgue, layoffs are rather common after an organization is sold to another company.

While St-Pierre was reportedly close to returning to the UFC earlier this month, negotiations before the former welterweight champion and the UFC failed, likely in part to St-Pierre being unable to wear Under Armour in the Octagon due to the UFC’s apparel deal with Reebok.

Earlier this week, St-Pierre announced that he was a free agent after his contract with the UFC was terminated. The UFC brass was quick to fire back with a statement in which they revealed that St-Pierre was still under contract.