Georges St. Pierre Reveals Cancer Scare Led to Retirement

Leading up to UFC 217, Georges St. Pierre spoke about the stomach issues that made his trip up to middleweight difficult. But in a recent interview with the Pound 4 Pound podcast, the former champion revealed just how severe it was and how it turned what many hoped would be a legacy defining resurgence into a quiet exit.

“The reason why I really retired is because it took a lot out of me, and I started developing a condition called ileocolitis. It’s an inflammation of the intestine…I tried to eat to gain weight and I have a hard time gaining weight. And I forced myself to eat and eat and maybe the doctor told me that’s probably why I developed that,” Georges St. Pierre told hosts and fellow former champions Kamaru Usman and Henry Cejudo.  

WebMD describes ileocolitis as “the most common type of Crohn’s disease” and lists diarrhea, cramping, weight loss, and abdominal pain as likely symptoms of the condition. 

“I used to go to the bathroom and it was a lot of blood, I thought maybe I had cancer but I was telling myself during training camp I was like, whatever it is, I’m going to wait until the end of the fight because to find out what it is, you need to what they call a colonoscopy,” he said. 

Georges St. Pierre ended a four-year hiatus after vacating the welterweight crown to challenge Michael Bisping for middleweight gold in the main event at UFC 217. “Rush” defeated Bisping by third round submission. Just 34 days later, he vacated the title which prompted a promotion for interim champ Robert Whittaker.