Georges St-Pierre vacates UFC title with new champion named

It was highly anticipated.

'GSP' was back and this time it was for good. The Canadian will go down as one of the greatest MMA fighters of all time and only furthered his legacy. Last month, the 36-year-old returned to the octagon after a four-year absence from the sport and returned in style. St-Pierre submitted Michael Bisping to become the UFC Middleweight champion and has not lost in the UFC in over 10 years. That was it, he was back and he was the star the UFC needed as Conor McGregor was on hiatus from the UFC and Jon Jones was banned. But now it's not looking so good anymore as 'GSP' has opted to vacate his title citing health reasons. As per the UFC, St-Pierre said:

“My fight at UFC 217 was one of the greatest nights of my life but I now need to take some time to focus on my health. Out of respect to the athletes and the sport, I don’t want to hold up the division. I will be giving up my belt and once I’m healthy I look forward to working with the UFC to determine what’s next in my career.”

The belt has now been handed over to Robert Whittaker, who was the UFC interim champion prior to that. Whittaker defeated Yoel Romero for the title back July and is now pencilled to face Luke Rockhold at UFC 221 for the belt. It was Rockhold that defeated Chris Weidman for the middleweight crown back in December 2015 only to lose it to Bisping but won his comeback fight over a year later. This will no doubt please both men as they go toe to toe in an official UFC title bout. The next step for St-Pierre is not as clear with no further information given about when he will be back in the octagon.