Georges St-Pierre may never compete in the UFC again, but if he does he wants Manny Pacquiao’s trainer Freddie Roach in his corner.
According to longtime combat sports writer Kevin Iole of Yahoo! Sports, Roach received a text from GSP after he won a controversial split decision over Johny Hendricks at UFC 167.
“He said, ‘I’m not going to fight again unless you are in my corner,'” Roach explained.
The acclaimed boxing trainer has worked with St-Pierre in the past —as well as other high-profile UFC stars like B.J. Penn and Mauricio “Shogun” Rua—but Roach has never been a cornerman for any fighter at a UFC event.
St-Pierre was outstruck 142 to 125 by Hendricks last Saturday in Las Vegas, but the Canadian won the significant strikes exchange 101 to 85.
“[Hendricks] doesn’t know anything, he just punches good with a big left hand,” Roach said. “Pretty much with him, if you can stay away from that and nullify that, it’s not that tough of a fight. Georges did it, and he had success with it when he did, but he didn’t do it enough in the fight.”
Roach didn’t commit to cornering GSP if the welterweight champ returns to the sport, but expressed an interest to do so if his boxing schedule allows it. Currently, Roach is preparing Pacquiao for his Nov. 23 fight against Brandon Rios.
Though GSP said after his win that he needs to hang up his MMA gloves for a little while, UFC president Dana White is confident a rematch with Hendricks will happen in 2014.
