Georges St-Pierre believes Justin Gaethje should walk away from MMA immediately after capturing the lightweight title at UFC Freedom 250 last Sunday.
Gaethje defeated Ilia Topuria to claim the belt, but while many expect a long reign, St-Pierre is publicly advising the new champion to call it a career now.
"It's really inspiring to see what he has accomplished. You might not like what I'm going to say, but if I were him, because I like him, retirement. I heard Demetrious Johnson said it, but that's what I would do. That would be an amazing ending. What else does he want to accomplish? He did it all."
St-Pierre praised Gaethje’s resilience, saying, "He's the kind of guy that works really hard and he comes back from adversity," but stressed that long-term well-being should come first. "And I'm sure he can still beat a lot of guys. Maybe he can still go on a roll because he still can do it, but health, I think, is the priority."
Gaethje, who told Joe Rogan that he plans to continue fighting despite retirement suggestions, has refused to commit to walking away after previously promising his mother not to discuss the topic.
Drawing from his own experience vacating the welterweight title after a controversial defense against Johny Hendricks and later returning to win and then leave the sport as middleweight champion, St-Pierre added, "And also the fact that when you're a professional athlete in combat sports, it's very hard to retire on top because you're always tempted to see, 'Oh, I can do one more, one more, one more,' and you probably can do. But man, what a magnificent way to end a career it would be for him."
