The MMA world said goodbye to a legend yesterday, as Georges St-Pierre announced his retirement with immediate effect from the sport.

A former two-weight UFC champion, 'Rush' had not competed inside the Octagon since November 2017, when he defeated Michael Bisping to become the Middleweight champion in his first-ever fight at the weight class.

After suffering from ulcerative colitis following the bout, GSP relinquished the belt, something Dana White was not too happy with, and when he signalled his intentions to create big-money fights upon his return to the business, the President of UFC wouldn't allow it.

White was full of praise for St-Pierre yesterday though, stating, per Bloody Elbow: "Georges has cemented his legacy as one of the pound-for-pound greatest fighters ever.

“He beat all the top guys during his welterweight title reign and even went up a weight class to win the middleweight championship.

"He spent years as one of the biggest names in MMA and remains one of the best ambassadors for the sport. He put Canada on the MMA map.”

White may very well be the reason for GSP's departure from the sport though, as the French-Canadian confirmed in his press conference that the company refused to sanction a bout that would have pitted him against current Lightweight champion Khabib Nurmagomedov.

“It takes three people to make a fight," St-Pierre told the media.

"The two fighters and the organization. It just didn’t happen. I wish Khabib the best of luck. I’m a big fan and I think he’s the best fighter right now.”

It comes after Khabib's final plea to fight GSP on Instagram, stating he would take the fight anywhere around the world just to make it happen.

Clearly not good enough for the UFC top brass though, and we're probably never going to see the two pit their talents against each other.

Never say never though, as St-Pierre even admitted that should a change of circumstances occur, he could be drawn back to the game should he be offered the fight in the future.

"When you make a business offer, it’s now," said GSP.

"You take the business offer, yes or no. You can’t say in a few months, ‘Hey, your business offer? Finally I want to accept it.’

"No, it was now, you take or you refuse. That’s how you do business. MMA is a business game too.”