Georges St-Pierre announced for 2020 UFC Hall of Fame class

Georges St-Pierre, the face of Canadian MMA and the favorite fighter for a generation of fans created during the post-TUF boom period, was announced as joining the 2020 UFC Hall of Fame class during the UFC 249 broadcast.

He will be in the Modern wing, joining Ronda Rousey, Michael Bisping, Forrest Griffin, BJ Penn, Urijah Faber, and Rashad Evans. The designation is for fighters who turned pro after November 17, 2000; are at least 35; and have been retired for more than a year.

The event is traditionally held during July’s International Fight Week in Las Vegas, Nevada, but with the current situation with the pandemic, all bets are off as to when the ceremony happens.

The 38-year-old retired last February after a 26-2 career that was nearly all spent in the Octagon.

The Montreal, Quebec, Canada, native had his first UFC fight in 2004 and it only took him three fights to earn a title shot — one he lost in a round to Matt Hughes for the vacant welterweight title.

He then won six straight, including a 2006 rematch against Hughes in which he won the title via second round TKO. However, a subsequent first round knockout loss to longshot Matt Serra could have derailed everything.

It would be the last loss of his career.

He went on to win 13 straight, including unifying the welterweight title in a dominant effort over Serra, and had nine defenses of the title before vacating it after a controversial split decision win over Johny Hendricks in November 2013. The win streak is tied for second most in UFC history.

Four years later, he returned at UFC 217 at Madison Square Garden and finished middleweight champion Michael Bisping in the third round in one of the year’s most poignant moments. With the win, he became one of seven fighters in UFC history to win titles in two weight classes.

His 13 title fight wins are second most in UFC history, his 20 wins are tied for third most in UFC history, his 2591 strikes are the most in UFC history, and his 90 takedowns are also the most in UFC history.

He also headlined one of the largest events in MMA history: UFC 129 in Toronto, Canada, held in front of nearly 56,000 fans at the Rogers Centre.