Former champ Georges St. Pierre wants to fight at UFC 206 in Toronto

Former UFC welterweight champion Georges St. Pierre gave the clearest indication yet he is ready to make a comeback.

He’s just waiting on the right deal.

“I want to come back,” he said during an appearance on Wednesday’s episode on UFC Tonight on Fox Sports 1. “(The UFC knows the) terms I want. Trust me, I’m very reasonable so it’s up to them.”

St. Pierre would like to fight at UFC 206 on Dec. 10 in Toronto. He mentioned top contenders Demian Maia and Nick Diaz, along with current champion Tyron Woodley as preferred opponents.

The 35-year-old Montreal native last competed in November 2013, when he retained the belt with a split decision win over Johny Hendricks in Las Vegas. St. Pierre elected to vacate his belt and take a hiatus from fighting, citing difficulty dealing with the growing spotlight and what he considered an epidemic of performance-enhancing drugs in the sport.

St. Pierre says he is in a better place mentally now and the UFC has incorporated a comprehensive anti-doping policy.

It’s another major change in the organization that could be presenting an obstacle to his return.

St. Pierre was making a significant portion of his income from sponsors under his last contract, but the UFC now has a uniform deal with Reebok that would prevent St. Pierre from displaying any other brand during weigh-ins or on fight night.

“If you see it from my perspective, I’m making a lot of money now even though I’m not fighting. And my contract is old,” St. Pierre said. “My contract was made before the Reebok deal.

“If I go back and fight I cannot advertise my sponsors, so I’m losing money if I go back to fight on the old terms of my contract. So, it’s reasonable. I’m just waiting to see what’s going to happen.”

As for the UFC’s testing program, which is administered by the United States Anti-Doping Agency, St. Pierre is already registered and subject to random testing.

Except in special circumstances, fighters returning to competition must be enrolled for four months before they are cleared to compete.

St. Pierre will have met that threshold by the date of the event and he acknowledged it wasn’t a coincidence that he enrolled in the program in time to ensure he would be able to return for the event in his native Canada.

Now he hopes everything else falls into place.

“Who would be a better man than myself to headline a card in Toronto,” St. Pierre asked. “To fill up the Air Canada (Centre) and get back the Canadian fans, raise the pay-per-view (numbers) up because now (fellow Canadian Rory MacDonald) is going to Bellator?

“I’m the man for the job.”

St. Pierre has won 12 straight fights and previously headlined UFC 129 at Rogers Centre in Toronto, which drew a then-record crowd of 55,724 in April 2011.

Contact reporter Adam Hill at ahill@reviewjournal.com or 702-224-5509. Follow @adamhilllvrj on Twitter.