UFC welterweight champion Georges St-Pierre has been out of action for roughly 15 months now due to a torn ACL in his knee that required surgery and months of rehab. St-Pierre, who is arguably the biggest star in the sport, is expected to make his return to action at UFC 154 next November as he is scheduled to face interim championship title-holder Carlos Condit in a unification match.

By the time GSP returns to the octagon, it will have been approximately 20-months since he last competed, by far the longest layoff of his career. Some fighters would be extremely discouraged after taking such a long hiatus from the sport they are used to competing in every few months, but in an interview with UK website "The Sun", the 31-year-old explained that he was burned out from the sport prior to the injury and he believes the time off has given him the time to refocus on the sport he has dominated for so long. Always a positive thinker, St-Pierre claims he will comeback as a "new guy" and states he is very motivated to return to the cage. Read his full comments below.

"I've never been injured like this in my career. This is the first big injury that's kept me out of the sport for such a long time. I was completely burned out before I got it.

"I was over-trained and wasn't having as much fun as I used to before because of all the pressure and all the critics. So the fact that I hurt my knee allowed me to take a break, step back and see what my priorities were and change a lot of things in my life and in my training. I’m coming back as a new guy and I've never been as relieved. I'm having fun again.

"It's been the most frustrating period of my career but it's allowed a whole lot of new challengers to appear.It’s going to be fun because I'm not going to have to fight the same guys all over again — it's a new challenge and I feel very motivated about that."

"The key to this whole thing is to have fun so that's what I'm going to focus on. When you have fun in what you do best — that’s when you're successful."

St-Pierre also shared his thoughts on the upcoming UFC 148 middleweight championship bout between Anderson Silva and Chael Sonnen.

You can follow me on Twitter at @FightCoveMike.

SOURCE: Georges St-Pierre Says He Was "Completely Burned Out" Before His Knee Injury