While seeing mixed martial arts stars in the poker world isn’t anything new, seeing a star like Georges St-Pierre sign a 12-month poker contract is a pretty big deal. St-Pierre inked the deal with 888poker, and he’ll be representing them in major live events such as the World Series of Poker.

The 30-year-old fighter is currently resting and rehabbing a knee injury, and won’t be entering the ring for a while anyways. So this opportunity with 888 comes at the perfect time.

After signing on to represent 888, the UFC Welterweight title holder said, “I have wanted to play poker for a while now as it is a great game of skill. It is not just your cards versus my cards – it is you versus your opponent.” He continued by discussing how his efforts on the poker table will go a long way towards generating money for anti-bullying causes.

If you can believe it, the Canadian was once bullied as a kid growing up in St. Isadore, Quebec. It was this terrible experience that convinced him to take up martial arts, which, as we know today, helped turn St-Pierre into one of the greatest MMA fighters the world has ever seen.

In fact, Georges St-Pierre is at the top of many pound-for-pound rankings, which compare all MMA competitors, assuming they were the same weight. His career record is 22-2, which is extremely impressive considering the fact that he only fights top-notch competition these days.

Of course, it’s unlikely that St-Pierre’s grappling and striking skills will translate well over to the felt. But it would be nice to see the champion fighter improve his poker skills over the next few months, and rack up some nice cashes.