Georges St-Pierre planned to introduce the world to his latest business venture by hosting a launch event for his new product. But his business’s opening day quickly descended into chaos after fans swarmed him at the product’s grand opening.

The Canadian UFC legend recently launched a new line of high-protein, sourdough pinsa, an alternative take on traditional pizza. According to his website, Pinsa is an ancient Roman-style dough-based delicacy that differs from conventional pizza because it is made with premium flours and a slow fermentation process, giving it a more balanced nutritional profile. Well, ‘GSP’ sounded genuinely excited while promoting the product and planned to launch it at the Costco in Mississauga, Ontario.

“On my way to Costco Mississauga for pinsa,” St. Pierre shared on X. “Cheech, you ready? Let’s go! Mississauga, we’re coming!” 

Soon after posting the clip, the former UFC two-division champion arrived at the venue, but he wasn’t the only one excited for the event. Prominent MMA Junkie journalist Mike Bohn, who was there to conduct an interview, reported that an estimated 1,000 fans had gathered to catch a glimpse of GSP. He uploaded several clips from St-Pierre’s product launch event, where fans pulled out their cell phones and began rushing toward the Canadian combat legend, breaking through security barriers. As a result, security was forced to call off GSP’s business launch event.

“People got far too crazy crashing the booth and showed no respect for GSP or the instructions of security so they called it,” Bohn posted on X. “Not his call. Respect the passion but MMA (and most sports fans) need to work on giving personal space to these athletes. People literally chasing after him after security called it didn’t help 😅”

In the adjoining clip, people at the store could be seen chasing after GSP, who was rushed away by the security. Following this, a user tagged Mike Bohn and revealed that he, too, had been in line to meet the 45-year-old right before “they shut it down.” Here, Bohn shared an update on his anticipated interview with Georges St-Pierre, revealing that it had also been canceled after security waved off the event entirely.

“Sorry brother deserved to get it for waiting the right way,” Bohn replied. “My trip was fruitless as well as far as the interview we were supposed to do. Tough break.”

For Georges St-Pierre, attracting overwhelming attention is hardly a surprise. Fans have long swarmed the former UFC champion wherever he goes. However, this appears to be the first time one of his business launch events has been canceled due to an unexpectedly massive crowd. Still, the Canadian legend isn’t the first athlete to see an event called off under such circumstances.

Last year, Alex Pereira’s highly anticipated meet-and-greet also ended in an abrupt cancellation, although it wasn’t tied to one of his business ventures. Following his loss to Magomed Ankalaev at UFC 313, the UFC organized a meet-and-greet event in Germany. However, ‘Poatan’ drew a far larger crowd than the promotion had initially anticipated, prompting the UFC to cancel the event altogether due to security concerns.

While this particular event was called off, GSP has in the past reflected on his experience with fans.

Georges St-Pierre previously mentioned that fans chase him like “zombies”

Georges St-Pierre always enjoyed star power because he was one of the most decorated champions in the UFC. However, ‘Rush’ disclosed that his popularity surged after the Matt Serra rematch win.

After dropping the first bout against Serra at UFC 69, St-Pierre got the chance to face the American once again at UFC 83 in Canada. In front of his home crowd, GSP avenged his loss by stopping Serra in the second round, a victory he believes propelled his stardom to a whole new level.

Two years after that victory, GSP revealed that his popularity had skyrocketed, and fans began following him everywhere. To paint the picture, the former UFC champion stated in a 2010 interview with Maclean’s that fans chasing him reminded him of the movie Dawn of the Dead, where zombies chase people.

“After I won the title there, things just exploded,” he said. “It was like that movie Dawn of the Dead with the zombies. I couldn’t go anywhere.”

It’s evident that Georges St. Pierre still has to deal with that overwhelming attention from fans. Though stardom brings its own set of challenges, the Canadian worked hard in the Octagon for decades to earn that level of recognition.