TORONTO -- Former UFC welterweight champion Georges St-Pierre says he is no longer under contract with the UFC and is a free agent.

The 35-year-old Montreal fighter, who has been on hiatus since November 2013, has been campaigning for a return to action.

St-Pierre told the MMA Hour on Monday that his management team had been in negotiations with the UFC since February, with talks eventually focusing on the UFC show in Toronto on Dec. 10.

The fighter said both sides were close to an agreement before the UFC was sold. He waited for weeks before hearing the offer was off the table.

St-Pierre said his lawyer then gave the UFC a deadline to give him a fight. On the day of the deadline, he got a letter with a tentative offer to fight former champion Robbie Lawler, who is currently nursing an injury.

St-Pierre told the MMA Hour that his lawyer told him the next day he was a free agent.

The UFC did not immediately respond to a request for comment.