Today marks a monumental time in mixed martial arts, as one of the greatest fighters to ever grace the sport has decided to call it quits, at least for now. During a conference call with UFC President Dana White and current UFC Welterweight Champion Georges St-Pierre, the long time great announced he will relinquish the welterweight belt and will leave the UFC for the time being.
GSP vacates belt to take time off from fighting
St. Pierre opened the conference call by saying the following:
“[I’ve] Been fighting for a long time, 22 fights in the UFC, 15 title fights…I’ve decided that I need to take time off. I know the UFC is a business, and they have to keep things rolling, so I will relinquish my title out of respect for the other fighters. Right now, I need a break.”
“People don’t understand. After every fight, you have so much weight on your shoulders, and after a while it’s too much.”
With regards to leaving, GSP made it clear that he is not announcing his retirement. “I believe one day I will come back. The problem is I don’t know when. Mentally, I need a break. I just can’t go through another training camp right now and I don’t want to make people wait for that.”
Clearly, GSP has made it clear that his personal life has come in the way of fighting and he needs a mental break from the sport. There are some issues that he needs to deal with before even considering a return.
GSP then left the conference call, while Dana White took over.
“I think this is the right decision for GSP, he needs to get through his personal stuff even before thinking about coming back.” Dana seems very supportive of GSP’s decision and was quite positive about the whole situation. After finishing up questions about GSP, Dana then started to discuss the welterweight title picture. In a few words, he changed the focus of the conference call in no time.
“I would like to announce that on March 15th, Johny Hendricks will take on Robbie Lawler for the vacant welterweight championship.”
This is a big announcement from Dana with GSP announcing his leave of absence within minutes. This will be a great showdown of striking and between two world-class brawlers. Both fighters have earned their stripes in their last few bouts and this was the right decision by Dana White.
Even with GSP out of the picture for now, the welterweight division is still packed with talent. His domination of the division may never be duplicated, but there some great fighters who can take on the challenge. It will be interesting to see how long GSP can stay away from the sport, but for now, it seems the French-Canadian is ready to say au revoir pour maintenant.
