I think it goes without saying that GSP is a future Hall-of-Famer, and will go down as one of the best pound-for-pound mma fighters of all time. On December 13, 2013, St-Pierre officially vacated his welterweight title and claimed he needed time off to get his mind right.
From there, UFC President Dana White had no other option but to make a fight for the vacant UFC welterweight title. That fight will take place this Saturday between top contender and favorite Johny Hendricks as he takes on UFC veteran Robbie Lawler. Not to mention, that there are a few top quality welterweight fights on the UFC 171 card as well.
GSP needed time off, but now all of a sudden it seems he wants back in the spotlight. Is this because he sees all the attention going to Hendricks and Lawler? Or is it because he realizes without the title that he isn’t as relevant? Either way, it seems that GSP is trying to be the talk of UFC 171 even though he is nowhere on this card. This card is about what he gave up, not about him.
There will be a new UFC welterweight champion crowned at UFC 171, you can bet on that. But who will be the new number one contender? Guys like Jake Shields, Hector Lombard, Tyron Woodley, Carlos Condit and even Rick Story all have their eyes on the prize this weekend. Rumors have it that if Condit wins, he will be next in line. With fighters like Rory MacDonald still out there, we shall see.
GSP acted as if didn’t want anything to do with the UFC until he wasn’t being talked about anymore. As much as he “doesn’t want to fight” anymore, he really doesn’t like other guys stealing his spotlight. Now he is already talking about coming back and fighting the winner of this Saturday’s title fight. If you were only going to leave for one fight, let the division move on without you, and then all of a sudden want back in, why did you leave in the first place?
Your life couldn’t have been that complicated if after 3 months you want back in. The UFC isn’t going to put the title on hold, but if all you needed was 3 months off, I’m sure they could have accommodated. We all know certain fighters get ‘special treatment,’ and GSP is no different. If he needed some time off, they would have gave it to him.
UFC 171 is about the crowning of a brand new UFC welterweight champion, and a possible new number one contender. Then why am all I hearing about is GSP? There is something not right with all this. GSP gave up on us and the UFC. When he vacated the title he sounded like his head wasn’t right and he was going to take some serious time off. I was thinking like at least a year, not 3 months. At first his head was all screwy, then all of a sudden he wants his title back? Doesn’t sound that screwy to me.
If GSP does come back before 2015, he should get to fight for the title. Like I said, he is a future Hall-of-Famer and is still one of the most dominate wrestlers in all MMA, even though he hasn’t finished a fight since I was 24 years old (I’m 30 now). I don’t necessarily think he should have to earn a number one contender spot. That being said, he gave up his title, so obviously a new champ needed to be crowned. Let those fighters have their spotlight. This weekend is about them, not you. If you decide to come back, then you will have your time again. Until then, let the guys who you passed the torch to, hold it for a change.
Ben McPhee (@mmawriter1 Twitter)