It’s been nearly three years since we’ve seen Georges St. Pierre compete inside the Octagon and dominate the 170-pound division he once ruled, as his last bout saw him taking home a controversial split decision win over Johnny Hendricks at UFC 167 back in November of 2013.
Many people watching the five round war between ‘GSP’ and Hendricks gave the winning nod to ‘Big Rig’, however, the Vegas judges scorecards saw it otherwise and handed the Canadian his ninth straight successful title defense in five years.
During the time of their title bout clash Hendricks was viewed as the ‘next generation’ of fighter, as his impressive combination of elite wrestling ability and vicious knockout power concocted perhaps the perfect formula to defeat the longtime reigning Canadian champion.
Now Hendricks, who was once a longtime title contender, finds himself outside of the top five welterweight rankings and coming off a first round knockout loss to current title contender hopeful Stephen ‘Wonderboy’ Thompson.
With speculation running rampant surrounding the possibility of a return to action for ‘GSP’, is now the best time for the 35-year-old to make his highly-anticipated return to the Octagon? If ‘GSP’ had a difficult enough time hanging in their with Hendricks back in 2013, how do you assume he’ll fare with the evolved athletes that surround the stacked 170-pound division?
The welterweight division is currently ran by the hard-hitting ‘Ruthless One’ Robbie Lawler, who has been on a tear since winning the title back in 2014.
Lawler has engaged is some absolute wars in his past two title defenses, including the 2015 bloodbath that took home Fight Of The Year honors in which ‘Ruthless’ downed challenger Rory MacDonald in the fifth round, by shattering the Canadian’s nose.
That spectacular performance would be followed up by yet another Fight Of The Year candidate to kick-off 2016, as Lawler would put on an absolute spectacle of a contest against Carlos Condit at UFC 195 in January. The back-and-forth bout would ultimately end in a successful title defense for Lawler, who took home the better end of a split decision.
Lawler is an incredibly gritty and powerful fighter who is prepared to bite down on his mouthpiece and throw everything he has at you, taking everything you have for him in the process.
‘GSP’s’ best hope for victory against Lawler would be to simply take down the champion and grind out a decision win as he has done countless times before in his storied career, however, Lawler is incredibly difficult to be taken down and one small mistake that the champion capitalizes on could mean the end of St.Pierre’s twelve-fight win streak.
Sitting just under Lawler in the welterweight rankings is the surging ‘Wonderboy’, who many believe has the best chance to put an abrupt end to Ruthless’ violent title reign. ‘Wonderboy’ possesses some of the most dynamic and explosive striking the 170-pound division has ever seen, while remaining extremely technical at the same time given his extensive and impressive undefeated kickboxing career.
If ‘GSP’ were to step into the Octagon with Thompson today, the Canadian would definitely be faced with some problems as he has never competed against a striker of Thompson’s caliber before.
Thompson is coming off of a completely dominating unanimous decision performance over former title challenger MacDonald, who just so happens to train extremely close alongside St.Pierre at Tristar Gym in Montreal.
St. Pierre’s best days are most likely certainly long behind him, and if the Canadian does wish to make a blockbuster return to the sport of mixed martial arts (MMA), he may not get the glorified result he is hoping for against the evolved upper echelon in the welterweight class.
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