Georges St-Pierre’s head trainer, Firas Zahabi, said Monday that he wanted to see his star pupil return to the cage, assuming the UFC welterweight champion could resolve the unspecified “issues” that caused the champ to semi-retire from MMA after UFC 1…
Georges St-Pierre’s head trainer, FirasZahabi, said Monday that he wanted to see his star pupil return to the cage, assuming the UFC welterweight champion could resolve the unspecified “issues” that caused the champ to semi-retire from MMA after UFC 167.
“I would love to see him fight again,” Zahabi said Monday on The MMA Hour broadcast with host Ariel Helwani. “Because I’m a fan. I’m a fan of Georges St-Pierre. And if he wants to fight again I’ll be 100 percent there to back him up.”
St-Pierre retained his title by split decision over Johny Hendricks, who many observers believed had done enough to take the belt from St-Pierre, who has owned the title for the past six years.
A visibly beaten-up and emotional St-Pierre announced in the cage and again at the post-fight news conference that he would be “stepping away” from professional cage fighting “for a bit.” He indicated that the departure was for “personal reasons” but declined to elaborate.
Zahabi followed suit on Monday, though he did acknowledge that the champ was going through something difficult while adding that he did not know how long St-Pierre might be away from the sport.
“I have no idea (how long),” Zahabi said. “I think it’s something we’ll know shortly. His mind’s going to settle, he’ll sort out his emotions and figure things out like people do.”
Zahabi also said St-Pierre’s health was “fine,” but did not go into any additional detail.
“Nobody can be in his head,” Zahabi said. “Nobody can know exactly how he feels…He’s got things to deal with, he’s got to make decisions and that’s up to him.”
Unsurprisingly, Zahabi said he believed St-Pierre had done enough to best Hendricks.
“I think it came down to the fifth round,” Zahabi said. “It was extremely close and Georges pushed it and edged it out. In the fifth round, he was more busy…The first was the closest round of all, but I gave it to Georges. He landed a head kick…he was more offensive.”
UPDATE 3:05 P.M. Pacific Time
Dana White told LA Times reporter Lance Pugmire earlier today that, “As far as a rematch, we’re on schedule and I’ll have a date within a couple weeks. I feel confident that Georges is fine with that and…
UPDATE 3:05 P.M. Pacific Time
Dana White told LA Times reporter Lance Pugmire earlier today that, “As far as a rematch, we’re on schedule and I’ll have a date within a couple weeks. I feel confident that Georges is fine with that and all is on track.”
It was previously thought that GSP’s father was terminally ill and that was the reason why he decided to take time off, but White also refuted those rumors during his phone conversation with The Times.
Now while the UFC president doesn’t have an exact day in mind for the potential rematch, he did briefly mention the UFC’s annual Memorial Day card in Las Vegas. That’s a good possibility, but nothing at this point is set in stone.
—End of Update—
Saturday’s welterweight championship clash at UFC 167 produced remarkable and unsatisfying results.
First off, divisional king Georges St-Pierre stole a split-decision from a hungry Johny Hendricks, who seemingly had the victory in the bag. Unfortunately for his efforts, the judges scored it for the champ.
But what happened next captured everybody’s surprise more than the actual decision did. Following Bruce Buffer’s post-fight announcement, a victorious and battered GSP stood in front of a sold out Las Vegas crowd and emotionally closed the curtains on his UFC career for the foreseeable future.
The unexpected Octagon walk away not only left a welterweight division in limbo, but it ultimately confused the MMA community.
St-Pierre has consistently been one of the best fighters in the world. He carries himself with the utmost professionalism and rarely does anything to challenge the powers of Dana White and Lorenzo Fertitta.
But despite the shocking news, White doesn’t seem too worried about losing his biggest pay-per-view draw. During the post-fight media scrum following one of the most hotly talked about title fights in recent memory, the face of the UFC made things seem better than they actually may be.
“I’m in a better mood now,” said White, which was originally reported by MMAMania. “[We talked] about his problems and his problems aren’t as bad as he thinks they are. I’m not Dr. Oz, or whoever that guy is, but Lorenzo is still in there talking to him. We’ll get through this. I’m confident that he will come back. One of the things that makes Georges as great as he is, is that things drive him crazy.”
“Little things drive him nuts…like the whole obsession thing he was talking about,” added White. “He’s obsessing over something else right now that he thinks might be the end of the world now but it’s not. He got his ass whooped tonight, whether that was it or it wasn’t, I don’t know. I wasn’t being harsh, it’s reality…”
However, things may be worse than White initially thought, as recent reports by MMA Frenzy and TMZ suggest, an ill father and unexpected pregnancy are supposedly weighing heavy on the champ’s mind—(though the reports regarding his father’s health were recently shot down according to La Presse, h/t Bloody Elbow). Those are serious problems for any person to deal with, let alone a polarizing MMA fighter who trains months on end.
But if anybody knows what St-Pierre is capable of doing in the toughest of struggles, whether in the ring or in his personal life, it’s probably his boss.
“How long has Georges been here…eight, nine years?” proclaimed White. “This is the first time Georges St. Pierre had a problem. It happens, he’s a human being. … He was very emotional about some s— that was going on with him right now and it’s really not that bad, but to him it’s bad, it’s the end of the world. He’s mentally strong guy, he’s a hard-working guy, he’s an honest guy. He’ll work it out.”
So will GSP be back? Will he return next year to face off with Hendricks one more time? Or will he be bound by serious personal problems that are understandably his first priority?
Time will tell. Hopefully, Saturday wasn’t the last time we get to see the pound-for-pound legend inside the cage.
Georges St-Pierre defeated Johny Hendricks via a controversial split decision on Saturday, retaining the UFC Welterweight Championship belt.
Did Hendricks tap in Round 1 though? Take a look at these GIFS (via MMA Junkie and Middle Easy) and d…
Georges St-Pierre defeated Johny Hendricks via a controversial split decision on Saturday, retaining the UFC Welterweight Championship belt.
Did Hendricks tap in Round 1 though? Take a look at these GIFS (via MMA Junkie and Middle Easy) and decide for yourself.
On the heels of one of the most highly contested and controversial championship fights in UFC history, much speculation remains as to what’s next for champion Georges St-Pierre and Johny Hendricks.
Their five-round war this past Saturday at UFC 167 was…
On the heels of one of the most highly contested and controversial championship fights in UFC history, much speculation remains as to what’s next for champion Georges St-Pierre and Johny Hendricks.
Their five-round war this past Saturday at UFC 167 was truly back and forth, but the majority of the MMA community gave the nod to the challenger. However, two of the three Las Vegas judges scored the fight for GSP, stretching his consecutive title defense streak to nine.
The outcome left much to the imagination as to what Hendricks did wrong to lose a bout he seemingly secured. Either way, the heavy-handed Texan left it in the judges hands and that’s one of the worst things you can do with today’s skewed scoring system.
This was not the first time a UFC title fight produced these types of results. Earlier this year, light heavyweight phenom Jon Jones narrowly escaped a mauling by No. 1 contender Alexander Gustafsson. It was so close and such a surprising performance that every post-fight reaction centered around a potential rematch.
Unfortunately for the Swede, Glover Teixeira was waiting in the wings.
But what made things worse this time around for Hendricks and the millions of fans who went to bed unsatisfied, is the fact that St-Pierre sullied any chance of an immediate rematch when he unexpectedly took time off.
However, in a promotion fueled by the always persuasive Dana White , the pound-for-pound king may not be sidelined for too long.
As a matter of fact, White came to Hendricks rescue at UFC 167’s post-fight press conference and explained how he deserves another shot at the title, while Gustafsson ultimately did not.
“The situation was different with that one because Jon said, ‘I already beat him. Now I want to fight Glover Teixeira,” said White, which was originally reported by MMA Fighting. “He goes, ‘I’ll give him the rematch after.’ Jon had this plan where he wanted to beat another contender and then he’d do the rematch. I respected that.”
“Who’s Georges going to fight?” added White. “He already fought Condit. Johny deserves this rematch. Every fight is different. You can’t look at other situations and go, ‘but in this fight…’ Every fight is different. Johny Hendricks deserves this rematch.”
You can’t blame White for pushing for a rematch between GSP and Hendricks. Not only for the fact that “Bigg Rigg” arguably did enough to capture the title the first time around, but also due to the stacks of cash that would fall from the sky if a second meeting was booked for 2014.
In any case, a rematch obviously hinges on St-Pierre’s return. He must work out his personal problems before running into Hendricks’ left hand for a second-straight time.
UFC welterweight champion Georges St-Pierre won a hotly contested split decision against Johny Hendricks at UFC 167 on Saturday, and now no one knows for sure what’s next for the French-Canadian superstar.
GSP told UFC color commentator Joe Rogan…
UFC welterweight champion Georges St-Pierre won a hotly contested split decision against Johny Hendricks at UFC 167 on Saturday, and now no one knows for sure what’s next for the French-Canadian superstar.
GSP told UFC color commentator Joe Rogan in his post-fight interview that he needed to “hang up my gloves for a little bit” to take care of some personal issues that neither he nor UFC President Dana White cared to elaborate on, per FOX Sports.
Now, TMZ Sports has allegedly identified the issues the Tristar Gym standout is dealing with: an unplanned pregnancy and his father’s impending death.
“Now, sources familiar with the situation tell TMZ Sports … Georges’ dad is dying and it’s derailed him. And there’s this … GSP recently learned he knocked up a woman—and he doesn’t want to have a baby with her but she insists on keeping it.”
The article does not provide any further details on either potentially life-altering situation.
UPDATE: Monday, Nov. 18 at 3:57 p.m. ET
Canadian media outlet La Presse is reporting (translation via Bloody Elbow) that Georges St-Pierre’s younger sister, Myriam St-Pierre, has denied the claim that their father is terminally ill.
“My father is doing very well,” Myriam St-Pierre is quoted as saying, adding that the notion of her father being sick is false.
—End of update—
Original Text
Worth noting is that St-Pierre is 32 years old and has never been married before, so an issue like infidelity is a non-factor, should the report of an unplanned pregnancy turn out to be true.
White said at the UFC 167 post-fight press conference that he had every intention of making GSP vs. Hendricks II happen without any sort of “waiting situation,” per MMA Junkie.
However, this report makes an immediate rematch seem nearly unfathomable.
On the off chance this weekend was GSP’s last fight, the longtime champion would retire with 12 straight victories, nine of which were successful title defenses.
As of early Monday afternoon, no one from St-Pierre’s camp has addressed the allegations brought forward by TMZ Sports.
Stay tuned to Bleacher Report for the latest updates on UFC welterweight champion Georges St-Pierre.
John Heinis is a Featured Columnist for Bleacher Report. He is also the MMA Editor for eDraft.com.
