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GSP: Dana White Doesn’t Know Anything About Me

A rumor surfaced yesterday that legendary former UFC welterweight champion Georges St-Pierre was supposedly returning to the Octagon to face featherweight champion Conor McGregor in the main event of November’s UFC 205 from Madison Square Garden, and it was supposedly going to be announced on tonight’s ‘UFC Tonight.’ While the announcement fans were waiting for

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A rumor surfaced yesterday that legendary former UFC welterweight champion Georges St-Pierre was supposedly returning to the Octagon to face featherweight champion Conor McGregor in the main event of November’s UFC 205 from Madison Square Garden, and it was supposedly going to be announced on tonight’s ‘UFC Tonight.’

While the announcement fans were waiting for never came and St-Pierre continued to tease the MMA world about his long-awaited and oft-discussed return, the decorated champion did seem closer than ever to a return after another rumor arrived last week that he would headline UFC 206 from his native Canada. St-Pierre admitted that it wasn’t a coincidence his four-month USADA testing window to re-enter fighting, which began on August 10, would expire on exactly that day:

“I don’t think it’s a coincidence. But it’s in Toronto. Who would be a better man than myself to headline a card in Toronto – Air Canada – get back the Canadian fans, raise the pay-per-view up now that Rory has gone to Bellator.”

Prodded by show co-host Daniel Cormier about just whom he would face in his return, St-Pierre turned the tables on ‘DC’:

“Whoever. I’m glad that you brought it up. Who would you like me to fight?”

Mar 16, 2013; Montreal, Quebec, CAN; Georges St.Pierre (red) is declared the winner by unanimous decision during the Welterweight title bout against Nick Diaz at UFC 158 at the Bell Centre. Mandatory Credit: Eric Bolte-USA TODAY Sports

But then he addressed the question in full, noting that previously discussed bouts with current welterweight champion Tyron Woodley and a big ticket rematch with Nick Diaz were on his mind. He also added the unexpected name of Demian Maia into the mix after he was impressed by the Brazilian’s dominant submission win over Carlos Condit last weekend:

“Tyron Woodley. I would fight Tyron Woodley. Nick Diaz, I would fight Nick Diaz. Maia looked pretty good in his last fight. I think he, these guys can elevate me. They’re not guys that I’m necessarily supposed to beat, so it’s a big risk, but I’m willing to take the risk because these guys gonna elevate me. To be far in this game, it’s not about who got the biggest balls, so to speak. Sort of, but it’s not about that; it’s not a straight line. You need to know where to go and be able to elevate yourself, and that’s what I’m trying to do.”

Talk moved on to UFC President Dana White’s suggestion that St-Pierre no longer had the desire to be champion, to which GSP vehemently denied. St-Pierre views this as a sort of negotiation tactic from White, and he said the brash executive would see he truly does want to fight in the first minute of his first fight back:

“He doesn’t know anything about me. I’m a smart guy. I’m not the kind of guy you’re gonna say, “Oh gee, I’m gonna sign it!” and gonna fight for peanut now. I’m a smart person; it doesn’t work on me. But I’m gonna tell him something today, ‘Let me fight once. And you’ll see in the first minute of the fight that is wrong.’”

The all-time great confirmed he did want to be make another run at the title he vacated, and proclaimed he’d prove his desire to be champion against Woodley:

“Yes. Let me fight Tyron Woodley, then we’ll see if I wanna be world champion again.”

At the end of the day, however, he wasn’t mad at White, focusing on the fact that both sides of this potentially huge business deal have to look out for their own respective best interests. Once that game is done being played, St-Pierre noted, the world (and White) will see that he’s truly motivated to make his return:

“I understand what he means. I’m not angry at Dana; he does what he does for the best of his interests, I do what I do for the best of my interests. One day when all of that gonna be over, we’ll probably be friends like most of the guys that I fought. But now, it’s like a game, he’s doing his thing, I’m doing mine, and we’ll work for the best of our interests. But let me fight once, you’ll see. Not once, but after the first minute of the fight, you’ll be like, ‘Oh yeah, he’s serious.’”

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GSP: Dana White Doesn’t Know Anything About Me

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Prodded by show co-host Daniel Cormier about just whom he would face in his return, St-Pierre turned the tables on ‘DC’:

“Whoever. I’m glad that you brought it up. Who would you like me to fight?”

The all-time great confirmed he did want to be make another run at the title he vacated, and proclaimed he’d prove his desire to be champion against Woodley:

“Yes. Let me fight Tyron Woodley, then we’ll see if I wanna be world champion again.”

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This New Rory MacDonald Is…Not Like The Other One

When word arrived last Wednesday that longtime top UFC welterweight Rory MacDonald was leaving the promotion to sign a lucrative new contract with Bellator MMA, it didn’t exactly come as a surprise. MacDonald had hinted at testing free agency on ‘The MMA Hour’ with Ariel Helwani in March, something that was rumored to have, among other

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When word arrived last Wednesday that longtime top UFC welterweight Rory MacDonald was leaving the promotion to sign a lucrative new contract with Bellator MMA, it didn’t exactly come as a surprise.

MacDonald had hinted at testing free agency on ‘The MMA Hour’ with Ariel Helwani in March, something that was rumored to have, among other things, played an indirect part in the UFC’s ban of Helwani and his team at June 4’s UFC 199 from Inglewood, California. But those were just rumors, and MacDonald’s words proved much more direct as he became arguably Bellator’s biggest free agent signee based on whether or not you believe he’s a bigger star than former UFC lightweight champ Benson Henderson, who also signed with Bellator after his last UFC contract was up.

In the days since McDonald’s move was made official, “The Red King” has absolutely taken his former employers to task on a litany of topics, which obviously began with fighter pay, an issue that greatly affected MacDonald in recent years, namely after his UFC 189 war with Robbie Lawler:

“We’re gonna build a great business together. Bellator believes in me; I believe in the company. We’re gonna take it to the next level. We’re gonna take over. We’re gonna take Bellator into Canada and we’re gonna do it big. We’re gonna reinvigorate that market. Those fans are gonna get a proper fight show again.

“The tide is turning. For me, that title fight against Robbie was an eye-opener. It was like, OK we got to the show where you wanted to go, it didn’t work out, but now it’s time to start making some money.”

MacDonald also sounded off about the UFC’s oft-blasted Reebok deal (whom he’s still technically sponsored by), first deeming it ‘boring’ in his initial statement with Bellator and then noting that the UFC didn’t treat fighters with respect in that regard on yesterday’s episode of ‘The MMA Hour’:

“Where I was before, everyone is wearing the same uniforms now, we’re all walking out of the same, boring dressing room or the gate. It’s boring. People are tired of that.”

“I just think the UFC went about it the wrong way. They didn’t really think of the fighters, I don’t think, even though I think they’re trying to make it out like they were. There was no discussion. It was just, okay, this is happening and deal with it, kind of thing. And that’s not very respectful. I don’t think that was a very good move.”

“The Red King” then capped it off by leveling some serious allegations about Lawler’s drug tests for their classic bout at UFC 189, where he said he ‘didn’t want to point fingers,’ but did exactly that:

“I don’t really want to speak too loud about it, but it’s something that really grabbed my attention and I think a lot of people are going to be very interested to hear about this if it actually is true, I have to do my research.

“The fact that whatever happened in there, if this is true, it pisses me right off to my core. Some test results came out four times higher than the limit for my fight with him. It could be bullshit. That’s why we have to look into it. I don’t want to start pointing fingers or anything. Look at that team’s history. It makes me very suspicious but I can’t go out and start saying for sure without making my research that all this is true.”

Now, while it’s no surprise to hear the former title challenger go public with some of the gripes he had that made him leave the UFC in the first place, this new version of MacDonald is undoubtedly unlike the one we’ve seen in the UFC for the past six years.

The former “Canadian Psycho” who quickly rose to prominence beginning as a green 20-year-old did so mainly with his almost Terminator’-like intensity, winning bouts with a quiet, cold, and calculating demeanor that showcased his all-around skillset as rarely hyped fights in the media, choosing to instead move on to the next challenge with an at-times blank stare.

The audible bravado of the Conor McGregors and Chael Sonnens was never “The Red King’s” focus or style. But this new version of him seems to have taken at least a small page out of both of those successful fighters’ books, and he’s using it run his former employer’s reputation through the muck. That’s understandable, with MacDonald making a paltry $59,000 for his fifth round TKO loss to Lawler in the co-main event of UFC 189 last July, a shocking finding that had the entire MMA world up in arms as an overall indictment of the UFC’s fighter treatment practices and also a calling for needed change to come.

MacDonald suffered a badly broken nose in the loss to Lawler, which he nearly finished himself with a third round head kick and onslaught of elbows and punches. The injury was only aggravated in training and then again when he re-broke it in a decision loss to top-ranked contender Stephen “Wonderboy” Thompson in Ottawa this June.

He acknowledged that he had to take the time needed to surgically repair his nose, but by that point, you have to wonder if the UFC had the thought that they’d used MacDonald for their purposes, and, as a highly recognizable name with two losses to the Nos. 1 and 2 fighters in possibly their most talent-rich division, he wasn’t worth the lofty asking price he now demanded. It’s hard to argue with that cold kind of logic from a purely business standpoint; MacDonald may be only 27 with the prime years of his career presumably ahead of him, but beneath the surface, he’s also a fighter who has a ton of accumulated miles on his body after starting training MMA at only 14.

The potential returns of his mentor Georges St-Pierre and Nick Diaz to the 170-pound fray may have also made him expendable to the notoriously cutthroat promotion. The recurring injury is a cause for concern as well.

However, this is a competitor who owns wins over current champion Tyron Woodley (and in dominant style) and No. 3 contender Demian Maia, who has won six straight fights after he tapped out Carlos Condit at UFC Vancouver last Saturday. It could also be argued we didn’t see the real MacDonald against Thompson. He still may have lost to “Wonderboy,” but it just didn’t seem like MacDonald’s true killer instinct was on display in June.

The only confirmation – or disproving – of that theory will come when MacDonald steps into the Bellator cage sometime next year, but easier fights and bigger paydays will undoubtedly await him there. He did admit the UFC was responsible for where he was at, but him throwing some significant shade at the UFC for the things he felt they did wrong could serve to galvanize a fighter base that is searching for a voice to help them make the money they should and be treated how they should be treated.

In that regard, MacDonald’s departure could be a wholly productive one for MMA as a whole, not just the pocketbook that has been decidedly too thin for years now. You also have to wonder if this new style where MacDonald is simply putting the UFC on blast in a public forum while claiming a desire to ‘not point fingers’ is a hint of bitterness at an otherwise illustrious career that fell just short of reaching the absolute pinnacle against the best.

Time will tell, and this new MacDonald is making headlines. He could also fight for two or three years in Bellator, come back to the UFC, and finally win the belt that many had made a foregone conclusion for him after his second UFC affair.

At this rate, however, they may not want him back.

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Demian Maia: I Just Beat The Guy Who Should’ve Been Champ

One week after the record-breaking UFC 202 pay-per-view where Conor McGregor outlasted Nate Diaz in a back-and-forth war, Demian Maia made a thunderous statement with a sub-two-minute submission win over Carlos Condit (watch full highlights here) in the main event of last night’s (Sat., August 27, 2016) UFC on FOX 21 from Vancouver, although it may

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One week after the record-breaking UFC 202 pay-per-view where Conor McGregor outlasted Nate Diaz in a back-and-forth war, Demian Maia made a thunderous statement with a sub-two-minute submission win over Carlos Condit (watch full highlights here) in the main event of last night’s (Sat., August 27, 2016) UFC on FOX 21 from Vancouver, although it may not have drummed up much attention.

Maia’s style, as perhaps the finest Brazilian jiu-jitsu practitioner in MMA today, has never been the most fan-friendly. He’s often been known to smother opponents in the early-going of bouts only to gas out later while still maintaining an irreversible top control due to the massive gap in skill he possesses over even most elite MMA fighters on the ground.

But that shouldn’t matter at all, because Maia has won six straight fights in arguably the most competitive and deep division in the UFC. Since returning to his roots of jiu-jitsu following his failed title bid at middleweight where he inexplicably got away from his most natural skillset in an attempt to out-strike his opponents, Maia has never looked more at home. That has him on the cusp of another title shot, this time at 170 pounds versus new champion Tyron Woodley, yet that’s been promised to No. 2 contender Stephen “Wonderboy” Thompson.

Speaking up at the FOX Sports 1 post-fight show following his statement victory over Condit, Maia said he could see why the UFC may pass Thompson over for him due to his age. If that ends up not the case, then Maia just hopes they sign Woodley vs. “Wonderboy” soon:

“I think so. I respect very much Thompson, he’s a great guy. Of course, I’m much older than him so if they could give it to me first, that would be great.

“If not, I hope they give (it) to him really fast and they decide and I wait to see who wins the fight.”

Maia knows that realistically, however, the fight is most likely going to go to Thompson after UFC President Dana White recently made it clear that Woodley wouldn’t get the “money fights” he wanted with Georges St-Pierre or Nick Diaz that he called out for when he snubbed Thompson mere minutes after winning the belt with a title-clinching first round knockout over Robbie Lawler in the main event of July 30’s UFC 201.

With that being the direction the promotion will probably take, Maia said he’s willing to wait for the winner of Woodley vs. Thompson, because he feels like in Condit, he just beat the man who should have been champion based on his controversial split decision loss to Lawler at January 2’s UFC 195:

“I’ll wait. I can stay active in training and doing my teaching, doing what I do everyday. The guy I fought today is not just a former champion, but he is also a guy that many people including me and I was watching Octagon-side his fight against (Robbie) Lawler and many people including me thought he won and he was supposed to be the champ.

“So what else should I do? I have six wins in a row and that’s it.”

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Wonderboy Willing To Face Carlos Condit vs. Demian Maia Winner

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The welterweight division got a massive shakeup after UFC 201. Tyron Woodley ascended to the top spot with a brutal first round knockout against Robbie Lawler in the main event. Since that epic win on July 30 though, things have been a lot different for the top contenders at 170. Stephen Thompson would ca out ‘The Chosen One’ moments after his epic title win, but the new champion had very different plans. Mentioning Georges St-Pierre and Nick Diaz, Woodley went well outside the lines of the divisional rankings.

‘Money fights’ were what Woodley called his next options, and unfortunately ‘Wonderboy’ was not included on this list. Following the current trend among UFC superstars, Woodley also sparked massive debate with his refusal to fight Thompson. Many pointed out ‘The Chosen One’ refusing to fight unless it was for the title in the 18 months prior to UFC 201. It seems what was good for the goose was not so good for the gander.

Wonderboy Snub

Suddenly the official rankings were even more pointless than they’d proven in the past. Thompson’s seven fight win streak that included a stunning TO over former champ Johny Hendricks was playing second fiddle to two inactive and unranked fighters. Although both GSP and Diaz are huge draws, the line between sports and entertainment was clearly being erased in this saga.

Who would Thompson ft next if not Woodley? Outside the champ there are two top five contenders squaring off in Vancouver tonight (Saturday August 27). Former interim boss Carlos Condit battles dangerous BJJ ace Demian Maia n the UFC on FOX 21 main event. Although Thompson could arguably sit out and wait for a title shot, he tells MMAJunkie that he’s willing to face the winner of tonight’s main event.

Wonderboy vs. Condit/Maia?

“I very respectfully called him out. I did not expect him to say, ‘No, I want a money fight,’” Thompson said. “Defend the title a few times. That’s how I look at it. That’s what Robbie Lawler did. That’s what the champions did before him before they started asking for money fights. Tyron was definitely preaching the other way around when he didn’t get his shot, now that he’s got the title for him to do that to me is kind of hypocritical. But whatever. it’s going to happen, it’s going to happen soon.”

“Condit has been at the top of the game for as long as he’s been in the UFC – Demian has been in the game longer than I have as well,” Thompson said at a UFC on FOX 21 fan Q&A. “I mean, yeah, if (the title shot) doesn’t happen, who else am I going to fight, to be honest? … Those are potential bouts and I want to throw down with either one of them.”

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Poll: Who Should Georges St-Pierre Fight In His Rumored UFC Return?

Although there’s been a astronomical amount of speculation about former UFC welterweight champion Georges St. Pierre’s return to MMA that has largely gone nowhere over the past few years, the fighting world got what could possibly be its most concrete and promising news about that subject today. When a report surfaced revealing that GSP was rumored

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When a report surfaced revealing that GSP was rumored to be returning to the Octagon at December 10’s UFC 206 pay-per-view (PPV) from Toronto, the discussion about just whom the all-time legend should face was fired back up again in a big way.

After all, the longtime former champ has been linked to a plethora of high-profile bouts in recent months, and against everyone from middleweight champion Michael Bisping to his long-rumored super fight with former middleweight champ Anderson Silva. Welterweight champ Tyron Woodley and former heated rival Nick Diaz also threw their names into the mix. To top it all off, there’s always the big money (and it would be absolutely massive) fight with featherweight champ Conor McGregor.

St. Pierre’s recent return to the USADA drug testing pool only served to add gas to the fire of these rumors, and indeed it looks like a GSP comeback is finally becoming close to a reality. No matter whom he fights, it’s going to be a spectacle that no serious MMA will obviously want to miss.

Who do you think St. Pierre should face in his return?

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