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The Four Most Likely Scenarios to Emerge From Georges St. Pierre’s Upcoming Press Conference

(In a shocking turn of events, St. Pierre announces that he will be retiring from MMA to replace A.J. Pierzynski’s catcher’s mitt in the 2014 season. Photo via Esther Lin/MMAFighting.)

As it has been ever since UFC 167, the MMA blogosphere is currently abuzz with speculation regarding the future of welterweight kingpin Georges St. Pierre. Amidst (hopefully) false rumors pertaining to his father’s illness, an unplanned pregnancy, and a multi-million dollar lawsuit with his former manager, St. Pierre announced his semi-retirement from the sport immediately following his controversial split decision win over Johny Hendricks, only to be buried by Dana White for having the gall to worry about his own health and personal life thereafter.

According to the Journal de Montreal, St. Pierre plans on holding a press conference this Friday to address his future in the UFC and clear the air regarding the multitude of rumors surrounding him. But being that ~~sports~~ journalism thrives on speculation, we’ve decided to go ahead and predict the four most likely reasons for GSP’s upcoming presser, as well as what the MMA world will be facing come Saturday morning.

Scenario #1: Retirement

(In a shocking turn of events, St. Pierre announces that he will be retiring from MMA to replace A.J. Pierzynski’s catcher’s mitt in the 2014 season. Photo via Esther Lin/MMAFighting.)

Scenario #1: Retirement

Easily the biggest reason fans (and Dana White) turned against St. Pierre following UFC 167 was not due to the belief that he was ducking a Hendricks rematch, but rather that the champ was so ambiguous about the terms of his retirement. “I need to hang up my gloves for a little bit,” said St. Pierre during his post-fight interview, leading many of us to question just how long he planned on stepping away, and whether or not he planned on relinquishing his title in order to do so.

If St. Pierre simply needs a few months away from the public eye to remedy some personal issues, it would be hard to find anyone who would truly take him to task for his decision. But if St. Pierre needs a Dominick Cruz-length break from the sport without truly retiring, he would essentially be holding the welterweight division hostage until his return, a grim scenario especially in light of how controversial his final fight was.

Unfortunately for those of us expecting a rematch, the fact that St. Pierre is holding a non-UFC organized press conference in his native Canada seems to indicate that he has made up his mind regarding the length of his retirement: FOR-EV-ER.

Semi-related prediction: Following St. Pierre’s retirement, White will hold a press conference of his own in which he declares that St. Pierre was “always overrated” and “a cowardly champion” who “turned his back on the sport and its fans.” The camera will then pan 180 degrees, revealing that White is actually standing alone in his living room and shouting a GSP Fathead.

Scenario #2: A Hendricks Rematch

When speaking/spewing flames at the UFC 167 post-fight press conference, White stated the following about the likelihood of Hendricks receiving his much-deserved rematch:

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.

To state the obvious, it has been nearly a month since this claim was made and we have yet to hear a word from Dana White or anyone in the UFC regarding said rematch. That Lorenzo Ferttita has publicly walked back White’s criticism of GSP further indicates the possibility of the champ retiring over accepting a Hendricks rematch.

But then again, the UFC is nothing if not a ~~shady~~ crafty organization. Perhaps by getting St. Pierre to personally announce his interest in a rematch, the UFC is hoping to shed the idea that it is somehow forcing his hand in the matter. If that turns out to be the case, look for St. Pierre to half-heartedly remind us of how “dark” he is and how he will use his recent personal troubles as motivation to finish Hendricks in the rematch. Neither will ever come to fruition.

Scenario #3: A Nick Diaz Rematch (!!)

Speaking of dark places, there isn’t a fighter out there who managed to bring out the dark side of GSP more than Nick Diaz. Or so we were told.

Georges St. Pierre is loved by fans far and wide for his humility, class, and poise both inside and outside of the octagon. Nick Diaz is loved by fans for being the anti-bullshit superhero and not knowing what three of the four qualities I just listed even mean. St. Pierre vs. Diaz is the kind of good vs. evil matchup that fans of the sport simply cannot turn away from, no matter how contrived or unnecessary it may be. While being the corn-husking, dip-spitting American answer to GSP’s fine wine-sipping, poutine-eating Canadian self, Johny Hendricks simply does not hold up to the evil archetype created by Diaz. And by that, I mean he has never chased St. Pierre around a hotel looking for a fight.

Some of you might counter, “But St. Pierre totally dominated Diaz, so why would we be interested in a rematch?” Well, did you honestly expect Diaz to go in and dominate GSP before? And have his chances of KOing St. Pierre with a miracle shot decreased since then? Diaz had no business being in the octagon with St. Pierre in the first place, but over a million of us purchased those wolf tickets. Fans will come in droves for the chance to see Diaz give St. Pierre another Stockton Heybuddy; it’s as simple as that. St. Pierre knows this, and is looking for one last big paycheck (and a winnable fight) before he truly retires.

Scenario #4: St. Pierre Joins Season 18 of Dancing With the Stars

We all know that Dancing With the Stars has become a haven for post-prime athletes in any sport, but none have failed more spectacularly on the reality competition show than Chuck Liddell and Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira. Angered by the stereotype that all fighters are bad dancers, St. Pierre will announce that he is joining season 18 of DWtS to put an end to these hurtful beliefs once and for all. He will be joined by: Scott Bakula, Paula Deen, Chelsea Handler, Wesley Warren Jr. (a.k.a the guy with 140-pound testicles), Dan Marino, and Bobby Kimball of Toto among others. Upon winning the Mirror Ball trophy, St. Pierre will return to the UFC and defeat interim champ Johny Hendricks via Paso-Doble-Foxtrot-Whiskey-Sour KO.

Come to think of it, this scenario is far more likely to happen than a GSP-Hendricks rematch. Start setting your DVRs, Nation.

–J. Jones

UFC: The Interim Welterweight Title Picture

Well, it’s not official, but it’s getting pretty close to it: Georges St-Pierre is on his way out of the UFC.
Dana White doesn’t want to accept it because of the controversy of his last fight and the money he’ll leave on the table by walking away, but …

Well, it’s not official, but it’s getting pretty close to it: Georges St-Pierre is on his way out of the UFC.

Dana White doesn’t want to accept it because of the controversy of his last fight and the money he’ll leave on the table by walking away, but those in the know seem pretty confident that the greatest welterweight in MMA history is leaving the sport, which is exactly what St-Pierre’s mentor Kristof Midoux told Le Journal (via Bloody Elbow).

That’s going to leave the mantle of top UFC pay-per-view draw available for the taking, but more importantly, it makes a big, gold belt available as well. There are more than a few guys that will be interested in that.

At the top of the list is Johny Hendricks, the man that many felt beat St-Pierre clean at UFC 167. There’s been so much hoopla over Hendricks and his perceived robbery that some people claim just giving him GSP‘s title is a fair avenue for the UFC to take, which is what UFC commentator Joe Rogan told the Opie and Anthony Show (via MMAFighting.com).

It’s not, but you have to appreciate the sentiment.

Hendricks is the consensus No. 2 welterweight on the planet, and however the title picture breaks, it’s going to involve him. If St-Pierre comes back, it’ll be to fight Hendricks. If he doesn’t, you can count on it that Hendricks will be fighting someone else for an interim title.

But who will it be? There are a few guys with claims to that slot.

Carlos Condit will fight Matt Brown in a couple of weeks time, and if he wins, as it’s reasonable to assume he will, he’s the top choice. He’s a former interim champion who very nearly beat St-Pierre and Hendricks in his last two losses. Plus he’s exciting, which is an underrated descriptor for a top-end welterweight after years of St-Pierre’s polarizing performances.

If it’s not Condit, the next guy in the mix has to be the resurgent Robbie Lawler. Lawler beat Rory MacDonald at UFC 167 and has looked like a new man since returning to the promotion earlier this year, smashing his way to a 3-0 record in 2013. Again, he’s exciting, and he’s also got the marketable story of a prodigy finally hitting his stride after years as an MMA nomad.

The waters are muddier once you’re clear of those top three contenders. Names like Shields, Maia, MacDonald and Ellenberger are all in the mix and guys like Hector Lombard and Tarec Saffiedine are dark horses.

With a win each, any one of those guys could be in a title fight given the propensity of the UFC to give guys big fights after impressive performances.

What it boils down to is that, for the first time in a lifetime, the welterweight division is in flux. If St-Pierre leaves town, there are a collection of guys all looking for the crown, none of whom is head and shoulders above the rest.

The only certainty right now is that the future will involve Hendricks, one way or another. Everything else is up in the air, and it’s hard to imagine anyone running 170 the way GSP has for the past few years.

A lot of guys are going to try though, that much is for sure.

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Video: Georges St-Pierre’s First Interview After UFC 167

Georges St-Pierre didn’t need a public relations official to dispel a slew of rumors regarding his decision to temporarily walk away from competition following his win over Johny Hendricks at UFC 167.
In fact, as you can see in the above video, St-Pier…

In fact, as you can see in the above video, St-Pierre instead chose to answer a slew of personal queries freely from a prying TMZ Sports reporter while walking through an airport.

Wearing sunglasses to conceal the damage from his controversial win over Hendricks, “GSP” responded to the rumors with a smile, saying, “I’m not a dad, I’m not in rehab, and my father is not dying.”

Regardless of what’s eating St-Pierre, it appears he needs time off, and fans shouldn’t expect to see him in the Octagon anytime soon. And considering what his brain and body endured at UFC 167, fans shouldn’t blame him.

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Rory MacDonald Changes His Tune After Defeat to Robbie Lawler at UFC 167

Rory MacDonald has captivated media and fans alike with both his prodigious talent and his loyal relationship with the champion of his division, Georges St-Pierre. His five-fight winning streak since a heart-breaking third-round TKO loss to Carlos Condit in 2010 had many claiming that MacDonald was ready for title contention. Media swarmed on the idea, too, as the inevitable drama arising from MacDonald fighting a mentor and teammate in GSP would certainly have been remarkable.

Rory MacDonald’s path to the top of his division has hit the rocks in 2013, though. After a widely-panned win over Jake Ellenberger at UFC on Fox 8 in July of this year, MacDonald stuck to his guns, claiming that he stood behind his approach to fighting Ellenberger, which others found to be “lackluster.”

“I was focused on the task at hand,”MacDonald told media after his fight, “and I was waiting for the knockout to come.”

Despite the controversy, beating the veteran Ellenberger put MacDonald one step closer to fighting for the title, but as we all know now, Robbie Lawler put the icing on the cake for MacDonald’s critics at UFC 167 earlier this month. The fight was competitive, and MacDonald claims it could have gone either way. In the shadow of the hotly-debated GSP/Hendricks split decision in the main event later that evening, though, the Lawler/MacDonald decision seemed relatively clear cut.

So where does that leave the erstwhile darling of the welterweight division?

According to MacDonald, it has left him to reconsider his mental state regarding his career.

“My fights before, the most exciting point for me was actually getting into the fight,” MacDonald told The MMA Hour Monday. “I was hungry. I wanted to destroy my opponents, and I was hungry. I had that fire in me to fight. I think it shows in both of my performances this year that I didn’t have that fire.”

This is a change in tune from the MacDonald who had previously only complimented his performance against Ellenberger. While he still claimed he fought a technically precise fight, his loss to Lawler has him more transparent about what he calls a lack of fun and enjoyment in both his recent fights.

“I didn’t enjoy them. I didn’t walk out of the cage knowing that I had fun,” he said. “Usually, win or lose, in my fights in the past, I’ve always had fun. I’ve always enjoyed my time fighting. This year I didn’t enjoy fighting.”

Although MacDonald has never been as brash as the Chael Sonnens and Connor McGregors of the MMA world, few have exactly accused him of humility. That is why it is hard to know how to interpret his sentiments of woe.

Are they indeed statements of contrition, reflecting a new-found epiphany that will lead him to new heights or regained Octagon glory, or are they the post-fight grumblings of a recent loser as he tries to justify the defeat in any terms other than “I may not actually be the best at this sport?”

The 24-year-old Canadian faces the unique challenge of passing through his younger years in the spotlight. While he is a man grown, anyone who tells you in hindsight that they would love to have had tons of media attention pointed at them in their early 20s is lying or delusional. Thus, the most important interpretation of MacDonald’s recent revelations could be this: He is a young man with great talents and a bright future, and he is trying to process defeat as best he can while maintaining the confidence that he can be the best in the world.

Why would we expect a fighter with the mentality of a champion to admit that they aren’t the best? That is not lying, per se. Truth being in the eye of the beholder, don’t future champions have to think that they are the best? You can’t ask a man who steps into a cage to fight for a living to be too self-depricating. So what is the harm if he wants to blame his loss on not having enough fun in the cage, so long as he changes course and finds a winning way?

While some may take MacDonald’s words as proof of arrogance or humility, I tend to take them as proof that the young MacDonald is still determined to find that path to the top. While the hype may prove too much too soon, there may be something to this “future contender” talk after all.

What do you think of MacDonald’s future prospects? Tell us in the comments below!

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Lorenzo Fertitta Walks Back Dana White’s Burial of Georges St-Pierre: “GSP Doesn’t Owe Us Anything”

(He’s smart, well-spoken, and he always wipes down his machines. What’s not to like about this guy?)

Watching Lorenzo Fertitta do interviews is like getting a glimpse into a utopian alternate-universe in which the president of the UFC wasn’t a petulant spaz whose first response to any criticism is to call you a pussy. Fertitta is an adult, and as such, he occasionally has to clean up the messes left behind by his minority partner. Here’s what the Zuffa Chairman/CEO had to say yesterday to Ariel Helwani, regarding Dana White’s now-infamous rant about what Georges St-Pierre “owes” the UFC following last weekend’s fight against Johny Hendricks:

“I think Dana was misunderstood and hopefully he’s trying to clarify that. GSP doesn’t owe us anything. If he chooses to retire, then so be it, he’ll retire and become someone that people will always look up to as one of the great champions in the UFC. If he decides to fight again, then great. I think where the confusion was, Georges never communicated anything to us prior to the fight relative to that he may be making an announcement. In fact, I think Dana said that he had talked to him and he said ‘no no no, everything’s fine.’

“And then after the fight, the announcement he made was very vague. And I think what Dana was trying to say was that either you’re retired or you’re not, right? We can’t just put the UFC belt on the shelf for an undefined period, basically put it in limbo forever, because that’s not fair to the contenders that have been working their whole lifetime to get the opportunity to get the belt. It’s not fair to the fans to have the title sit on the side for too long. And it’s not fair to us as a company because we wouldn’t be able to plan. I think that’s what the message was meant to be, but I think unfortunately the press took it in a different way.

(He’s smart, well-spoken, and he always wipes down his machines. What’s not to like about this guy?)

“Georges doesn’t owe us anything. Just, what I think he does owe us is — clarify what you’re doing, right? Just let us know so we can plan…

“There is a sense of celebrity that is now involved, and along with that celebrity, particularly when you carry a country, there’s pressure that’s associated with it. I think it’s tough to be Georges St-Pierre some days. You know what I mean? There’s a lot of pressure that goes along with it, but he’s a consummate professional and he handles it great. He always lives up to anything we’ve ever asked him to do and he always performs in the octagon in the bright lights. So I think it’s just a moment in time, and I think he’s going to be fine.”

See? Now doesn’t that make a lot more sense? Obviously, the stuff about Dana White being “misunderstood” is absolute bullshit — he was understood just fine, unfortunately, and he was still defending his comments four days after he first made them — but when Lorenzo explains his case in rational, non-abusive terms, you can almost sympathize with their position. GSP doesn’t owe the UFC an immediate rematch with Johny Hendricks, but he should be able to explain to his employers what he’s doing, and for how long, so that everyone can move forward from there.

St-Pierre has always been a very private, guarded person, sometimes to his own detriment. Still, he certainly didn’t deserve the verbal carpet-bombing he received directly after the toughest fight of his life. But hey, that’s our Dana, always calling like he sees it, and that’s why love him, right? I mean, that’s totally preferable to an executive who’s respectful, thinks before he speaks, and can go five words without saying “fuck,” right? RIGHT???

UFC 167: St-Pierre vs. Hendricks Phantom Cam Highlights

While UFC 167 was memorable in full speed, nothing quite captures UFC action like the Fox Phantom Cam does in slow motion. The event saw Georges St-Pierre defend his welterweight belt for a ninth consecutive time in a controversial decision. Although many felt he should have lost to Johny Hendricks, St-Pierre broke the record for UFC title fight wins on Saturday with his 12th win.

Rashad Evans also picked up an important win at UFC 167, dominating Chael Sonnen to return himself to light heavyweight title contention. Sonnen, meanwhile, is now set to coach opposite Wanderlei Silva on The Ultimate Fighter: Brazil.

Additionally, Robbie Lawler put himself near the front of the line for a shot at the welterweight strap by beating St-Pierre teammate Rory MacDonald. Unfortunately for Lawler, he may have to win again, with a rematch between St-Pierre and Hendricks looking like an eventuality. St-Pierre hinted at retirement following his win on Saturday, but UFC president Dana White expects the Canadian champion to return to the Octagon for a bout with Hendricks sooner rather than later.

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