I’ve watched the fight twice now, and I still believe Hendricks won. I have to get that out of the way. I don’t think GSP did anything to truly damage Johny, and in the end, I think GSP just got lucky. It’s a shame, a damn shame what happened to Johny, but what’s even worse is the fact that GSP wants to walk away and the UFC won’t let him.
After GSP somewhat retired after the controversial split-decision, the biggest star in the UFC and Dana White went back and forth at the post-fight presser with some serious vitriol.
“He didn’t say, ‘I’m going to retire, I’m hanging it up, it’s been great everybody, thanks a lot for all the years, see you later,’” said White. “He said I’m going to take some time off. First of all, (after a controversial decision like that), you don’t just say, hey, I’m going to take a while off, maybe I’ll be back or maybe I won’t. You owe it to the fans, you owe it to that belt, you owe it to this company and you owe it to Johny Hendricks to give him that opportunity to fight again.”
“I was up in the octagon. They knew they lost. They knew they lost that fight, and obviously, they were thrilled. It’s not Georges’ fault. It’s not his fault, but to get up there and especially after you were in a fight like that to say that ‘I’m going to take some time off and you know,’ I don’t even know what it meant.
“What he said doesn’t make sense to me. But you don’t do it. Let’s say he had health problems or something like that. He wouldn’t be fighting if he had health problems. You’re the world champion, you’ve held the belt for seven years, you’ve been in this company forever… You don’t go up there after a fight like that and just say ‘hey, I’m going to go take some time off and do whatever’. If that’s the case, retire.”
GSP responded to White:
“You know, I have so much stress, so much stuff going on in my life right now and I don’t know what to say,” said St-Pierre. “It is what it is, you know?”
“I have stuff going on in my life. I need to make a point in my life, okay? This is my personal life, I cannot speak to you about this.”
“I understand the point of view for the UFC and everything. It’s bad for them if I leave like this. Like I said, I need to make a point man. I can’t sleep at night now, I’m going crazy. I have issues, man. I need to relax. I need to get out for a while. I don’t know what I’m going to do.”
“We’ll talk,” said White. “I’m going to talk to the guy. He doesn’t want to talk about it, he said it 10 times. I’ll talk to him. He and I will leave here, and we will go talk.”
Georges doesn’t owe the UFC anything. He doesn’t owe Johny anything and he doesn’t owe the fans anything. He’s given his life to this sport, and he’s been a hell of a champion. If he wants a break, if he wants to quit, who is anyone to tell him “no?”
