At UFC 167 on Sunday, UFC welterweight champ Georges St-Pierre defended his title against Johny Hendricks.
Over the course of five rounds, Hendricks battered the champion’s face, landed several takedowns and looked to have controlled the majority of the fight. A new champion would be crowned – or so most people thought.
Instead, two of the three people whose opinions mattered deemed St-Pierre the victor.
To add to the confusion, the champ then delivered what can only be described as a non-committal retirement status – more of a ‘be right back’ than a ‘see you later’.
“I have to go away for a little bit … there are some personal things happening. I want to say thank you from the bottom of my heart to the UFC for giving me this chance.
“Thank you very much. I have to step away for a bit … that’s all I can say [for now].”
Since then, the rumour mill has been churning like crazy. Let’s examine:
Gay rumours
While a gay athlete shouldn’t be all that surprising in this day and age, in the machismo-fuelled world of MMA it can certainly rattle a few Octagons.
Think about it – above all the posturing and alpha-male behaviour of fighters stands a dominant champion whose sexual orientation was a secret for years.
Without getting into the moral and political sides of this, one thing is for sure – it’s easy to see why this would cause a person in GSP’s position a lot of grief.
Thus far, this theory is pure heresy.
Secret family/child out of wedlock/unplanned pregnancy
While this theory (also heresy) is somewhat plausible, the idea this would be such a big scandal is ludicrous.
How often is the term ‘baby mama’ thrown around in professional sports?
It would be one thing if GSP cheated on his spouse ala Tiger Woods, but countless players from the NBA to the NFL have children out of wedlock.
I doubt GSP would lose sleep over this getting out.
Father dying
This rumour (later debunked) was preceded with the words “According to reports by TMZ…”.
Enough said.
Abducted by aliens/mental health
No kidding. On a segment of Joe Rogan’s podcast, GSP reported feeling like he has lost several hours during a day without any clue as to what happened. He chalked it up to alien activity but refused to expand further.
The bigger issue here is the mental health aspect.
While it’s true GSP hasn’t taken as much punishment in the cage as some fighters, the amount of damage it takes to incite brain trauma is unique to every individual.
If GSP is indeed suffering from mental problems, then it’s time to get out now.
Legal problems
Reports indicate GSP is currently embroiled in a legal battle with former manager Shari Spencer.
Despite denials by both parties, documents have emerged detailing Spencer suing GSP and receiving some payouts.
While this is one theory that actually has evidence, it’s unclear whether these are the personal problems GSP was talking about.
Pressures of being champion
Like any athlete, GSP expects nothing short of perfection from himself and his performances.
Despite being one of the most dominant champions in the sport’s history, he is still levied with criticisms from fans and the media – can’t finish a fight, won’t fight Anderson Silva, doesn’t take risks etc.
For a man who has admitted to seeing a sports psychologist in the past, the mental pressure of being champion would be overwhelming.
Add that to the physical strain of his intense training camps and one could see why asking for a holiday isn’t so unreasonable.
It remains to be seen what GSP’s problems really are and what will happen next.
With Dana White taking a ‘defend or retire’ stance on the issue (insisting on a Hendricks rematch), the plot will only thicken from here on out.
What are your thoughts?
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