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UFC won’t have GSP to push around any more

By Zach Arnold | December 13, 2013

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The trigger has been pulled and the UFC just lost their top PPV draw. The behavior of Dana White towards Georges St. Pierre, which wasn’t admonished publicly by Lorenzo Fertitta, helped nudge everyone to this predicament.

Fightline: UFC Got What They Deserved With GSP Leaving

I guess that article I wrote about GSP leaving being the best thing came to fruition. There’s a reason why the UFC does not want the Ali Act to cover MMA.

On a conference call Friday, GSP pretty much laid out why he was vacating the UFC Welterweight title and moving on. He’ll still be training but not enduring the pressure of preparing for title fights.

And what did Dana White, who helped encourage this scenario, have to say?

Sure, he’s saving face by claiming that he was consistent all along in GSP either staying active or else vacating the belt. But the level of disrespect he dished towards his number one money draw was incredible. And today is karma.

And meanwhile, Uncle Dana is busy railing against Holly Holm’s “lunatic” manager.

Jeff Wagenheim: Future uncertain, legacy is not for Georges St. Pierre

As for the Welterweight title, UFC has booked Johny Hendricks vs. Robbie Lawler on March 15th in Dallas, Texas. That same show will feature Jon Jones vs. Glover Teixeira.

Quite a historical day for the UFC.

Exit question: What now about UFC’s Canadian plans now that Rory MacDonald suffered a loss to Robbie Lawler and GSP is out of the picture?

Topics: Media, MMA, UFC, Zach Arnold | 46 Comments » | Permalink | Trackback |

46 Responses to “UFC won’t have GSP to push around any more”

  1. david m says:

    Good for GSP. Dana deserved this, that dick. Dana’s whole schpiel is based on the premise of hungry, broke fighters. GSP is a multimillionaire many times over and doesn’t need this shit any more. UFC needs him more than vice versa. Maybe Dana will learn not to BURY the biggest star in company history not named Brock Lesnar after an exceedingly close fight. What a dick.

    I hope GSP never fights again–I say this as someone who immensely respects him and enjoys watching him perform, but also as someone who knows what happens to the human brain upon receiving too many blows to the head. May his acting career take off and his personal life blossom.

    Ben Askren not in the UFC right now looks SO FUCKING DUMB. Good job Dana.

  2. Jason says:

    The UFC will be just fine without George. If he would have stayed he wouldn’t have continued to be as dominant as he was in the past. Hendricks broke him mentally and you could see it. If George has any weakness in his fight game, it’s that he’s not mentally tough, despite how much he says he is. You can see it in his eyes, it’s not that hard to see. It was very evident leading up to the fight with Hendricks. Best of luck to George, you had a good run.

  3. david m says:

    If he broke mentally, then why did all 3 judges have him winning the last round and 2 of the last 3 rounds in a very close fight? That doesn’t make any sense.

    • edub says:

      Its the narrative certain types of fans have been pushing for years. Now they have their proof; A long time champion digging deep to try and salvage a win in a fight he was losing. Proof of no mental toughness…

      • david m says:

        Yep. GSP is so mentally weak that he hasn’t lost in like 6 years and has consistently faced the best fighters in the division. People love to tear someone down.

        • 45 Huddle says:

          Going on a huge winning streak has nothing to do with being mentally tough or weak.

          Facing adversity shows the toughness or weakness.

          GSP lost in quick fashions to Hughes & GSP. The only real war he had ever been in was to BJ Penn at UFC 58 and Penn was a full weight class below him.

          Hendricks was the first guy who was his own size who bullied him. And GSP not needs to find his courage to fight him again.

        • edub says:

          Fight through a torn groin, mentally tough. Fighting half blind for 3+ rounds, mentally tough. Coming back to win the fifth round in a fight that was grueling, mentally tough.

          GSP has faced adversity in the past multiple times, and he passed almost every time.

        • The Gaijin says:

          Ahh…the fucking revisionists come out quickly to carpet bag against anyone they think has interests that aren’t completely aligned with the UFC, don’t they?

    • Jason says:

      His training and his physical skills won him the rounds. I’m not saying there is anything wrong with him being mentally weak, he just is. Watch the countdown episode, you can see it in his eyes. You don’t see that same insecurity in Hendricks eyes or face. You don’t see it in alot of high level wrestlers. Listen to George talk, he constantly re-assures himself with positive talk. Look at George’s face when Nick Diaz challenged him after Nick won (can’t remember who Nick was fighting). They panned over to George and you could see fear in his eyes. He hired a sports psychologist in the past; I would be willing to guess it was to help him with this issue. I have nothing against George, I think he is a great fighter, even more so to be as dominant as he was given he isn’t that mentally strong.

      • edub says:

        “His training and his physical skills won him the rounds.”

        Yes, as it does for every other fighter in the world.

        “I’m not saying there is anything wrong with him being mentally weak, he just is.”

        No, you’re providing an opinion and there’s ntohing wrong with that. However, claiming there is something concrete to your opinion isn’t remotely accurate.

        “Watch the countdown episode, you can see it in his eyes. You don’t see that same insecurity in Hendricks eyes or face. You don’t see it in alot of high level wrestlers.”

        You’re seeing what you want to see. There’s really nothing more to say other than that.

        “Look at George’s face when Nick Diaz challenged him after Nick won (can’t remember who Nick was fighting). They panned over to George and you could see fear in his eyes.”

        No, it was more of a look like “this guy can’t be serious.” Then he pretended to be scared. Maybe that is what’s throwing you off.

      • Blawa says:

        “you can see it in his eyes”

        Yeah, that’s great evidence of a weak mind. And using sports psychologists is definitely a sign that you are a weak mind….

        Meanwhile the man beat the best of the best in one of the best division in MMA for 5 years straight. On top of that, was very competitive in all the rounds in the toughest fight of his career. There is absolutely no evidence that he is mentally weak.

        And using sport psychologists has been a tool for some of the top athletes in world, regardless of discipline and regardless of results. It is not a sign of a “problem”.

        • 45 Huddle says:

          Winning for 10 years straight doesn’t prove mental toughness. Not when the wins were easy for him.

          Hendricks bullied him around…. And then he “lost his smile” and won’t rematch him.

          That shows a complete lack of mental toughness….

  4. Jonathan says:

    Well, this is the end of an era. Silva losing, GSP “vacating”, Fedor losing and retiring, BJ Penn losing and sort of just not fighting, Randy Couture retiring, Tito Ortiz retiring / not fighting….the old guard vaunted guard that had been long reigning champions is officially over.

    But also, mark my words, we have not seen the last of GSP in the UFC Octagon. He will fight again, at least once more, and it will be in Montreal, and it will do GANGBUSTERS!

  5. diaz's cashed bowl says:

    gee dana wasn’t the rematch on track as you said?
    And didn’t you say that GSP big announcement wasn’t retiring but just signing some autographs at the mall?
    I guess it was all lies, just your bruised ego and thinning wallet talking.

    complete incompetence by the white man, again.
    Bet you he’ll try to buy out Askrens one fc contract

  6. 45 Huddle says:

    1. GSP was going to quit whether DFW acted like an idiot or not. GSP is mentally broken right now. Has nothing to do with DFW.

    2. Imagine if Jon Jones did this. He had a really tough fight with Gustaffson, and then “took a break”. The fans wouldn’t be cheering him on. They would be calling for his head.

    3. After the GSP/Hendricks fight, Ariel Helwani said they polled 12 members of the media. All 12 had it for Hendricks. 13 including Helwani. So this revolutionist history about GSP being the winner in anybodies eyes is pure garbage.

    4. Ben Askren complaining about Lawler? Lawler just beat TWO TOP 10 FIGHTERS!! That is two more then Askren has beat in his entire career.

    5. At the end of the day…. GSP had his first loss inside the octagon against Hendricks. He got caught against Hughes & Serra. But he got beat up by Hendricks. And what does he do? He “takes a break”. Of course he did. He is ducking Hendricks rematch. He admits he is still young. He admits he is still in great shape. And yet he refused to fight Hendricks again.

    It is the most epic ball tuck job in combat sports history…. And yet all the “I hate the UFC fanboys” can do is praise the decision.

    Let’s be honest. Frenchies are known cowards. (I am 1/8th French myself, so I know when I run from a fight it is that part of my gene pool that is telling me to do so). They raise the white flag at the first sign of a competent opponent. GSP has done his people proud.

    If he rematched Hendricks and before the fight he said he wanted to take a break afterwards… That would be one thing.

    But he is flat out ducking Hendricks and the beating he would get. It is a shame that even guys like Zach Arnold aren’t calling a spade a spade and calling out GSP on this cowardly act…

    • Chuck says:

      “Let’s be honest. Frenchies are known cowards. (I am 1/8th French myself, so I know when I run from a fight it is that part of my gene pool that is telling me to do so). They raise the white flag at the first sign of a competent opponent. GSP has done his people proud.”

      Uh……he’s French-Canadian. So not really. And saying all French people are cowards is like saying all Japanese are great martial artists. Not true man! PRIDE and K-1 disproved the latter’s stereotype! And just because (during WWI and WWII) the French GOVERNMENT waved the white flag doesn’t mean the French PEOPLE are cowards. The French Resistance man! Or French boxer George Carpentier. Legit WWI hero (bombardier general) who fought heavyweights, including the heavyweight champ of the time Jack Dempsey (who was a draft dodger basically). Or Marcel Cerdan (French-Algerian, whatever) who was a great boxer in the 1940’s. Need I go on? I hope you were only going with sarcasm, but it really didn’t read like sarcasm to me dude.

    • klown says:

      lol @ 45

  7. 45 Huddle says:

    Zach… You want a Pro Wrestling comparison….

    This is like Shawn Michaels needing to “find his smile” instead of jobbing to Bret Hart.

    GSP knows he can’t win the rematch and now has to go find his smile….

    Most epic ball tuck job in the history of combat sports.

  8. Jonathan says:

    Geeze 45, that is a lot of venom and hate right there in that post.

    • 45 Huddle says:

      A 32 year old athlete who randomly needs to “get the pressure of his back” after taking the worst beating of his career…. And nobody in the media or the fans call him out on his complete BS excuse?

      Absolutely there is venom in the post.

      Like I said above…. You replace GSP’s name with Jon Jones… And the fans would be outraged by the decision. People just hate DFW and are happy he is “getting it”. When in reality, this has nothing to do with DFW.

      It has to do with GSP dick tucking the first guy who he knows will beat him up badly.

      • nottheface says:

        Randomly? There were rumors running rampant that GSP was going to retire after the fight. That was the reason Rogan pressed him to speak immediately after the fight, because he supposedly was planning on making a statement.

        Anyways I’m sure GSP will eventually return. All it will take is the for the UFC to agree to a few demands, like tripling his purse, and we’ll get GSP-Hendricks Two 18 months from now.

      • cutch says:

        He was talking about doing an announcement before he even fought Johny Hendricks, he has probably wanting to take a break for a while (his 18 month injury and rehab isn’t really taking time off)

        He will come back in a year or two, Mayweather left for 21 months, Vitaly Klitscko left for 4 years in 2004 and came back.

        GSP is a smart guy, I can see him coming back, he will probably get both a higher base pay and more of a % of the PPV.

        • 45 Huddle says:

          See, you bring up a great point. He already had 18 months about not worrying about an opponent. He had time to train and get better. So he already had a break. Now he needs a 2nd one right when he is about to lose the belt?

          Give me a break…

      • edub says:

        So how long are you going to push this garbage while completely overlooking the lack of relevance of your main points?

        GSP had already cotemplated retirement before the Hendricks match. Jones has roughly half of GSP’s cage time, and is 6 or 7 years younger. People are annoyed at DFW because of the way he acted right after the fight, and him being completely wrong pushing the whole “GSP will end up taking the rematch…”.

        Are you even going to address these, or just continue on your drunken stupor.

        • Walter says:

          Definitely a drunken stupor he has failed to address so many points. Keep drinking the sauce early on Fridays.

          45 is Clearly a hater with no rational thought. To say a 5 year champ who breaks records is weak is asinine at best.

        • 45 Huddle says:

          You are nit picking the facts too much.

          You know that if the fights were identical and Jon Jones called it quits after winning a controversial fight… The fans would not be cheering his decision. They would be wrecking him in the media.

          Why GSP gets a free pass for ducking Hendricks is pathetic.

          As pointed out above, he already had an 18 month break. Not he needs another one?

          And of course he was thinking about getting out before Hendricks. He knows he is a bad fight for him.

        • edub says:

          It wasn’t an 18 month break. He had begun a training camp and royally screwed his knee. Then he rehabbed for a year, that’s no vacation.

  9. Alan Conceicao says:

    Let me know when his exile ends in, I dunno, August or September maybe.

  10. stak says:

    Askren is the perfect kind of dumbass for twitter. He doesn’t think he just tweets whatever pops into his head.

    How can you complain someone that’s 4-3 in their last seven fights and then argue that someone who is 1-2 in there last three is more deserving? He went to college right?

    • nottheface says:

      Well Condit’s two (close) losses are to the current #1 & #2 and he holds wins over 4 fighters currently ranked in the UFC’s top 10 (McDonald, Kampmann, Diaz, Ellenberger) compared to Robbie who holds one win over a fighter currently ranked.

    • Si says:

      “How can you complain someone that’s 4-3 in their last seven fights and then argue that someone who is 1-2 in there last three is more deserving? He went to college right?”

      Strak – Have you had a stroke or something? That’s some nice selection bias you’ve got going there. Lets compare them on the same merits – Condit is 5-2 in his last seven, against much better competition, his two losses are against #1 and #2 in the world. One of which, it could be argued, he won.

  11. David m says:

    45 huddle has reached a new low. Your ability to say dumb shit is unsurpassed. It is really astounding.

    • 45 Huddle says:

      Give me a break….

      You guys call yourselves fight fans yet you are celebrating the biggest tuck job in combat sports history.

      • Jonathan says:

        45 Huddle,

        This opinion does not reflect well on you.

        you are making yourself look bad. But then again, this is the internet and that is your right.

    • Alan Conceicao says:

      Someone did something Dana doesn’t like, so obviously it should involve outrage and pro wrestling comparisons. Because pro wrestling comparisons are the only rational ones here.

  12. King Famous says:

    I’m happy for GSP. Whatever his trouble is, he has a right to do what he wants with his life.

  13. Fluyid says:

    Zach, can you confirm via IPs that the 45 Huddle posting above is the real one? If it is the real one, can you require that he blow into a breath testing device attached to his computer before entering his posts here so that we can know if he’s drunk?

  14. klown says:

    45 is really freaking out, huh? These posts are 45’s version of Dana White’s meltdown after the fight…

  15. Zack says:

    LOL 45 Huddle finally lost it, eh?

    Way to come off like a huge mark.

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