He is the most dominant champion the UFC’s welterweight division has ever seen. He is his employer’s top pay-per-view draw and mainstream face of mixed martial arts. And now, by walking away as one of the sport’s pound-for-pound best, Georges St-Pierre has finally become the true king of his own world.
It’s a decision that has been brewing for quite some time. The culmination of years of being in the public eye, carrying the load of being a world champion and the heavy burden it took on him both physically and mentally. In speaking with Georges over the past few weeks, he has made it clear that physically he feels fantastic, but his mental, psychological and emotional tanks are empty.
Not to take anything away from Johny Hendricks, but you could see that it was a different GSP who fought at UFC 167 — completely different than the one who dominated the division for years. “The Bigg Rigg” gave GSP a taste of what the future holds, and it’s a dark, difficult one to stomach. To dominate a fighter of Hendricks’s ilk, an opponent must not only be physically strong, but his timing and mental game must be operating at optimum levels. If anything goes wrong he will lose, or in a best case scenario, win via split decision. Exactly what happened in the main event at UFC 167.
Georges has long been considered a master of the mental game. He has always been able to filter out any negativity in his life, while only keeping his mind on the task at hand, tapping into his dark side and removing any distractions that would prevent him from being a cold-blooded mercenary on fight night. But as time went on, the negativity was never fully discarded and eventually came back to haunt him.
St-Pierre is still human and we as a species, at times, do not deal well with criticism. When you are at the top of the food chain you can shrug off most criticism, except when it’s a never-ending avalanche from fans, media and even your employer.
He has spoken freely about performance-enhancing drugs in MMA, and how it was no longer the best fighter who wins on fight night but instead the one with the best doctor. He is an obsessive researcher, and dedicated a fair amount of time determining which anti-doping agency was the best random, pre- and post-fight tester. Which one tested for the most PED’s? He surmised that it was the Voluntary Anti-Doping Association (V.A.D.A.), and proceeded to prove his detractors wrong while showcasing he was truly a clean athlete.
Instead, and it has been well documented, it backfired on him. His opponent agreed and then reneged. His employer did not fully support him in the way he had hoped. Then an unexpected turn for the worse occurred, which left him bewildered and stunned. It may have been the straw that broke the camel’s back.
He wanted to be the best and he achieved that goal, despite incredible criticism for not finishing his opponents. Dominating wasn’t enough. The fans and media wanted blood. He wanted to take a stand against PED usage by using his name and image to prove MMA could be clean. He believed that it was his duty, as one of the sport’s very best, to prove greatness can be achieved ethically, with hard work and desire, and not by something artificial. He was lambasted for his efforts, which in turn left him heartbroken, confused and at a fork in the road.
To continue on this path was no longer an option. Despite the pull and power his brand possesses, it simply is not enough. He is not immune to criticism and without the UFC’s assistance he cannot make the desired changes he would like to see in the sport. At his wits end, and financially secure, what more could he offer?
While he has temporarily stepped away from the sport, St-Pierre is en route to the next fork in the road. He spoke about no longer wanting to deal with people asking him about what he plans on doing to his next opponent, or thinking about what game plan he should execute. No longer will he have to deal with these questions, but they will be replaced by questions of when he will return to the Octagon.
Georges has removed the pressure of returning by not setting a date. But two events over the next three months may get the Canadian’s blood boiling. The pending result of the Anderson Silva/Chris Weidman title fight may be one, but you have to wonder what Georges will think and feel the moment Dana White wraps the welterweight title around the waist of either Hendricks or Robbie Lawler.
As the old Cinderella song goes: “You don’t know what you got, till it’s gone.”
And the same can be said for the UFC, the media and all fans of MMA.
