Article Written By: Dillon Nelson
It’s been almost two months since George St-Pierre defeated Johnny Hendricks in a highly controversial decision for the UFC Welterweight title. After that fight, GSP shocked everyone, stating that he will be taking a leave of absence from mixed martial arts. Now, most people were still stunned at the fact that he had won the fight in the first place, but for the most dominant welterweight champion in UFC history to leave was incomprehensible. He claimed that he was going through some personal issue’s and needed to step away for awhile.
Dana White was not too thrilled with this announcement; He was not in contact with George or his trainers for a few week’s after. There was a lot of comments by White, stating that George should be able to balance his life at this point in the game. Moreover, Dana and George are good friends and there is no bad blood by any means. This being said, Dana implied that he would stay and defend his title or relinquish the belt.
GSP had been the welterweight champion since 2007, when he defeated Matt “The Terra” Serra. Since then, he has beaten the likes of John Fitch, Carlos Condit, Josh Koscheck, and most recently Johnny Hendricks. George is currently undefeated since 2007 as well, with his last loss being a huge upset against Serra earlier that year. His most current win was over Johnny Hendricks. Hendricks in the peoples eye’s had won this fight by decision, but the judges felt GSP pulled out the win.
George stated around a month ago saying “I’ve been fighting for a very long time, at a very high level, it’s a lot of pressure. I know that UFC is a business. They have to keep things rolling, so I vacate my title.” he also said “I need to have a normal life for a little bit,” he continued. “If I come back some day, I will be even better.” Since then he has not said much until this Saturday, he told the Ottawa Sun “I’m 32 years old and this is the first time I have my Christmas with my family,” said St-Pierre. “I spent some time, but I never really had free time,
total free time like I did [this holiday]. It was time for me to do it. I’m very
happy I did it and I don’t regret any of it.”
He has not stated whether or not he will return to the cage, but did say “I don’t give myself any preference, there is a chance I could return.” So its looking like for the near future, the welterweight title is up for grabs for the first time in nearly 7 years.