Throwback: When George St-Pierre made his final title defense in a fight he later claimed he should have declined
It has been 9 years since Georges St-Pierre made his final UFC title defense. Today marks the anniversary of when he successfully retained his welterweight championship at UFC 167, at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada.
The Canadian defeated feared knockout artist Johny Hendricks via split-decision to retain the title. It was a controversial decision at the time as UFC President Dana White believed Hendricks was robbed of the decision.
On this day in 2013,
Georges St-Pierre defeated Johny Hendricks at #UFC167 via a split decision (47–48, 48–47, 48-47) 🔥🔥
GSP vacated the title and took a break from MMA following this controversial victory
#UFC #MMA https://t.co/CpQu07iWGa
After the fight, Georges St-Pierre announced that he would be taking time off from the sport, which caught announcer Joe Rogan by surprise while conducting the post-fight interview. GSP mentioned that his personal life was the reason why he needed to take a break from competing:
"There was a lot of talk about what's going to happen. I have a bunch of stuff in my life happening. I need to hang up my glove for a little bit at least, make a point of my life. Hope my fan appreciate. Thank you to everyone, the UFC, Johny Hendricks...I have to go away for a little bit at least."
UFC President Dana White was also caught by surprise when the welterweight champion was planning to step away from the sport after a controversial decision. He was visibly upset and expressed his disappointment during the post-event press conference:
"I'm blown away that Georges St-Pierre won that fight. And listen, I'm a promoter, he's the biggest pay-per-view star on the f**in planet for me and I still don't think he won that fight. I want what's fair and that wasn't fair. I think the Nevada State Athletic Commission is attrocious. I think the Governor needs to step in immediately before these guys destroy this sport like they did boxing."
Less than a month later, 'Rush' relinquished the welterweight championship and took a hiatus from the sport.
Check out the full press conference:
Georges St-Pierre claims he should've declined the fight with Johny Hendricks
Georges St-Pierre has stated that accepting the fight with Johny Hendricks remains the biggest regret of his career.
GSP was a guest on Joe Rogan's podcast, The Joe Rogan Experience, where he reflected on the struggle to get increased drug testing for the fight. He mentioned that Hendricks initially agreed, however, he later changed his mind. 'Rush' says althouwerethere was suspisions about the challenger's possible PED use, he didn't want to accuse without evidence:
"Psycologically, I said to myself, 'If I would have go back in time, I would not have take that fight.'...This one thing I regret about my career. I should have done it, 'You don't want to sign, okay take your belt. I'm gone' I should have done that before, maybe I would have come back earlier."
St-Pierre later returned at UFC 217 in 2017, where he submitted Michael Bisping to capture the middleweight championship and officially retired in 2019.