Georges St-Pierre Is Still The Smartest Man In MMA

Don’t be surprised, motherfuckers.

But Georges St-Pierre is unlikely to defend his newly won UFC middleweight title. Instead, the organization plans to move forward with a bout between Robert Whittaker and Luke Rockhold for the interim, but potentially undisputed, middleweight title.

St-Pierre cites “colitis” as the reason for him potentially walking away from the sport again. Colitis is an ulceration in the colon. It’s a chronic issue, that only flares up when one is asked to fight the rightful number one contender in the division. If a potential fight against a certain Irishman is offered, colitis will quickly subside.

Let us all praise St-Pierre for his brilliance.

Dana White claims he runs the UFC. For the most part, that is true. He can bury any fighter he wants and they’ll continue to fight for him, for pennies on the dollar. But St-Pierre made his money long ago and knows that the UFC needs him more than he needs them. Without his return in November, they don’t sell out Madison Square Garden and they watch as another pay-per-view draws less than 300,000 buys.

St-Pierre’s addition gave them a $6 million gate and “well over a million buys.” Of course, reality told Dana that the event only drew 875,000 buys, but that’s still the biggest number of the year for the company.

Our favorite Canadian has always been smarter than everyone else. Once he established himself as the premiere draw in MMA, thanks in large part to his Canadian fanbase, he fought smarter and not harder. He learned that taking minimal damage and winning feels a lot better than being involved in the Fight of the Night and losing, despite how the crowd may react. Once he started taking too much damage, he got out.

And it’s doubtful he would have returned, it it were not for Michael Bisping.

St-Pierre had plenty of opportunities to make his triumphant return to the cage over the years. He also had plenty of opportunities to move up to 185-pounds during his career. There’s a reason why he chose to do both when Michael Bisping was champion.

St-Pierre cares about three things in reference to his fighting career: his health, his money, and his legacy.

Bisping wasn’t a huge threat to his health given his lack of knockout power, no matter who he returned against, he was going to make money, and the middleweight title would be the perfect addition to his legacy.

Those three values aren’t going to change just because Dana White’s face turns a certain shade of red.

St-Pierre isn’t returning in 2018 if he feels his health is jeopardized and his legacy isn’t added to. Knowing that, there are only two fights that make sense for St-Pierre in 2018.

The first is obvious. Conor McGregor vs. Georges St-Pierre would be the biggest fight in MMA history. If all parties could come to an agreement, that’s the fight to make.

The second is less obvious, but still sort of obvious. Unless Bisping wins the interim/soon to be vacant non-interim middleweight title, it’s doubtful that “Rush” will fight at 185 again. Whittaker, Yoel Romero, Rockhold, Weidman, etc… all hit way too hard for him to risk seeing more aliens.

Down at welterweight, his options aren’t much better. Tyron Woodley’s last three performances have made fans long for the days of GSP taking guys down and staying in guard for 25-minutes, but he can turn off your lights with one punch. Robbie Lawler is another power puncher that St-Pierre likely wants nothing to do with. Rafael dos Anjos is well-rounded enough that St-Pierre may take a pass. Colby Covington is a viable option, but he’s not winning the title.

The second option is Nate Diaz. Nate is holding out for a big money fight. He’s holding out for that McGregor trilogy fight. But I’m sure he’ll take a bout with St-Pierre. The fight doesn’t do a ton for St-Pierre’s legacy, but it’s the biggest possible money fight and it’s a fight that doesn’t put his health at risk.

Of course. There is a third option. And that’s for St-Pierre to never fight again. In which case, he’d be even smarter than he already is.