To GSP or Not to GSP
By Eddie Sanchez
It seems there is a man or woman in every major sport that is rumored to make a sudden comeback out of the blue, and over time, the talking heads and reports will write and speak on the possibilities until it more than likely doesn’t happen.
In the NFL you have guys like Calvin Johnson and Terrell Owens, with boxing you have Floyd Mayweather, guys that for one reason or another have inspired fans to believe that they can still compete at a high enough level. In the UFC, this title undoubtedly belongs to Georges St. Pierre.
When GSP first stepped away in 2013, the immediate talk revolved around the when, not if GSP would return to the octagon.
That return did happen, when GSP submitted Michael Bisping for the Middleweight World Championship. Although short lived, fans and talking heads kept GSP’s name in the airwaves when discussing possible fights up until his official retirement announcement in 2019.
Despite the fact that GSP walked away for good at his advanced age, the chatter continued until now it seems we are reaching a boiling point. There seems to be a perfect storm brewing for the return of Georges Rush St. Pierre.
Long considered the best mixed martial artist in UFC history, we are now at a point where his grip on that status is as loose as it has ever been. For one Jon Jones has most likely taken and ran with that title, there is Adesanya who is not yet at that point in his career, but has shown the dominating presence capable of reaching that height, and then there is the man of the hour, Khabib, who has an aura of invincibility that has caught everyone’s eye.
As you can see, the talk in 2020 is all about the possible matchup between Khabib-St. Pierre, which is interesting for a few reasons.
First, Georges is leading much of this dialogue publicly. He has been recorded in interviews and quoted for pieces about the possibilities of a comeback against the undefeated Lightweight champion.
Secondly, GSP didn’t just mention the possibility of a comeback in his interview with ESPN, he mentioned 155 pound weight class as an option (although he did also backtrack in the same breath) which would be intriguing because he was the long tenured Welterweight champion and has not fought at the Lightweight division in his UFC career.
On the Khabib slide of things, we have a man who might retire following two more UFC fights. Dana White has even publicly stated that if that is what Khabib wishes to do, he will have his pick at the litter for his farewell bout following UFC 254 on October 24th against Justin Gaethje.
Given that it takes three parties for a super-fight to take place and all three parties have acknowledged the elephant in the room, are we close to getting this dream fight?
TSN MMA analyst Aaron Bronsteter spoke with GSP and asked why he would want to step back into the octagon and he replied: “Why step back in? But why not step back in? We only live once! So that’s the question that I’m facing now.”
It is in fact true that we only live once and given all of the talk from each party, and most specifically from GSP, if this fight doesn’t happen I will be disappointed.
It is one thing for a man not to come out of retirement and a fight not to happen, but when he is so open about the possibility, it makes the alternative seem inevitable.
For now we are best served to enjoy UFC 254. Following that fight, the talk will either amplify exponentially or gradually die down until it’s remembered as just another hopeful wish.
