Georges St-Pierre Thinks Rory MacDonald Should Fight For The Title Next
Former UFC welterweight kingpin and promotional poster boy Georges St-Pierre has seen a new era of contenders enter the division and take over in his absence. Johny Hendricks claimed the vacant belt with a five round decision against Robbie Lawler at UFC 171, and ‘Rush’ has some interesting thoughts on the title picture now.
Stopping by to talk with MMAFighting, GSP gave his thoughts on the new welterweight champion Johny Hendricks and his performance in Texas this past Saturday:
“I watched as a fan and it was a lot of fun. I scored the fight for Johny Hendricks, Lawler did more damage on the face but that doesn’t really mean anything. It was a very tight fight, but also a very good fight. Now I believe that Rory MacDonad should fight for the title.”
St-Pierre is respectful as he talks about Hendricks,but is also evasive when questioned about a potential return fight with ‘Bigg Rigg’.
“I don’t know, that’s the reason I took a break. If I come back, a lot of things have to change. There are big problems in the sport, and for me to come back those will have to be changed. I’m building something, but I cannot say anything, you guys will find out. It’s a process, it’s gonna be good.”
It seems as though ‘Rush’ has some very big plans that he wants to keep under wraps, and he continues to keep the fans on hold regarding his immediate future. He continued, describing his reasons for his hiatus from the UFC:
“It ‘s my choice to give up the title, nobody ever forced me to stop. I wanted to stop. When I fought Rigg, I needed some time out because I wasn’t hungry, I didn’t want it. There was too much pressure. When I was younger I didn’t care about anything but fighting, but as you get older you get more problems in your life.”
In closing, St-Pierre had a message for the new kingpin at 170 pounds:
“Congratulations, I scored the fight for you. You are a great champion and I’d like to congratulate you. Hey Johny stick around for a bit, maybe we’ll fight again.”
The pressure of being in the limelight, and having the championship target on his back was clearly the main reason behind GSP walking away. The state of MMA, which is still a growing sport, was also a big factor in that decision. St-Pierre could well return to the sport one day, but will it be too late for him to perform as well he used to?
