GSP calling it quits

inthe6ix

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Oct 3, 2008
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https://www.tsn.ca/report-gsp-to-announce-retirement-1.1260632

Canada's most decorated mixed martial artist is calling time on his illustrious career.
The UFC has called a press conference for Thursday at the Bell Centre in Montreal where RDS's Benoit Beaudoin reports that Georges St-Pierre will announce his retirement.
*****CONFÉRENCE DE @GeorgesStPierre DEMAIN À 10h30 AU CENTRE BELL.

Selon les informations recueillies par @RDS, Georges annoncera sa retraite.

Des négociations pour un combat avec Khabib Nurmagomedov auraient avorté.

Plus de détails ici : La retraite pour GSP? - 20 fév. 2019
— Benoit Beaudoin (@BenBeaudoinRDS) February 20, 2019


**** Dana for not making the GSP vs Khabib fight.

Sure fighters "retire" all the time, but don't think this is a ploy either... if GSP says he's done, that's it - his legacy is more important to him than $$$$.​
 

m9

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Yeah, I believe GSP when he says he's done.

I think there's a good chance when everything is said and done he's considered the best of all-time. Didn't stick around longer than he should of like many of the top guys. Didn't end his career on a big losing streak. Avenged his two losses.
 
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La Masse

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Mad respect for GSP for calling it a career when he still has some fight left in him. Like the poster above me just said, he could go down as the best ever. A part of me wanted to see him fight Khabib or Conor but whatever im happy for him, he’s accomplished everything
 
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Neutrinos

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I'm kinda surprised by the timing of it

He could've had himself some easily winnable big money fights with Khabib and McGregor
 

1specter

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I'm kinda surprised by the timing of it

He could've had himself some easily winnable big money fights with Khabib and McGregor
The Khabib bout fell through especially cause of all Khabib's latest drama and how he won't be fighting until near the end of the year. GSP isn't getting any younger at this point and he was already mulling retirement so I think ultimately he didn't want to wait anymore.

GSP is my favourite fighter of all time, and the reason I ever got into MMA and combat sports. One of the classiest athletes ever, I wish him the best and hope he enjoys his retirement. The GOAT as far as I'm concerned.
 

loudi94

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I'm kinda surprised by the timing of it

He could've had himself some easily winnable big money fights with Khabib and McGregor
He's pretty in tune with his body and I'd bet he mentions that the spirit was willing but physically there were issues.
 

Avs_19

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Nothing but respect for him as he's one of the best to ever do it and he put the sport on the map in Canada. I was hoping he'd come back for another fight or two but few fighters get to go out on top so good for him.

I'm glad we got to see him return against Bisping and win that belt because as great as he was/is, I lost interest in him when he went through that stretch where his fights weren't very entertaining. Him leaving the sport made me miss him and I became a big fan once again after he returned.
 
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pistolpete11

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I bet he's having some sort of health issues. Otherwise, I don't get it. Both he and Khabib have talked openly about wanting to fight each other for a while now. The fans wan it. The UFC would make a shit ton of money. I know Dana was upset GSP vacated the MW belt and wouldn't want it happening at LW, too, but I think they could do it as a catch-weight and it would still be as big. And even if he did, who really cares? You chalk it up to GSP being the best ever and move on.
 

Jasper

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A fight with Khabib would've been really interesting. Like others said though, nice to see him go out on a high note. Definitely agree with him being being one of the classiest athletes ever. Probably the greatest ever ambassador for the sport that really doesn't have a whole lot of other great ones.
 

Neutrinos

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There have been millions of athletes throughout history. To say "GSP is one of the classiest athletes ever" is just silly
 
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StreetHawk

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There have been millions of athlete throughout history. To say "GSP is one of the classiest athletes ever" is just silly
For his particular sport, he would qualify.

He’s had an excellent career. Realistically, he’s ideally built to fight at WW. Not tall enough to go to MW and too muscular to drop down to LW to fight guys. And the WW division doesn’t have a big name at this time does it?

He gets criticized for not being very aggressive in his fights but when you are the champion the goal is to win. Just throwing wild punches gets you noticed but is not a recipe for sustained success.

The guy’s cardio was unmatched.
 
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YNWA14

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Definitely I think everyone got frustrated at one point or another with his style, but ultimately he will go down as one of the best of all time. To be honest winning fights and mitigating the damage you receive in doing so, especially at this level, is great. Serra forced a style change on him, and while maybe not the most exciting if you can appreciate the technical aspect of what he did, as well as the athletic requirement, you can really put into perspective how great he was.

He's a funny guy, but a great ambassador for the sport and he'll be missed (again).
 

1specter

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Definitely I think everyone got frustrated at one point or another with his style, but ultimately he will go down as one of the best of all time. To be honest winning fights and mitigating the damage you receive in doing so, especially at this level, is great. Serra forced a style change on him, and while maybe not the most exciting if you can appreciate the technical aspect of what he did, as well as the athletic requirement, you can really put into perspective how great he was.

He's a funny guy, but a great ambassador for the sport and he'll be missed (again).
He may not have had finishes, but personally I enjoyed watching him pick apart every single opponent the same way, regardless of whatever style they had come at him. And honestly, post-Serra while there were a few snoozers like the Shields and Diaz fights, I'm not sure how people can straight up say that his fights against Fitch, Alves, Condit, Penn, or Koscheck were not fun to watch, or even the Hughes rubber match and Serra rematch.
 
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Avs_19

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This might be the shortest retirement ever if/when the UFC gets desperate for a big headliner in a few months.
 
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StreetHawk

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He may not have had finishes, but personally I enjoyed watching him pick apart every single opponent the same way, regardless of whatever style they had come at him. And honestly, post-Serra while there were a few snoozers like the Shields and Diaz fights, I'm not sure how people can straight up say that his fights against Fitch, Alves, Condit, Penn, or Koscheck were not fun to watch, or even the Hughes rubber match and Serra rematch.
When you establish yourself in the MMA world, being too aggressive can get you injured or pile up the losses.

He was able to deny the vast majority of challenges from doing what they were known for, Be it BJJ, wrestling, striking.
 
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Peter Griffin

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So it turns out both GSP and Khabib wanted the fight to happen but it was the UFC that was against it. I can understand from their POV as the division is already a mess and inserting GSP into a title fight, or even a catchweight fight, at this time just puts everything even further behind. Still would've been an interesting fight to see and perhaps Khabib's toughest possible challenger.
 

Boris Le Tigre

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GSP just put some pressure on Dana. I tend to agree that GSP is sincere but part of me remembers him dummying Koscheck into picking the wrong guy on the Ultimate Fighter. I would not put this passed GSP that it is just a tactic.
 

1specter

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This might be the shortest retirement ever if/when the UFC gets desperate for a big headliner in a few months.


GSP just put some pressure on Dana. I tend to agree that GSP is sincere but part of me remembers him dummying Koscheck into picking the wrong guy on the Ultimate Fighter. I would not put this passed GSP that it is just a tactic.

Eh, the entire time GSP was on hiatus, he never went all the way and said retirement or that he's retired, and always left the door open even just a little bit. He only really started to mention the possibility recently when he went on the Joe Rogan podcast, and only now went through with it. He had the presser, called up all his former team members, staff training partners etc to thank them and wrote out an official statement addressed to fans and colleagues as well. He's mentioned not having the same fire and not wanting to retire too late, so I really do think he is being sincere here. He's got a lot of integrity and I don't think he's doing this as a ploy, and I don't think he would go through so much effort into doing a formal retirement if it wasn't real.
 
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DaaaaB's

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My all time favourite fighter even if he did have a few snoozers. Seeing him comeback and beatdown Bisping was a great moment. He had the best jab I've ever seen in mma and it was his number one weapon.

If Jones hangs around too long and starts losing fights, GSP could go down as the GOAT.
 

Habsrule

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Jun 13, 2004
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I give GSP full credit for calling it quits when he did. He is on a very short list as to the GOAT. Other fighters that could be on that short list have really tarnished their records.

Fedor was an astonishing 31-1 with his only loss coming from a cut and was a doctors stoppage. Since then he has went 7-5.

Anderson had a 17-4 record before joining the UFC. In the UFC he went on a 16 fight win streak. Since that he had a record of 1-5-1 no contest.

GSP had a 26-2 record and avenged both of his losses.
 

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