i had gsp losing 4 rounds to 1. i have no idea how anyone could have given him 3 rounds, thats just absurd. good night of fights other than the bad decision though.

I too thought George lost. Wasn't really close IMO.

Making the Unpopular Case for Georges St-Pierre



Ariel Shnerer / November 17, 2013 - 3:02pm

The sentiment on Twitter following Georges St-Pierre's highly controversial split decision title defense over Johny Hendricks at UFC 167 on Saturday night was pretty consistent.

"Worst decision EVER," wrote former interim champion Carlos Condit, echoing the feelings of a plethora of fans and professional fighters alike, all of whom thought Hendricks did enough to warrant the nod.

From a quick glance, it certainly appeared as though Hendricks deserved the victory. St-Pierre's face was heavily busted up, while Hendricks looked fresh as a daisy.

But there's more to aesthetics than meets the eye.

Although UFC president Dana White only thought St-Pierre won the third round, most pundits agreed he also won the fifth.

In other words, this championship fight ultimately came down to the scoring of the opening stanza.

Before we go into greater detail about the fight, it's worth mentioning that half points could have potentially solved the problem. The rounds Hendricks unanimously won were certainly more decisive than the rounds edged to the champion.

Nonetheless, it was a spirited fight with the two gladiators trading rounds back and forth. Under Pride rules, there's no question Hendricks came out on top. Under the 10-point must scoring system, however, it becomes much more subjective.

In reality, this decision was no more controversial than Benson Henderson's wins over Frankie Edgar and Gilbert Melendez or Jon Jones' triumphant decision over Alexander Gustafsson this past September.

Let's take a closer look at the scoring of that pivotal first round.

St-Pierre came out sharp, quickly blasting through Hendricks with a power double-leg takedown. Hendricks answered back with a takedown of his own later in the round, but the pace was set by the champion, who also attempted a guillotine choke in the opening seconds.

In terms of striking output, St-Pierre landed 19 significant strikes in the round compared to Hendricks' 18, while Hendricks landed 27 total strikes compared to 26 from the champion.

No matter how you slice it, this was an exceptionally close round. Hendricks may have hurt St-Pierre more with his strikes, but the output and work rate were virtually identical.

It might be tainted logic, but you have to decisively defeat the champion to take his belt. Did Hendricks really do enough to put a stamp on the win?

I won't go into great detail about the rounds that followed because there seems to be widespread agreement about who won them. But there's no denying the possibility that the first round could have gone either way. In cases where only a few strikes separate the two fighters, the champion should get the benefit of the doubt. After all, St-Pierre has reigned atop the division since 2007 and controversial title changes run the risk of tainting the championship.

Visibly disappointed about the call, Hendricks was hardly humble in defeat, claiming that he clearly beat St-Pierre up and already considers himself the true champion.

With all due respect to the 30-year-old Oklahoma native, if he really thinks he deserved it that bad, then he would have clearly won more than two rounds. He arguably won three, but that's where interpretation gets tricky. The heavy-handed southpaw has every right to feel slighted after coming so close to winning the gold, but he should have taken a page of out St-Pierre's book. Win or lose, the champion is always classy. The right thing to do would have been to pay respects to St-Pierre for his gutsy performance, particularly with the possibility of impending retirement.

Hendricks will get another shot in due time, whether it's a rematch with St-Pierre or an interim title fight. But he should stop walking around like he positively beat the champion to a bloody pulp because it was a closer fight than he seems to accept. This time around, judges sided with the longtime champion, two of them scoring the bout 48-47 for St-Pierre with the third casting a dissenting 48-47 score for Hendricks.

Not only was the first round close, but St-Pierre actually outlanded Hendricks 101 to 85 in significant strikes over the course of five rounds, while scoring an additional takedown and attempting the fight's lone submission.

St-Pierre has overcome adversity time and time again. Hendricks presented an admirable challenge on Saturday night, but that's all it was. At the post-fight press conference, St-Pierre repeatedly stated he left everything in the cage.

A quintessential champion and now the record-holder for most UFC victories at 19, the story coming out of UFC 167 should be the possibility of one of the sport's true legends retiring for good after a valiant title defense. Rather than appreciating the legacy St-Pierre leaves behind and analyzing the future landscape of the division, all focus seems to have shifted to the judges and their seemingly controversial assimilation of the fight.

Like it or not, St-Pierre was the champion and he got the job done yet again. It was closer than ever, but that doesn't change the end-result.

Personal biases aside, St-Pierre is a true champion. If this was indeed the last we see of the 32-year-old French-Canadian phenom in the Octagon, we should be thankful for the memories he's left behind.

Regardless of how you scored Saturday's headliner, St-Pierre is still the greatest welterweight of all time. Before we get on his case about a decision he didn't control, it's about time we appreciate all the blood, sweat and tears he's left in the Octagon over the years.

**At a press conference in New York today to promote the economic impact MMA could have if the sport was legalized within the state. One of the big notes from Lorenzo Fertitta is that next year the company will run 54 events, up from 33 in 2013. Fertitta elaborated on this announcement to Ariel Helwani after the press conference and it will see the expansion of their Fight Night cards into new markets in Europe and Asia but also clarified his original statement and said it won’t be quite 54 shows they expand to in 2014.

**Gabriel Gonzaga will be taking on Stipe Miocic in a heavyweight bout at the UFC on FOX 10 card on January 25th in Chicago, Illinois. Gonzaga is coming off knockout wins over Dave Herman and Shawn Jordan while Miocic last fought in June at UFC 161 where he defeated Roy Nelson by unanimous decision.

**Michael Bisping announced on UFC Tonight that doctors have cleared him to resume training and is hopeful of fighting by March or April of next year after suffering a detached retina and being pulled from his fight with Mark Munoz back in October.

**A rib injury has forced heavyweight Shane Del Rosario to pull out of his fight with Guto Inocente at UFC 168 on December 28th in Las Vegas. Del Rosario has not fought since December of last year and is coming off losses to Stipe Miocic and Pat Barry since joining the UFC.

**Ovince St. Preux is scheduled to fight Thiago Silva on January 15th at the UFC Fight Night 35 card in Duluth, Georgia.

**TMZ Sports has uncovered court documents filed in Clark County, Nevada that show a judge ruling in favor of Shari Spencer, the former manager of UFC welterweight champion Georges St-Pierre following a nasty split and subsequent lawsuit filed by Spencer. The documents reveal that St-Pierre paid Spencer $737,066.35 this past April but that Spencer is also owed 20% of future revenue from pay-per-view, 20% of royalties under his 2008 merchandise deal with the UFC and 5% of revenues from his Affliction and Rush Fit sponsorships. http://www.tmz.com/2013/11/19/georges-s ... lling-out/

UFC welterweight Brian Melancon has announced his retirement due to kidney problems and his kidney only working at 47% capacity and the stress of weight cutting and training could lead to significant problems. Melancon debuted in the UFC at UFC 162 this past July stopping Seth Baczynski followed by a loss to Kelvin Gastelum at Fight Night 27 in August.

**A featherweight bout between Darren Elkins and Jeremy Stephens has been announced for January 25th at the UFC on FOX 10 card in Chicago.

**The UFC has announced a middleweight bout between Ronaldo “Jacare” Souza and Francis Carmont for the February 15th Fight Night 36 card in Jaragua do Sul, Brazil on the same card where Lyoto Machida will take on Gegard Mousasi.

**This Saturday’s TUF 18 Finale will feature Jessamyn Duke (who was on the losing end of the best fight of the season so far against Raquel Pennington) taking on Peggy Morgan as well as Roxanne Modaferri taking on the loser of this week’s fight between Pennington and Jessica Rakoczy (the winner faces Pennington in the finals).

**Both Shayna Baszler and Sarah Moras are unable to fight on the finale card due to injuries. Both Baszler and Duke have been training with Ronda Rousey leading up to her rematch with Miesha Tate on December 28th at UFC 168.

**The online voting for the alternate cover of EA Sports UFC is down to Georges St-Pierre and Alexander Gustafsson with voting available at http://www.ufc.com/covervote.

**The UFC has added the following fights to the Fight Night 35 card on January 15th in Duluth, Georgia:
*Jason High vs. Adlan Amagov
*Trevor Smith vs. Brian Houston
*Ramsey Nijem vs. Justin Edwards

Dana White needs to recognize his mistake, lighten up on Georges St-Pierre

By Dave Doyle | Yahoo Sports – Sun, 24 Nov, 2013

At a New York City event on Thursday, UFC chairman and CEO Lorenzo Fertitta succinctly stated the company's position on longtime welterweight champion Georges St-Pierre's future.


"GSP doesn't owe us anything," Fertitta told MMAFighting. If only UFC president Dana White had said the same thing five days earlier.

A bizarre chain of events at UFC 167 in Las Vegas on Nov. 16 unfolded at a dizzying pace. Within the span of an hour, St-Pierre won a controversial split decision over challenger Johny Hendricks and then gave a vague speech in the Octagon announcing a leave of absence for an undetermined length; White ripped into the Nevada commission and St-Pierre at the post-fight news conference; then a banged-up St-Pierre showed up mid-presser and appeared on the verge of a mental breakdown as he hinted at personal issues.

It was a ton of information to digest all at once. But as the dust settled, White's comments toward St-Pierre emerged as the evening's most discussed item.

"You owe it to the fans, you owe it to that belt, you owe it to the company and you owe it to Johny Hendricks to give him that opportunity to fight again," White said.



Despite an intense backlash to the idea that someone who absorbs head trauma for a living owes anyone further fights, White didn't back off his words. On Wednesday's edition of UFC Tonight on FOX Sports 1, White said St-Pierre "made a big mistake, when he said what he said. Shouldn't have said it, didn't make sense, and it left everyone wondering what was going on, including me."

That same day, White went onto popular MMA message board The Underground and jumped into a thread calling for his retirement, telling one poster "Go [expletive] yourself" and another "STFU and go away."


It's hard to imagine NFL commissioner Roger Goodell jumping onto a football fan board and telling a gridiron diehard to STFU. But then, White's realness has always been one of the biggest reasons the UFC has developed such a devoted fan base. His lack of a filter is seen as a refreshing break from our play-it-safe corporate culture and his accessibility makes fans feel their loyalty is a two-way street.

But there's the flip side. Even on good days, White's in-your-face demeanor fuels an MMA Internet subculture in which non-credentialed pseudo-journalists make White public enemy No. 1 and parse his every word, grasping for new ways to paint him as a monster.

Pick on your most popular fighter, though, and you've got a bigger PR problem on your hands than the basement blogger brigade. This was St-Pierre, the company's model employee. This was a fighter who never had a whiff of a scandal, did everything the company has asked of him for a decade, carried the ball for some of the sport's biggest events, and, oh yeah, had just been through a grueling physical battle of attrition.

This wasn't the first time White's words and the company's actions have caused backlash from both the fan base and the media. Another such occurrence was in 2007, in the wake of then-heavyweight champion Randy Couture's attempt to walk out on his contract. While the UFC's actions were vindicated, as Couture returned to the company a little over a year later, the company took a major short-term PR hit by taking on a beloved fighter.

Last year, there was the infamous cancelation of UFC 151, in the wake of the fallout over the Jon Jones-Dan Henderson light heavyweight title fight and lack of a suitable substitute bout. White went ballistic in a conference call and pinned the blame on Jones.

Did the GSP outburst mark the time White finally went too far? If history teaches us anything, it's that the fans always come back around. Couture's return bout, at UFC 91 against Brock Lesnar, did more than a million pay-per-view buys. Jones, with one Fight of the Year-caliber performance against Alexander Gustafsson, got the fans back on his side.



Which brings us back to St-Pierre. Predictably, St-Pierre's vague allusions to personal problems brought celebrity site TMZ out of the woodwork, which reported a grab bag of items this week, ranging from St-Pierre's father being near death, to an unplanned pregnancy with a Montreal-area woman, to a lawsuit filed by a former manager.

TMZ caught St-Pierre at Los Angeles International Airport midweek, and the champion was good-natured in refuting their reports.

"I'm not a dad, I'm not in rehab, and my father is not dying," a smiling GSP told TMZ. "Everybody is in happy and good shape. I'm fine, I'm in tip-top shape. I bruise easy. I'll be back training in the gym at the end of this week."

What that means – other than a return bout with Hendricks should St-Pierre choose to return to action, which would clearly be one of the biggest-selling fights in MMA history – remains to be seen.

As does the length of the champion's sabbatical. In the absence of such info, the level-headed Fertitta was the voice of reason on Thursday.

"Obviously if he chooses to retire, then so be it," Fertitta said. "He'll retire and become somebody that everybody will always look up to as one of the great champions in the UFC. If he decides to fight again, great. I think where the confusion was is that when Georges never communicated to us that he had any plans relative to making an announcement."

**Ariel Helwani reported that UFC heavyweight Shane Del Rosario suffered a heart attack on Tuesday and is in critical condition according to his manager, Jason House and remains in the coronary care unit. Del Rosario had just pulled out of his UFC 168 fight against Guto Inocente last week due to a rib injury he sustained. he remains on life support at the present time with those around him stating it will require a miracle for him to pull through so please keep him and his family in your thoughts. His manager Jason House did post the following statement regarding a potential condition he may have:

Shane continues to cling to life at Hoag hospital in Newport Beach, CA. After arriving at the emergency room in full cardiac arrest on Tuesday morning he was resuscitated to stable rhythm and blood pressure, but has not regained consciousness. Doctors believe he may suffer from a rare condition called Long QT Syndrome which is a genetic anomaly that can cause a sudden and life threatening heart rhythm abnormality, and may result in sudden death. Tragically, it strikes healthy young people and often is the first and only presentation of a heart problem.

**The weigh-ins for the TUF 18 Finale took place today in Las Vegas. Here is the full card for tomorrow night’s show at the Mandalay Bay Events Center in Las Vegas:

MAIN CARD (10pm ET on FS 1 and Sportsnet 360)
*Nate Diaz vs. Gray Maynard in a three-round bout
*Julianna Pena vs. Jessica Rakoczy in the women’s final
*Chris Holdsworth vs. David Grant in the men’s final
*Jessamyn Duke vs. Peggy Morgan
*Roxanne Modaferri vs. Raquel Pennington

PRELIMINARY CARD (8pm ET on FS 1, Sportsnet 360)
*Maximo Blanco vs. Akira Corassani
*Rani Yahya vs. Tom Niinimaki
*Jared Rosholt vs. Walter Harris
*Drew Dober vs. Sean Spencer

FACEBOOK FIGHT (6:30pm ET)
*Joshua Sampo vs. Ryan Benoit

**The UFC has inserted Hyun Gyu Lim into the main event of their January 4th card in Singapore to fight Tarec Saffiedine after original opponent Jake Ellenberger had to pull out due to injury earlier this week. Lim debuted in the UFC last year and holds wins over Marcelo Guimares and Pascal Krauss.

**Ronda Rousey will be a guest on Jimmy Kimmel Live Monday night at 11:30pm ET on ABC.

**A lightweight bout between Francisco Trinaldo and Jesse Ronson has been announced for February 15th in Jaragua do Sol, Brazil underneath the Lyoto Machida vs. Gegard Mousasi main event. Trinaldo was a member of the first season of TUF Brazil and most recently was submitted by Pitor Hallmann in September while Ronson made his UFC debut at UFC 165 in Toronto dropping a split decision to Michel Prazeres. The UFC has also added a featherweight bout to that card as Charles Oliveira will take on Andy Ogle.

**A light heavyweight bout between Ilir Latifi and Cyrille “The Snake” Diabate has been added to the March 8th card in London, England at the O2 Arena, which is headlined by Alexander Gustafsson vs. Jimi Manuwa. Diabate has not fought since February where was injured during his fight to Manuwa and lost by TKO while Latifi last fought in April as a last minute replacement against Gegard Mousasi and lost by unanimous decision.

**The Jon Jones vs. Glover Teixeira light heavyweight title fight is confirmed for UFC 171 on March 15th in Dallas, Texas.

**Kevin Iole at Yahoo Sports has a big story on the UFC’s online subscription service with comments from Lorenzo Fertitta and Marshall Zelaznik, who is overseeing the network as their Chief Brand Officer. The key notes include Fertitta’s instructions that the international cards are not to be watered down and booked the same as a domestic Fight Night event. One of the big positives of the network is that every fight in their library will be available to subscribers as well events on FOX and FS 1 eventually being put on the service after running on television.
http://sports.yahoo.com/news/mma--ufc-s ... 27930.html

**The UFC confirmed the cast members for the upcoming TUF Nations series coached by Patrick Cote and Kyle Noke with the following members of each team:

CANADA: Olivier Aubin-Mercier, Matthew Desroches, Kajan Johnson, Chad Laprise, Luke Harris, Nordine Taleb, Elias Theodorou and Sheldon Westcott

AUSTRALIA: Chris Indich, Jake Matthews, Brendan O’Reilly, Richard Walsh, Vik Grujic, Daniel Kelly, Tyler Manawaroa and Zein Saliba

The series will debut on January 15th and air on FS 1 in the U.S. and Sportsnet 360 and TVA Sports in Canada.

**The Chicago Sun Times reports that Eddie Wineland and Yves Jabouin will meet in a bantamweight bout on the undercard of the FOX 10 event on January 25th in Chicago at the United Center.

**The TUF 18 Finale averaged 1,130,000 viewers this past Saturday headlined by Nate Diaz vs. Gray Maynard.

**This coming weekend is one of the busiest of the year in MMA with the following cards set to take place:
*One FC 13 (Friday morning at 6am ET on Fight Network headlined by Koji Oishi vs. Honario Banario for the featherweight title)
*Legacy FC (Friday night featuring Leonard Garcia vs. Kevin Aguilar)
*World Series of Fighting (Saturday night in Vancouver headlined by Georgi Karakhanyan vs. Lance Palmer and Elvis Mutapcic vs. Jesse Taylor)
*Cage Warriors (Saturday afternoon at 4pm ET with Neil Seery vs. Ulysses Gomez)
*Invicta FC 7 (Saturday night with Barb Honchak vs. Leslie Smith, Carla Esparza vs. Claudia Gadelha)
*UFC Fight Night 33 (Friday night in Australia headlined by Mark Hunt vs. Antonio Silva)

**Here is the great Roots of Fight video honoring the 50th anniversary this week of the Judo Gene LeBell vs. Milo Savage mixed fight featuring interviews with LeBell, Ronda Rousey, BJ Penn, Paul Lazenby and Big John McCarthy:


**The UFC has released their Road to the Octagon special building up next weekend’s FOX 9 card in Sacramento, which is a really deep card:


**The following main card fights have been announced for the UFC on FOX 10 event on January 25th in Chicago:
*Benson Henderson vs. Josh Thomson
*Stipe Miocic vs. Gabriel Gonzaga
*Donald Cerrone vs. Adriano Martins
*Darren Elkins vs. Jeremy Stephens

**If you missed the main event of last weekend’s Fight Night 33 card between Antonio Silva and Mark Hunt it is definitely a fight to seek out. This was one of the best heavyweight fights of all-time and the result just about guarantees a rematch for them in 2014.


**Adding to the legend of Friday night’s fight between Antonio Silva and Mark Hunt is the fact that Hunt broke his hand in two places early in the fight.

**Here are the full results from the Fight Night 33 card in Brisbane, Australia in front of 11,393 at the Brisbane Entertainment Centre and a live gate of $1,785,000:
*Alex Garcia over Ben Wall by KO at 0:43 of Round 1
*Krzysztof Jotko over Bruno Santos by unanimous decision (30-27, 29-28, 29-28)
*Justin Scoggins over Richie Vaculik by TKO at 4:43 of Round 1
*Caio Magalhaes over Nick Ring by unanimous decision (29-28 all)
*Takeya Mizugaki over Nam Phan by unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-28) – on most cards this would have been an easy pick for fight of the night
*Bethe Correia over Julie Kedzie by split decision (29-28, 28-29, 29-28)
*Clint Hester over Dylan Andrews by TKO (injury) at 5:00 of Round 2
*Soa Palelei over Pat Barry by KO at 2:09 of Round 1
*Ryan Bader over Anthony Perosh by unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 29-28)
*Mauricio “Shogun” Rua over James Te Huna by KO at 1:03 of Round 1
*Mark Hunt and Antonio Silva fought to a majority draw (48-47 Hunt, 47-47, 47-47)

**The following $50,000 bonuses were handed out after the card:
*Fight of the Night – Antonio Silva vs. Mark Hunt
*Knockout of the Night – Mauricio “Shogun” Rua
*Submission of the Night – n/a

**Following Fight Night 33 Julie Kedzie announced on Twitter that she sat down with her team and agreed that win or lose she would retire over last night. Kedzie has lost her last four fights and retires at the age of 32. She has been doing color commentary for Invicta FC since the promotion launched in April of 2013 and is very good in the role and I expect she will continue with more broadcast work.

**The UFC announced the following fights for UFC 170 on February 22nd in Las Vegas, Nevada:
*Rashad Evans vs. Daniel Cormier – this will be a five-round main event and Cormier’s first fight at light heavyweight
*Rory MacDonald vs. Demian Maia – two contenders at welterweight but both coming off losses with Maia to Jake Shields and MacDonald to Robbie Lawler

**Leonard Garcia defeated Kevin Aguilar in the main event of Legacy FC 26 with a first round stoppage to win the vacant Legacy FC featherweight championship.

**Following his UFC debut last weekend Jared Rosholt has already been booked for his next fight as he will take on Oleksiy Oliynyk on January 25th on the undercard of the FOX 10 event in Chicago at the United Center.

**The UFC has added the following fights to the UFC 171 card on March 15th in Dallas, Texas:
*Thiago Silva vs. Ovince St. Preux
*Bubba McDaniel vs. Tor Troeng

**Here are the results from the Invicta FC 7 card in Kansas City, Missouri and airing on both traditional pay-per-view and online:
*Nina Ansaroff over Munah Holland by TKO at 3:54 of Round 2
*Tonya Evinger over Sarah D’Alelio by unanimous decision (29-28 all)
*Vanessa Porto over Zoila Frausto Gurgel by unanimous decision (30-27, 29-28, 29-28)
*Julia Budd over Charmaine Tweet by unanimous decision (30-27 all)
*Joanne Calderwood over Katja Kankaanpaa by unanimous decision (29-28 all)
*Tecia Torres over Felice Herrig by unanimous decision (30-27 all)
*Lauren Murphy over Miriam Nakamoto by TKO (injury) at 0:23 of Round 4 to become the first Invicta FC bantamweight champion
*Barb Honchak over Leslie Smith by unanimous decision (49-46 all) to retain the Invicta FC flyweight title

**The Invicta stream had more problems this time around as tons of people couldn’t get the stream working for the first fight and eventually Invicta had to take down their pay wall yet again and let everyone watch for free. Most people missed the first pay-per-view fight between Porto and Frausto Gurgel.


**Miriam Nakamoto suffered a devastating knee injury in the third round but opted to come out for the fourth round and almost immediately the knee gave out and the fight was stopped. It’s unknown how bad the injury is but it looked very bad on the show and will likely require surgery, which is a big injury to come back from for Nakamoto, who is 37-years old. Nakamoto missed the entire year of 2011 due to a torn ACL so this really could be a career ender for her.

**Invicta Strawweight champion Carla Esparza challenged Tecia Torres in a very awkward post fight call out for the next title shot. It was hilarious as they had Miesha Tate interview Torres right after the fight and she said she knew Joanne Calderwood was ahead of her and in no rush for a title fight and then Torres came into the cage and made the challenge to which Mo Lawal said “what about Calderwood?” on the air.

**The UFC has announced that Jake Shields will be fighting Hector Lombard at UFC 171 on March 15th in Dallas, Texas on the same card as Jon Jones vs. Glover Teixeira. Shields last fought Demian Maia this past October and got the victory while Lombard is coming off a big win in his welterweight debut over Nate Marquardt at UFC 166.

**Dave Meltzer tackles MMA’s scoring system at http://www.mmafighting.com/2013/12/8/51 ... ma-scoring.

sucks about del rosario. pretty much outa nowhere, man. ian mccall found him, they are roommates. i feel bad for him big time, i have friends who found a buddy dead and it fucked all of us up, but them even more so.

didnt see the hunt/big foot fight...anyone have a link?

George St-Pierre Vacates Title

Ariel Shnerer / December 13, 2013 -

Hendricks-Lawler Set for Championship fight

Citing the pressure and criticism that goes along with being on top of the sport for so many years, perennial UFC welterweight champion Georges St-Pierre confirmed plans to take a sabbatical and vacate his championship on a conference call Friday with UFC president Dana White.

A new champion will be crowned on March 15 in Dallas, Tex. when Johny Hendricks meets Robbie Lawler for the vacant belt, White announced.

According to St-Pierre, the decision was already made before his razor-thin split decision victory over Hendricks at UFC 167 last month in Las Vegas.

"Every fight, I'm carrying weight on my shoulders," St-Pierre said. "Every fight, it's like you add weight. At one point, it becomes so heavy you have a hard time carrying it yourself."

St-Pierre denied the decision has anything to do with the damage he's sustained throughout his career or the contentious nature of his triumphant decision over Hendricks.

"Physically, I'm 100 percent," he said. "I'm still young."

St-Pierre stopped short of confirming a return date, but he said he will continue to train at the famed Tristar Gym in Montreal.

"I believe one day I will come back," he said. "I don't know how long. I cannot go through another training camp right now."

The 32-year-old Quebec native has fought professionally 27 times, including 19 UFC wins, the most in promotional history. His second reign as champion began at UFC 83 in April 2008 as he avenged his prior loss to Matt Serra. He amassed nine consecutive title defenses, including wins over Hendricks, Nick Diaz and Carlos Condit after returning from an ACL surgery last year.

"I need a normal life for a bit," said St-Pierre.

St-Pierre did not shed any light on the personal problems influencing his decision.

The time off is well-deserved for the pay-per-view superstar as he's spent nearly six hours competing inside the octagon. The Brazilian jiu-jitsu and Kyokushin karate black belt has broken nearly every record there is to break and he's firmly cemented his legacy as the greatest welterweight in history.

"I think this is the right move for St-Pierre," said White, backtracking on his previous stance that St-Pierre owes Hendricks a rematch.

The UFC president was a vocal critic of St-Pierre's decision in the aftermath of his most recent title defense, but he's come to accept the reality that St-Pierre's fate is in his own hands.

For a quintessential professional who has spilled his blood for the company since 2004, it's the least he can do.

**The UFC made the official announcement on Wednesday night that they have signed eleven fighters for their new women’s strawweight division and they will be featured in an all female season of TUF that will begin filming next May and debut around September 2014. The fighters signed include Invicta FC champion Carla Esparza, Claudia Gadhela, Tecia Torres, Felice Herrig, Joanne Calderwood, Bec Hyatt, Rose Namajunas, Emily Kagan, Juliana Lima, Alex Chambers and Paige Van Zant

**Cain Velasquez underwent surgery this past week for a partially torn labrum in his left shoulder stemming from the Junior dos Santos fight back in October. Velasquez was initially trying to avoid surgery and rehab the injury but it was decided he would need surgery and puts him on the shelf for a good portion of 2014. Fabricio Werdum was scheduled to get the next title shot and may have to take another fight while awaiting Velasquez’s return.

**UFC lightweight champion Anthony Pettis underwent surgery this week for his PCL injury in his knee and is expected out of action until next summer.

**Tatsuya Kawajiri’s new opponent for the January 4th UFC card in Singapore will be Sean Soriano, who is making his UFC debut with an 8-0 record and trains with the Blackzilians.

**The UFC has announced that Diego Sanchez will be fighting Myles Jury at UFC 171 on March 15th in Dallas, Texas underneath the main event of Jon Jones vs. Glover Teixeira. Sanchez just signed a new eight-fight contract with the organization and at 31-years of age that will probably take Sanchez to the end of his career.

**The UFC has also added a bout between Alex Garcia and Sean Spencer to the UFC 171 card. Garcia just made his debut this past weekend with a quick stoppage of Ben Wall in Brisbane.

**The winner of the online voting to get the alternate cover on the EA Sports UFC video game was revealed on Friday with Alexander Gustafsson defeating Georges St-Pierre in the finals and joins Jon Jones on the covers for the game.

**A screen grab of the soon to be released “UFC Fight Pass” site was tweeted out today by Ross Finkelstein. The screen grab indicates that that the UFC online network will be available for $9.99 per month including approximately one live event per month, past fights from their UFC, Pride, Strikeforce and WEC libraries as well as new content. The site will also be the new home for the Facebook fights, which you will now need the network to view for all events starting January 4th with the card in Singapore, which will be a network exclusive event. They will also be running cards on the network March 1st and 8th.

**Steven Marrocco of MMAJunkie.com received a copy of the death certificate for Shane Del Rosario and uncovered some additional details to his passing. The official cause of death was listed as anoxic encephalopathy, ventricular fibrillation and Long QT syndrome. The coroner’s office also found trace amounts of cocaine, opiates and THC in his system but they ruled those substances were not a cause of his death. The other fact listed in the certificate is he was pronounced dead on December 3rd. The full story is up at http://mmajunkie.com/2013/12/coroner-de ... in-system/.




**The Countdown to UFC 168 show will premiere on Tuesday night on Fox Sports 1.

**Dave Meltzer at MMAFighting.com reports that the early numbers for the UFC 167 pay-per-view headlined by Georges St-Pierre vs. Johny Hendricks is between 600-650,000 buys, which would be St-Pierre’s lowest bought event since UFC 87 when he fought Jon Fitch (which also featured Brock Lesnar vs. Heath Herring on the card).

**The final number for this past weekend’s UFC on FOX 9 card looks to be a 1.8 rating and an average of 2,800,000 featuring Demetrious Johnson vs. Joseph Benavidez in the headline position. As a comparison to the FOX card from last December that show (featuring Benson Henderson vs. Nate Diaz, Rory MacDonald vs. BJ Penn and Mauricio “Shogun” Rua vs. Alexander Gustafsson and was a much stronger card) did a 2.5 rating and averaged 4,390,000 viewers. The FOX 6 card in January of this year (which is the last time Demetrious Johnson headlined during football season on FOX) featuring Johnson vs. John Dodson and Quinton Jackson vs. Glover Teixeira did a 2.4 rating and averaged 4,219,000 viewers.

**A lightweight bout between Bobby Green and Abel Trujillo has been added to the UFC 169 card on February 1st in Newark, New Jersey with both coming off wins this past Saturday on the FOX 9 card.

**A bantamweight bout between Yuri Alcantara and Wilson Reis has been made for the February 15th Fight Night 36 card in Jaragua do Sul, Brazil, which is headlined by Lyoto Machida vs. Gegard Mousasi in a middleweight bout.

**One FC’s Shinya Aoki has been added to the Inoki Genome Federation New Year’s Eve card where he will fight Toshikatsu Harada, which will be a show consisting of both MMA fights and pro wrestling matches.

**Following his positive post fight drug test for elevated levels of testosterone, Antonio Silva is now planning to sue the doctor that administered his testosterone replacement therapy, Dr. Marcio Tannure. Tannure is the medical director for the Brazilian MMA Athletic Commission and handles all of the medicals at UFC events when they run shows in Brazil. Silva alleges that he was told a week before the fight that his testosterone levels were still low and to start taking one shot of testosterone per week with Silva pleading innocence and just doing what the doctor instructed. The full story from Guilherme Cruz at MMAFighting.com is up at http://www.mmafighting.com/2013/12/18/5 ... itive-test.

**A welterweight bout between TUF Smashes winner Robert Whittaker and Stephen Thompson has been added to UFC 170 on February 22nd in Las Vegas. Thompson has been training with Chris Weidman during Weidman’s camp for his rematch with Anderson Silva coming up next week. The UFC has also added a bantamweight bout to that same card with Francisco Rivera taking on Raphael Assuncao.

Well, I certainly didn't need to see that in slow motion instant replay.

joe theisman no longer has the worse leg injury in the history of sports

What an anti-climactic end to the biggest rematch in a long time. (maybe ever)
I hate to see a champions career end like that too. I don't see Silva returning.

at nearly 40yrs old, he can call it now and still go out one of the greatest ever.

He's the GOAT imo. I'm going to miss watching him.

yeah, that inury sucked. i think weidman was gonna win anyway, but you never wanna see that.