GSP may vacate the belt for the Olympics

LAS VEGAS – UFC welterweight champion Georges St-Pierre (19-2 MMA, 13-2 UFC) is slated to defend his title against British slugger Dan Hardy (23-6 MMA, 4-0 UFC) on March 27 at the as-yet-unannounced UFC 111 event in New Jersey.

And regardless of the result, St-Pierre today said it may be has last title fight for quite some time.

The Canadian recently revealed he's considering a run at the 2012 Olympic Games in freestyle wrestling, and today St-Pierre said that plan would include vacating the UFC's 170-pound title.

"Right now I don't think my wrestling is good enough to be at an Olympic level," St-Pierre said at today's media gathering. "The takedowns that I use for mixed martial arts and the takedowns that are used in Olympic wrestling are totally different. The setup is different. It's a different sport.

"I'm a good wrestler, but to [compete in the Olympics], I would have to focus on wrestling and dedicate myself 100 percent for a period of time. I would not take my retirement now, but if I decide to do it, I would have to dedicate myself 100 percent I would say for a year-and-a-half or so."

It's a potentially life- and career-altering decision, and St-Pierre admits there is much to consider on both sides of the argument.

"There is a lot of positive and negative about it," St-Pierre said. "The negative is my income. I won't have as much income as I would if I keep my career. It would diminish dramatically. That's the first thing. The second thing is I would have to give up my title, of course. I would have to stay away from mixed martial arts for at least a year-and-a-half because I need to qualify.

"People don't realize that to go to the Olympic Games, just going there, is pretty hard. It's not an easy thing. You need to qualify yourself for your country, and even if you qualify yourself for your country, it doesn't mean you're going 100 percent. You need to qualify yourself for the Olympic Games, itself. It's something really, really hard. That's the negative thing."

But St-Pierre doesn't believe the potential of walking away from his title is all bad.

"The positive thing about it is I'm not a poor guy right now," St-Pierre said. "I've got good money, and I'm the kind of person that everything I do in life, it's an experience. I like challenges, and I would not like the fact that when I get older, around 60 years old, I think about it and tell myself, 'Oh, I had the opportunity to do it. Maybe I could have done it. I don't know; I didn't try.' This would make me sad.

"I don't know if I can do it. It's a challenge. But, it's always behind my head. My life is always about experience. I like to do new experiences. I like challenges. But it's something that I need to sit down and think a little bit more before I make my decision."

While St-Pierre is widely considered among the pound-for-pound best mixed martial artists in the world, his spot in the world of freestyle wrestling is far less secure. There is certainly no guarantee that St-Pierre would even qualify for the 2012 Olympic Games if he tried, but the 28-year-old said the thought of, "What if?" is a far worse option than the potential for failure.

"Even if I try it and don't make it, at least when I get older, I'm going to think about it, and I'm going to tell myself, 'You know what? I gave everything I had, but I didn't make it,'" St-Pierre said. "My mind would be clear. But if I don't try it, when I'm going to be 60 years old and thinking about it, I'll be like, 'Maybe I could have done it, but I'll never know because I never tried it.'

"I don't like things like that. It already happened before in another situation where I could have done stuff, but I didn't take the opportunity, and now days I always wonder if I could have made it. I don't want to be caught in that situation."

St-Pierre said he currently rates his chances of pursuing his Olympic dreams at "50-50." The process would not be a simple one, and "Rush" would have a multi-tiered qualification process to pass before he could book his travel plans to London, site of the 2012 Olympic Games.

But despite the certain drawbacks to his MMA career, St-Pierre says he sees potential benefits for the sports of MMA and wrestling.

"It could be good and bad," St-Pierre said. "It could be bad because I leave the sport for a year-and-a-half. But it could be good in another way to make [MMA] even more mainstream. If I do well, and I get into the Olympic level, it could be very good. It could be very good for the sport of wrestling, as well."

St-Pierre wasn't quite ready to commit to a full-fledged Olympic qualification effort, but he hardly attempted to discount the possibility.

"I have a decision to make, but I don't know if I'm ready to do it," St-Pierre said. "I just need to think about it right now.

"I'm going to have to make my decision pretty soon."

I reckon he needs to make a decision now, I'd hate it for him to leave MMA and become an average wrestler. Waste of talent.

I will cry if that happens, I reckon he should stay in MMA and focus on moving to MW.

hope this doesnt happen as GSP is in his prime now and a stint away from the sport maybe wont be so good for him

Judging by what he said on MMA Live at the weekend I'd say it's unlikely he'd leave to go to the Olympics, he more or less said he wasn't good enough and he was hesitant to quit his job as an MMA fighter.

More interestingly, Dan Hardy's first attempt to get under his skin has failed miserably - Hardy has accused GSP of not being a fighter, but instead just being an athlete who has learned fighting techiniques, to which the champ responded with a smile that Dan was absolutely right, and that he's a lover not a fighter. D'oh!

Georges then made the customary comment that Dan will be his toughest challenge yet, before letting slip at the end of his interview that 'once he's beaten Hardy decisively' he'll worry about Anderson.

I think Its a crazy move, GSP is at the top of the UFC and IMO unquestionabally the number 2 guy in the sport.

Going to the Olympics is cool and it would probabally gain more recognition for MMA, But I dont see why it would envolve packing MMA in for a couple of Years, Fedor seems to be able to manage Sambo and MMA... and Its not like GSP fights that often!

It would be shit to see him leave MMA, theres fights with Kos, Dales, Hardy maby Rumble etc.. on the Horizon and he is bulking up for a reason, he says he has Anderson in his sights...

If 195lbs Hendo can take Anderson down expect the same from 195lbs GSP, only GSP wont Gas Like Hendo did. I think GSP vs Silva will be 30-27 GSP or if its for the Mw title 49-46 GSP.

Happy New Year Ben mate, hope you had a good break

As devastated as I'll be if GSP leaves, it would give me a chance to see him up close and personal in the Olympics here in London in 2012, which would be awesome!

The man is such a legend, it would be a very sad day to see him quit, but his country would be lucky to have him competing for them, and you could hardly blame him for looking for other challenges, even at 28 he already has very little left to prove in MMA.

Paolo happy new year to you too mate, Had a great few weeks off there.... was raging to be working NYE and miss DYNAMITE!! 2009 live... ah well!!

GSP still has a bit to Prove, he is nearly the best Ww ever at such a young age and he said he wants to be remembered as one of the best p4p fighters in the sport.. he already is that but beating the likes of Anderson Silva and he is probabally the number 2 not now but ever.

It would be cool to see him in the Olympics if he didnt have to leave UFC but it would be a strange move to pack in a sport were you are the best guy in the biggest organisation to be a wrestler... I cant see it happening. I also wonder why he cant do both if Fedor can

Working New Years Eve?? Noooooooooo!!!!!!!!

The Fedor situation is surely a bit different though mate, he was training Sambo long before he came to MMA, and the competitions he goes in for aren't on the scale of the olympics in terms of qualification requirements and the commitment required to travel abroad and attend team training camps etc.

GSP only came to wrestling as a by product of his MMA career, so he's never really been able to specialise as he would need to to compete. If he called the Canadian squad and asked for special treatment given his celebrity status than maybe he could fit it in, but then you'd probably get Dana White saying he couldn't do it and scheduling him to fight some loser instead. Having said that though, the olympics are 2.5yrs away so he could still defend at least another 5 times and then fight Anderson before going for it?

I guess we'll see!!