Former UFC welterweight champion Georges St-Pierre blew up Twitter on Monday when he declared himself a free agent on The MMA Hour after his contract was terminated with the world’s largest MMA organization. As James Lynch reported in Monday’s MMA Odds and Ends, UFC president Dana White had announced that GSP would not compete at UFC 206 in Toronto on December 10. White was quoted as saying he did not think GSP would fight again, then this happened. We’ve heard this stuff before from White, most recently regarding UFC featherweight champ Conor McGregor, who was not going to be headlining UFC 205 at Madison Square Garden in New York City. Then, guess what? Lightweight champ Eddie Alvarez helped make it happen, setting the table for McGregor to become the first simultaneous two-division champ if he wins. GSP obviously still wants to fight, otherwise he would not have become a free agent. White is a notorious bluffer, so do not be surprised to see GSP back in the UFC sometime very soon. The UFC needs GSP more than GSP needs the UFC. If McGregor loses to Alvarez, who will the UFC pump up next? Next in line is Ronda Rousey, who was probably heavily pressured into fighting Amanda Nunes for the women’s bantamweight title before the end of the year. The UFC badly wants Rousey to face Cristiane “Cyborg” Justino, but that only happens if Rousey beats Nunes first. And what if Rousey loses again? Enter GSP. Nick Diaz is out there lurking as well after his suspension was officially lifted on August 1, and a rematch with GSP at UFC 206 in Canada still makes the most sense for the co-main event of that card. Whether that actually happens or not remains to be seen because GSP’s next destination is up in the air. Will he sign with Bellator or another promotion to resume his MMA career, or will this ultimately be another ploy by White to build up UFC 206? For now, GSP is really leaving the UFC. In fact, he already left. How long he is gone is the main question I have because he belongs there. Stay tuned for more on this ongoing saga later this week, starting with Tuesday’s MMA Odds and Ends from Lynch at MMAOddsBreaker.com. Please note: After this article was posted, the UFC issued a retaliatory statement saying, “St-Pierre remains under an existing agreement with Zuffa, LLC as his MMA promoter. Zuffa intends to honor the agreement with St-Pierre and reserves its rights under the law to have St-Pierre do the same.” To be continued…
