On November 16, 2013, Georges St-Pierre earned what was widely considered to be the narrowest, most hard-earned victory of his career when he defeated Johny Hendricks via split decision at UFC 167. After this bout, GSP walked away from the sport, and it appeared as though we had likely seen the welterweight great compete for the last time in MMA.
As we later found out, St-Pierre would return four years later when he claimed the middleweight title from Michael Bisping. Prior to St-Pierre making the walk again, it was uncertain who he would be facing upon his return. If it were up to Johny Hendricks, there wouldn't have been another opponent at all.
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On This Day Five Years Ago...
[ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED FEBRUARY 27, 2017, 6:21 PM]
Headline: Johny Hendricks: 'I Wish GSP Would've Stayed Out' of MMA Competition
Author: Fernando Quiles Jr.
One person who isn't very excited to see the return of Georges St-Pierre is Johny Hendricks.
Hendricks is fresh off his unanimous decision victory over Hector Lombard last Sunday night (Feb. 19) inside the Scotiabank Centre in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada. It was "Bigg Rigg's" middleweight debut. Hendricks hasn't made the top 15 in the official Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) 185-pound rankings yet, but he may be one win away from changing that.
Upon hearing the news of St-Pierre's professional mixed martial arts (MMA) return, Hendricks didn't sound too enthusiastic. Hendricks competed against "Rush" back in Nov. 2013 for the welterweight championship. St-Pierre retained his title by a controversial split decision win. He then went on a hiatus, vacating his title in the process.
Since that time, Hendricks has won the 170-pound title. He has also gone 3-4 in his last seven fights, losing the title to Robbie Lawler in that time.
On today's (Feb. 27) edition of "The MMA Hour" (via MMAMania.com), Hendricks revealed he doesn't necessarily agree with St-Pierre's decision to come back:
I am (surprised to see him back), I wish he would’ve stayed out. But you know what, a competitor is always going to be a competitor and we’ll see how he comes back. I heard he might be coming to 185, so you know I do (want a piece of him). So like I went through my rough period, and I did something and was able to bounce back. Whenever he went through his rough period, he got out. Yeah, you can train, yeah you could do these things, but has he done enough to where he is going to be able to come back a different fighter?
An opponent, date, and venue have not been announced for "Rush's" comeback fight. His coach, Firas Zahabi, hopes his fighter is eyeing big fights with UFC lightweight king Conor McGregor and middleweight title holder Michael Bisping.