Opinion: Appreciation for Georges St. Pierre ... and His Retirement

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Combat sports are built on mano-a-mano, “What if?” concepts. What if a beloved fighter from yesteryear donned the four-ounce gloves once more today? What if the best fighters in their divisions advance up in weight for mega-fights? What if a rematch that should happen never does? All these questions follow former Ultimate Fighting Championship welterweight titleholder Georges St. Pierre, and the man known as “GSP” should never answer them.

Every time St. Pierre publically warms to the idea of a return, every time his Tristar Gym confidant, Firas Zahabi, comments on how fantastic GSP appears in training or how much the former champion contemplates another go, we must appreciate everything St. Pierre did for mixed martial arts and respectfully decline future service.

The French-Canadian is a living legend, future hall of famer and the greatest 170-pound fighter in mixed martial arts history. Whatever acclaim is available in mixed martial arts, he has earned. “Rush” was a flagship fighter that elevated the sport to new levels. He reaped the benefits by breaking into higher monetary brackets. Because of his star status, place in history and the big money he generates for MMA, the thought of St. Pierre in one more prizefight is too alluring for fans to turn down. Yet they must.

St. Pierre has been away from competition just shy of two years. He vacated his welterweight title after securing a 25-minute split decision win over Johny Hendricks at UFC 167 on Nov. 16, 2013 in Las Vegas. It was the most competitive bout of St. Pierre’s nine-fight, five-year title reign. He left the sport at 32 years old.

No matter how much everyone pines for GSP’s return -- including the man himself -- that November night against Hendricks should be the last time we see St. Pierre fight. It’s a fitting end to a UFC run that shaped him into an MMA superstar and the winningest welterweight in history. He marked the UFC’s 20th anniversary celebration by extending the second-longest streak of title defenses in UFC history (nine) against a power-punching NCAA wrestling champion who had not started fighting until after St. Pierre had already captured UFC gold. GSP was extraordinary enough to hold off the next generation for at least one more night.

Few ever retire with the luxury of exiting on the high of a Super Bowl win. St. Pierre, no matter how much money is thrown at him to return, should stick to his John Elway act.

St. Pierre, now 34, finished his career with a 25-2 record, the two losses in title fights to Matt Hughes and Matt Serra resoundingly avenged. In a sport where defeat is inevitable, that’s as close to a spotless record as we’ve seen from someone fighting at the sport’s highest level for a decade. However, he went from being the mistake-free champion that never lost rounds to the fighter that implied aliens are responsible for two- to four-hour time lapses he can’t explain. UFC commentator Joe Rogan believes head kicks are to blame for those blackouts with sudden awakenings -- head kicks like the one Carlos Condit landed pm St. Pierre in November 2012.

Condit, Hendricks and Nick Diaz introduced St. Pierre to a concept that his greatness had previously outrun: This is a sport where true costs are calculated in how much damage one endures during victory. St. Pierre was the master of mitigating such damage, but masterful control diminishes someday, and that’s the point Hendricks hammered home most.

St. Pierre was a short commercial break away from spending five-and-a-half career hours competing inside the Octagon. That’s more than anyone else, save Frankie Edgar. Only Randy Couture knows what it’s like to have more training camps for UFC title fights, and St. Pierre paid a heavy price, especially after returning from an 18-month knee injury layoff to face Condit. He absorbed nearly 900 strikes in his career and almost half of them (412) were in his last three fights.

Whether it’s super-fights or another run at the welterweight elite, there’s no way St. Pierre should take more punches. For context, he reigned over the welterweight division uninterrupted for five years and was competing at the championship level for nine. UFC hall of famer Chuck Liddell’s UFC light heavyweight title run lasted two years and sharply ended on the wrong end of four knockouts in his last six fights. There’s no need to introduce the possibility of that kind of finish for St. Pierre. It would be irresponsible.

No matter how ready St. Pierre appears in the gym, the time when his special ability allowed him to treat the best welterweights on earth like sparring partners is gone. Only grueling or disheartening nights await him if he returns. His renowned jab, takedown timing and long-game penchant for outgrappling challengers allowed him to dictate fights for five rounds. The problem is he still logged 25 minutes of fight time in those bouts, and that wears and tears down a fighter.

Ask current welterweight champ Robbie Lawler or no. 1 contender Condit if they care whether St. Pierre is in the front row for their upcoming title clash or ice fishing in Alaska. Even Condit, who would like to avenge his loss to GSP, doesn’t need to comment on it because the past isn’t as compelling as the future when it comes to the gold at stake. The division has moved on. The 1-1 series between Lawler and Hendricks, coupled with Lawler’s memorable first title defense against Rory MacDonald, lived up to or even surpassed a 170-pound world with St-Pierre. Truthfully, his younger Tristar teammate MacDonald’s long-term health was questioned after the Lawler fight, so what’s really in it for GSP to return?

The Canadian star propelled mixed martial arts’ popularity in the United States and began its international expansion with global performances and excellent ambassadorship. From the moment St. Pierre publically said he was done fulfilling those obligations inside the Octagon, UFC President Dana White put forth the notion that he owed it to the fans and the UFC to keep fighting. The truth is GSP could have walked away and offered no explanation. The fact that he has tried to offer one at his UFC 167 post-fight interview, the post-fight press conference and in sparse headlines since is because he’s gracious, or at least still attempting to figure it all out.

The idea that he owes the sport any more than the 25 minutes he gave it that November 2013 night against Hendricks is ludicrous. St. Pierre has successfully taken a stand in retirement. Not many fighters can do what he has done in that regard. He did so by challenging the UFC’s lack of testing for performance-enhancing drugs and helped set in motion the ongoing United States Anti-Doping Agency policies on which the UFC now co-signs. The jury is still out on that, but it is evidence of St. Pierre’s swaying power. St. Pierre’s sideline clout can offer more, too: Is it honestly worth GSP returning to a Reebok-centric UFC world that prevents him for supporting the blue-chip sponsors that aided his phenomenal rise? With the way White defiantly declared that St. Pierre would return, isn’t his staying retired proof that not every prizefighter is at his or her promoter’s beck and call?

Every brand might have a price, but not every human being does. Time lapses are different than supposedly seeing an unidentified flying object. That’s more than worrisome, to say the least, and 27 fights over the course of 11 years are more than enough through which to leave a legacy. It may be that GSP’s legacy remains unparalleled. St. Pierre almost doubled Hughes’ previous welterweight record of five title defenses; his mark of nine straight 170-pound title defenses seems unbeatable. Georges, let that speak for itself. Say no more inside the Octagon, but please, keep speaking up outside of it.

Danny Acosta is a SiriusXM Rush (Channel 93) host and contributor. His writing has been featured on Sherdog.com for nearly a decade. Find him on Twitter and Instagram @acostaislegend.