Georges St. Pierre Out of UFC 143: Are His Prime Years Gone?

http://www.bloodyelbow.com/2011/12/7/2618334/georges-st-pierre-injured-ufc-143-diaz-vs-condit

Today's shocking news that UFC welterweight champion Georges St. Pierre is injured and out of UFC 143 leaves a lot of questions to answer. How will the Nick Diaz vs. Carlos Condit interim title fight play out? How will the UFC deal with the loss of one of its biggest stars? And I'm sure Nick Diaz will demand we ask if GSP is ducking him. All of these are important questions, but to me the big one is this:

Has Georges St. Pierre just lost the best years of his career?

According to Dana White, the champion will be out of action for 10 months. Add in training time to get back in shape and we could be looking at early 2013 for a St. Pierre return. He already has not fought since UFC 129 in April and his defeat of Jake Shields. So now, we could be looking at a near two year gap between fights for St. Pierre.

In the world of sports, and for a fighter in his prime, those two years are an eternity. St. Pierre will have to come back against either Condit or Diaz (or, potentially, some other challenger who wins the belt in the meantime), which will be a serious test for a fighter with such ring rust. And it is not just time off that is an issue - it's time off with a serious injury. We've seen fighters come back from big, injury-filled lay-offs and just not be the same. Shogun Rua, Frank Mir, Thiago Alves - there's a large list. Can St. Pierre do what he has done so many times before - prove that he is on a different level and win in the face of this adversity? It will be a tough road.

Beyond just his immediate return, there is also the question of GSP's long-term run at the top. He fought Shields at the age of 29, and will return at 31 (or 32 if the recovery takes some time). Those are prime years of athletic peak that St. Pierre has had taken away from him. He already has 9 years of experience and 24 fights under his belt. Even without this injury it was fair to ask how much longer he could stay at the very top. Now, the question becomes even more important.

As the leg injuries accumulate, and the years stack up, is it possible that we have seen the end of St. Pierre's run of dominance? Will it be that time and injury - those two enemies of all - have dethroned one of the top two fighters of this era? Obviously, it's too early to say. But when he comes back, I know we will all be watching closely to see if the St. Pierre that has dominated the division for 4 years is still here, or if that fighter is a thing of the past.

He's finished. A blown ACL is not good. Recovery is long, and he will not be able to train or do anything during that time, which could be up to a year.

20% of players in the NFL don't ever come back after ACL surgory. And the ones that do, a drop in performance level is normal. And these players on average are in their 20s. GSP is in his 30s.

That's a bit drastic, GSP can recover from this and will still be moderately young. George takes care of his body, he treats it like a temple 24/7.

Diaz vs. Condit will be sick.

Hagler's Bald Head wrote:That's a bit drastic, GSP can recover from this and will still be moderately young. George takes care of his body, he treats it like a temple 24/7.

And that doesn't apply to other pro athletes? What, you think they all don't take care of their bodies. It is a serious injurry. Especially for a MMA fighter like hime that uses his legs and leverage

GrantZilla wrote:

Hagler's Bald Head wrote:That's a bit drastic, GSP can recover from this and will still be moderately young. George takes care of his body, he treats it like a temple 24/7.

And that doesn't apply to other pro athletes? What, you think they all don't take care of their bodies. It is a serious injurry. Especially for a MMA fighter like hime that uses his legs and leverage

Grant, that division is so weak though. There is a significant gap from GSP to the #1 contender.

Well that fucks them as far as ratings for the next year. GSP is by far the biggest star right now. Is anyone else worried for the UFC right now. All the big stars are old and done and I am not sure if the replacements for them can draw like those guys did.

Soonermark890 wrote:Well that fucks them as far as ratings for the next year. GSP is by far the biggest star right now. Is anyone else worried for the UFC right now. All the big stars are old and done and I am not sure if the replacements for them can draw like those guys did.

The guys at my gym all seem to agree that while there's still a lot of interest in MMA (we still get tons of new people coming in to start training), the sport has probably hit it's peak for now. The inactivity of star fighters have hurt, along with the lack of new stars. I think Jones will catch on though, as the UFC seems intent on making him the face of the organization.

Shaun wrote:

GrantZilla wrote:

Hagler's Bald Head wrote:That's a bit drastic, GSP can recover from this and will still be moderately young. George takes care of his body, he treats it like a temple 24/7.

And that doesn't apply to other pro athletes? What, you think they all don't take care of their bodies. It is a serious injurry. Especially for a MMA fighter like hime that uses his legs and leverage

Grant, that division is so weak though. There is a significant gap from GSP to the #1 contender.

How exactly is Welterweight a weak division ?

NJBeatdown86 wrote:

Soonermark890 wrote:Well that fucks them as far as ratings for the next year. GSP is by far the biggest star right now. Is anyone else worried for the UFC right now. All the big stars are old and done and I am not sure if the replacements for them can draw like those guys did.

The guys at my gym all seem to agree that while there's still a lot of interest in MMA (we still get tons of new people coming in to start training), the sport has probably hit it's peak for now. The inactivity of star fighters have hurt, along with the lack of new stars. I think Jones will catch on though, as the UFC seems intent on making him the face of the organization.

I really like Jones. He could become a star but who else? I am like you I think its peaked.

The trouble is that Dana keeps thinking that the brand will sell itself. That isn't the case, as certain guys like Brock and GSP are far bigger draws. There is plenty of talent all over the world, from gyms across the U.S to the favelas in Brazil, it's just a matter of connecting them to the fans.

Hagler's Bald Head wrote:

Shaun wrote:

GrantZilla wrote:

Hagler's Bald Head wrote:That's a bit drastic, GSP can recover from this and will still be moderately young. George takes care of his body, he treats it like a temple 24/7.

And that doesn't apply to other pro athletes? What, you think they all don't take care of their bodies. It is a serious injurry. Especially for a MMA fighter like hime that uses his legs and leverage

Grant, that division is so weak though. There is a significant gap from GSP to the #1 contender.

How exactly is Welterweight a weak division ?

GSP is the only A level fighter in the division. Do you disagree? Do you dare put Nick Diaz as an A level fighter? I don't.

Shaun wrote:

Hagler's Bald Head wrote:

Shaun wrote:

GrantZilla wrote:

Hagler's Bald Head wrote:That's a bit drastic, GSP can recover from this and will still be moderately young. George takes care of his body, he treats it like a temple 24/7.

And that doesn't apply to other pro athletes? What, you think they all don't take care of their bodies. It is a serious injurry. Especially for a MMA fighter like hime that uses his legs and leverage

Grant, that division is so weak though. There is a significant gap from GSP to the #1 contender.

How exactly is Welterweight a weak division ?

GSP is the only A level fighter in the division. Do you disagree? Do you dare put Nick Diaz as an A level fighter? I don't.

GSP is in a league that only he, Anderson Silva and Jon Jones live on. Welterweight is arguably the deepest and strongest division.

NJBeatdown86 wrote:The trouble is that Dana keeps thinking that the brand will sell itself. That isn't the case, as certain guys like Brock and GSP are far bigger draws. There is plenty of talent all over the world, from gyms across the U.S to the favelas in Brazil, it's just a matter of connecting them to the fans.

Yup. In individual sports, stars are what sells. Not the "brand." In team sports, people will have loyalty for their team, usually the one in their city or the team they grew up watching.

Tiger Woods is what sells golf right now and brings in huge ratings, not the PGA. Case and point, the Chevron World Challeng which Woods won for for the first time in two years, gave Golf Channel their highest viewership in their 12 year cable history. And NBC's airing of the final gave them their highest ratings for a tournament in 12 years.

Soonermark890 wrote:

NJBeatdown86 wrote:

Soonermark890 wrote:Well that fucks them as far as ratings for the next year. GSP is by far the biggest star right now. Is anyone else worried for the UFC right now. All the big stars are old and done and I am not sure if the replacements for them can draw like those guys did.

The guys at my gym all seem to agree that while there's still a lot of interest in MMA (we still get tons of new people coming in to start training), the sport has probably hit it's peak for now. The inactivity of star fighters have hurt, along with the lack of new stars. I think Jones will catch on though, as the UFC seems intent on making him the face of the organization.

I really like Jones. He could become a star but who else? I am like you I think its peaked.

I am not that big of a MMA fan but I think Dana did a really good job in getting the UFC to where it is today. He is hurting it right now though. He seems very hesitant to put up a champ vs champ fight. The Jones vs Silva fight is a fight UFC needs to guarantee having a HUGE name from the younger guys. I think Jones wins but I believe Dana either doesn't have to power to convince Silva or is scared of a Silva win.

Shaun wrote:

Hagler's Bald Head wrote:

Shaun wrote:

GrantZilla wrote:

Hagler's Bald Head wrote:That's a bit drastic, GSP can recover from this and will still be moderately young. George takes care of his body, he treats it like a temple 24/7.

And that doesn't apply to other pro athletes? What, you think they all don't take care of their bodies. It is a serious injurry. Especially for a MMA fighter like hime that uses his legs and leverage

Grant, that division is so weak though. There is a significant gap from GSP to the #1 contender.

How exactly is Welterweight a weak division ?

GSP is the only A level fighter in the division. Do you disagree? Do you dare put Nick Diaz as an A level fighter? I don't.

Welterweight is a stacked division, just because there's a special talent in it doesn't mean it's weak. And I also think both Diaz and Condit will give GSP tough fights.

Hagler's Bald Head wrote:

Shaun wrote:

Hagler's Bald Head wrote:

Shaun wrote:

GrantZilla wrote:

Hagler's Bald Head wrote:That's a bit drastic, GSP can recover from this and will still be moderately young. George takes care of his body, he treats it like a temple 24/7.

And that doesn't apply to other pro athletes? What, you think they all don't take care of their bodies. It is a serious injurry. Especially for a MMA fighter like hime that uses his legs and leverage

Grant, that division is so weak though. There is a significant gap from GSP to the #1 contender.

How exactly is Welterweight a weak division ?

GSP is the only A level fighter in the division. Do you disagree? Do you dare put Nick Diaz as an A level fighter? I don't.

Welterweight is a stacked division, just because there's a special talent in it doesn't mean it's weak. And I also think both Diaz and Condit will give GSP tough fights.

I am only interested in seeing top tier athletes compete against each other. I am not interested in seeing significantly inferior athletes compete against each other.

Jon Fitch, Nick Diaz, Carlos Condit, Thiago Alves, Josh Koscheck, Jake Ellenberger, Martin Kampman, Diego Sanchez, Rory MacDonald

All talented fighters in that division.

Hagler's Bald Head wrote:Jon Fitch, Nick Diaz, Carlos Condit, Thiago Alves, Josh Koscheck, Jake Ellenberger, Martin Kampman, Diego Sanchez, Rory MacDonald

All talented fighters in that division.

Every fighter you just listed is a B- fighter at most.

Shaun wrote:

Hagler's Bald Head wrote:Jon Fitch, Nick Diaz, Carlos Condit, Thiago Alves, Josh Koscheck, Jake Ellenberger, Martin Kampman, Diego Sanchez, Rory MacDonald

All talented fighters in that division.

Every fighter you just listed is a B- fighter at most.

GSP A+

Fitch, Diaz, Condit, Ellenberger, MacDonald A-

Hagler's Bald Head wrote:

Shaun wrote:

Hagler's Bald Head wrote:Jon Fitch, Nick Diaz, Carlos Condit, Thiago Alves, Josh Koscheck, Jake Ellenberger, Martin Kampman, Diego Sanchez, Rory MacDonald

All talented fighters in that division.

Every fighter you just listed is a B- fighter at most.

GSP A+

Fitch, Diaz, Condit, Ellenberger, MacDonald A-

In MMA standards this might be true. However, I am rating them based off of world class athleticism. GSP is the only A athlete out of that bunch. Jon Fitch is not an A- world class athlete, that's absurd.

Shaun wrote:

Hagler's Bald Head wrote:

Shaun wrote:

Hagler's Bald Head wrote:Jon Fitch, Nick Diaz, Carlos Condit, Thiago Alves, Josh Koscheck, Jake Ellenberger, Martin Kampman, Diego Sanchez, Rory MacDonald

All talented fighters in that division.

Every fighter you just listed is a B- fighter at most.

GSP A+

Fitch, Diaz, Condit, Ellenberger, MacDonald A-

In MMA standards this might be true. However, I am rating them based off of world class athleticism. GSP is the only A athlete out of that bunch. Jon Fitch is not an A- world class athlete, that's absurd.

And Nick Diaz isn't an athlete ? He does triathlons in his spare time and has an incredible gas tank.

Hagler's Bald Head wrote:

Shaun wrote:

Hagler's Bald Head wrote:

Shaun wrote:

Hagler's Bald Head wrote:Jon Fitch, Nick Diaz, Carlos Condit, Thiago Alves, Josh Koscheck, Jake Ellenberger, Martin Kampman, Diego Sanchez, Rory MacDonald

All talented fighters in that division.

Every fighter you just listed is a B- fighter at most.

GSP A+

Fitch, Diaz, Condit, Ellenberger, MacDonald A-

In MMA standards this might be true. However, I am rating them based off of world class athleticism. GSP is the only A athlete out of that bunch. Jon Fitch is not an A- world class athlete, that's absurd.

And Nick Diaz isn't an athlete ? He does triathlons in his spare time and has an incredible gas tank.

I never said he wasn't an athlete. I'm saying he isn't a world class athlete. There's a difference.

Shaun wrote:

Hagler's Bald Head wrote:

Shaun wrote:

Hagler's Bald Head wrote:

Shaun wrote:

Hagler's Bald Head wrote:Jon Fitch, Nick Diaz, Carlos Condit, Thiago Alves, Josh Koscheck, Jake Ellenberger, Martin Kampman, Diego Sanchez, Rory MacDonald

All talented fighters in that division.

Every fighter you just listed is a B- fighter at most.

GSP A+

Fitch, Diaz, Condit, Ellenberger, MacDonald A-

In MMA standards this might be true. However, I am rating them based off of world class athleticism. GSP is the only A athlete out of that bunch. Jon Fitch is not an A- world class athlete, that's absurd.

And Nick Diaz isn't an athlete ? He does triathlons in his spare time and has an incredible gas tank.

I never said he wasn't an athlete. I'm saying he isn't a world class athlete. There's a difference.

There is a huge difference. Just because you have endurance does not mean you are athletic.

Ok so here is a question. If GSP is done who will be the new GSP?

Also Dana sucks so bad! He is a dumbass! I have no idea how to run a business like this but from what everyone says on here and everywhere else, he is doing it wrong!