Whats the real story behind GSP vs Khabib Nurmagomedov

Author:

Chael Sonnen

Keywords:

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Subtitles:

so George st. Pierre retired yesterday and there's a lot to that there's a lot to that if you followed his career cuz he's never used the word retirement in fact he shied away from it in fact I was there the night that he fought Johnny Hendrix won the championship but left the belt behind I was at the press conference when Dana's turning left and turning right what the hell does that even mean you're not retiring but you're leaving the belt behind what does that mean I was with Dana going hey man hey I don't know what that means either but George didn't want to use the word retire that's what he said that's when he made clear hey I don't know if I'm coming back I'm definitely taking a break now I'm letting all the boys in the back and the promotion and the fans and everybody in on my mindset which is get on with it without me I will see you down the road but I don't know when that'll be oh and by the way I'm not retired big deal doesn't matter what you make of the story that I just told you about that night the point that I want you to get from this is he was that reluctant and that insistent in that discipline did not use that word when he made his comeback when he set records when he won a championship of the world at a different weight class known as 185 pounds against Michael Bisping he left the belt behind and said guys get on with it media promotion and fellow athletes I'm not retired but I am also not going to defend this belt okay well that's a complete headache in some regards only because that that frame of dialogue is tough to keep up with however it was tremendously honorable of George something that I never felt he got his credit for so many people I always felt they missed the point on this George st. Pierre is the sitting champion of the world anybody else would have held that belt as long as they could which they could have got away with 12 months yeah and injury yeah I'm not feeling good and whatever the excuse was they could have fooled everybody for 12 months they could have done all the media opportunities they could have taken the money from sponsors who now get to use him with the belt in the likeness and they could have got away with it for 12 months George held that belt for eight days made his decision and said this is not fair to the rest of the guys who also have a dream to hold this thing here you go and get on with it tremendously honorable thing to do the story was told in a different way which made it look as though it was less-than-honorable that is false that is looking at it in accurately so now that we understand how much George st. Pierre does dance to the beat of his own drum in this sport has earned the right to do that not many guys have a lot of guys think they're there a lot of guys think that they can call their own shots George actually earned it and his numbers back him when he agrees to do business alright great different set of rules for George but when you understand that you also have to understand how much he respects the word retire he respects it to a point that he fears it almost as though he believed I would be accurate and telling you that he believes in the laws of attraction and that he believes he should not put something out there into the universe unless he means it because it could come back to bite him in the ass that is how disciplined he was to avoid that word yesterday he retired George st. Pierre is anything but a BS artist he would not lie he would not fabricate anything ever even in the words of promotion through the art of promotion where it's okay it's quite all right tell your story I just want to be entertained okay damn about the facts you're not under oath come out and entertain me George even even with that built-in protection George st. Pierre has never evoked it so I don't think I'm right to question him now but I cannot help but question do we get the accurate info on the swansong because the story goes like this George wasn't ready to fight one more time it was for the hundred fifty-five found championship against khabib nurmagomedov he wanted that champ champ champ he wanted to break history he wanted that on the line and he was willing to put his body and his skills and his reputation and his legacy against his belief that he is the guy that could pull it off and the story goes that the promotion said no and therefore George with having nothing left that he wanted to do in this sport said I'm going to retire first off it's very hard to keep a secret in this sport so if George st. Pierre was pining for a fight with khabib nurmagomedov I do feel as though I would have heard about it and I didn't secondly I find it troubling to conclude sorry guys had a phone call coming in there I find it troubling to conclude that the promotion would not take that fight I realize the problems that come with it I realize history repeats itself and if George st. Pierre just 185 pound championship just for the goddamn pleasure of doing it and then walked away eight days later we should have come to every possible belief that he's going to do that at 1:55 and walk away eight days later and leave that division in shambles as well I would just ask you if you're the promoter is that that big of a deal did you guys even remember until I told you it right now that George st. Pierre walked away from the hundred eighty five pound belt and left it in shambles did you guys ever feel that 185 was left in shambles because it just happened at any point in the history of the lineage of 185 pounds was it in shambles so I don't remember that I do not remember it that way I remember a great and decorated champion doing the honorable thing of putting his foot in the sand at the top of the mountain and then give it somebody else the opportunity to do it I remember having a lot of fun having discussions on who those two guys should be I in fairness will remind you that I also remember when George came into 185 pounds cut the line went in front of everybody Jacare and white men and gat slum and all the usual suspects on people were going hey this isn't right but for the majority the majority of the boys in the locker room went look we get it man it's the greatest who have ever done it yeah he's changing weights he doesn't have a ranking here but it's the greatest who have ever done it he gets a step in front of why wouldn't he when we're behind the curtain and nobody's looking he cuts in front of us in line at catering when we're all thirsty and waiting for water or a cup of coffee George is the first one to get in to spread it's George st. Pierre of course he's gonna cut the line so at 185 pounds or 155 pounds rather in this case are you going to have some people going hey wait a minute I don't know about this well again history repeats itself and yeah that did happen at 185 but not many of them and to the ones that even spoke up within the interviews they did all of them did come to the same conclusion which is you know we get it it's George so I just put myself in the shoes of the promoter I I don't I don't think that that story is being told right I don't think the promotion would say no I think that is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity a return of George st. Pierre versus khabib nurmagomedov and yes it does throw the division into a bit of a mess if if you think George is going to beat your undefeated undisputed champion if George isn't going to beat khabib we don't even need to have this conversation bring him in use him up squeeze that or get all the juice out of it send him back to Montreal that's the business nobody's gonna think twice about it unless you think that George is gonna win if that becomes the problem and you think that becomes a bit of a jam I talked to Errol about this and I voiced this to Hal wani Thomas on ESPN Plus on Wednesday and he said oh no no no jail they just don't like the way that George does business they don't like the way that George wants to come in on one-off so these guys are contract guys these guys are a long-term guys said err I see your point and you are not wrong I do not dispute anything you just said but Dana White is going to have to work with somebody so if he has the headaches that Jorge brings to the table you can't tell me that he's not feeling headaches with his sitting champion who's in the principal's office on suspension and telling the world he's not even coming back when the suspensions up or is number one contender Conor McGregor who's also in the principal's office I don't buy it you put that in conjunction with the fact that the story that I just told you came out and khabib nurmagomedov instantly with the social media and said whoa whoa whoa whoa I'll fight you George so now I'm supposed to make believe that George st. Pierre was having meaningful conversations with a promotion who allegedly didn't want him that stuns me I know those guys I've been that I know those guys inside now you're tell me they don't want George st. Pierre I got I got a problem with that I got a problem believe in that but now you're telling me they tried to make a fight with khabib nurmagomedov who curbs social media account alone tells me khabib was never brought in on khabib did not even know that George wanted that fight and was putting the entire rest of his career on the line to do the fight until after the fact I'm not saying somebody's lying here I am saying there are multiple sides to every story and we have not gotten this entire story and leave it to none other then your old pal jail I will get to the bottom of this I will recap this for you I will go to Dana I will go to khabib and I will go to George I will single-handedly piece this thing together but we are gonna find out what the hell got in the way of the great st. Pierre against the great khabib nurmagomedov but we're gonna do it right here on this show