Recently, a UFC superstar name Georges (the correct spelling of his first name as he is French Canadian) St. Pierre decided to take a little time off from MMA. I wrote about this controversy in a previous blog, and the UFC boss Dana White made some disparaging comments that he could not take time off, that he either had to continue defending the belt or retire. Well Georges or 'GSP' did take time off, and never said that he is retiring. He has been sort of a recluse and few journalists have been able to get a hold of him for the past few weeks, until now.
He did a french interview up in Canada and made some pretty critical comments of the UFC. He said that they were a monopoly and that they don't strictly enforce the ban on performance enhancing drugs as much as they could. That is a pretty serious charge for someone to make, especially if he has any intention of returning to the UFC. These statements have made quite a stir in the MMA community.
These have both been frequently debated issues on MMA websites for years. Many are praising GSP for his comments, while others are upset at him for waiting until he is no longer fighting to come out and make these statements. Some rightly defend him saying that he was scared to come out and say what he really felt while he was fighting because he was afraid he would lose his job. This is unlikely because he was/is one of the biggest, if not the biggest, star in the UFC. No matter what he said the UFC would likely welcome him back with open arms should he decide to return. He is only 32 years and many consider him to still be in his fighting prime. Many are hoping that he not only returns, but demands that the UFC take stricter countermeasures against the use of performance enhancing drugs.
Although some MMA community members were critical of GSP, and made some very inconsiderate remarks. The majority, and myself included, praise him for his willingness to speak out. Hopefully he continues to do so because only someone with his stature would be able to influence sweeping changes into the way the use of performance enhancing drugs are dealt with in MMA.
This GSP guy seem quite honorable to me. I think speaking out on such a controversial topic was very brave of him and could have negatively impacted his past and future career. It is nice to see there are still people of higher stature out there who are willing to speak out for what they believe in. I think the crack down on the issue of performance enhancing drugs is very important to be talked about. Athletes in all sports should be accountable for what they do to their bodies to make the "better" players. Athletes are chosen because of how well they perform and should be strictly screened for performance enhancing drugs, it is their natural talent that people are in awe of not what a drug can do to make them the best. Despite my lack of knowledge with MMA, your blog posts have been very interesting to read. It has made me more open minded with the sport and I feel when I watch in the future I will look at what what these men and women do in a different light.
ReplyDeleteI agree with you that it seems that GSP did an honorable thing. That is definitely an interesting issue to observe in the forums. It also seems so strange that a sport could demand that a player not take a break if he needed the time off. Athletes should be allowed to care about their health first, especially in a sport as aggressive as MMA. You have chosen really interesting and thought provoking issues to post on in the forum.
ReplyDeleteIt seems like GSP really took a stand for his fellow athletes as he asserted that they deserve to have to off. I agree with Shannon, it doesn't seem right for a sport to deny athletes the time they need to rest and in many cases heal from the damage inflicted upon their bodies. I think this a great issues to spark conversation on your forum.
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