George St. Pierre has revealed that he has terminated his UFC contract and is now a free agent. The news has sent shockwaves throughout the MMA world and has created a rift that might change the landscape of the fight game.
GSP has put his career on ice since November 2013. He cited overall fatigue as the reason why he decided to stop his stellar MMA career. Since then he has appeared in numerous interviews and has hinted at a possible return from time to time. Many fans never believed that the MMA legend was really retired and was mounting a big comeback when he has his old fire back.
And they were right all along, as GSP pointed out that he had been in negotiation with the UFC since February about competing in a UFC bout in Toronto.
So what could have happened that made the future Hall of Famer so mad that he decided to rip that UFC contract and become a free agent?
First was the new owners of the UFC. GSP had the unfortunate timing of negotiating his contract during the UFC's historic purchase. According to St. Pierre things were going smoothly until the new owners put the current offer to GSP on the ice. Here were GSP's own words:
"The negotiations, we were making compromises on both sides, I think we were close to an agreement at some point towards the end until big news arrived," St. Pierre said. "The news was the UFC got sold to new owners and we were told everything was put on ice until the new owners take charge. So we waited for weeks without any news from the new owners. Finally, the news comes (and) the new owners told us that Lorenzo's offer was off the table."
Second was the venue. Originally GSP wanted it to take place in Canada, where the UFC star is highly popular and figures to make big bucks for his return. But according to GSP, the new owners had other ideas.
"For me, it is completely illogical that this fight is not happening in Toronto," St. Pierre said. "I truly believe it would have been a win-win situation if I had fought in Toronto."
The last straw was most likely St. Pierre's lucrative Under Armour deal. The UFC has a deal with Reebok as the sole sponsor in its fights which was largely blasted by fighters as unfair.
Court scuffles between the UFC and its fighters are no new matter. It is just that this time, the organization is going to come u against a well funded and beloved fighter. At the end, the UFC may win the court case but its reputation could be tarnished.
GSP could bring to light a new era where fighters will gain more control from the notoriously monopolistic fighting organization.
This move from GSP could prove to be quite symbolic. Some fighters have already started responding to the shocking news through their twitter accounts. The idea of a fighter's union has been floating around for quite some time now. Expect more fighters to become more vocal and express discontent towards the organization in the coming months.
As for GSP, the best move for him financially is to settle with the UFC and renegotiate a new and more favorable deal with the organization. Or he could cash out from the sport and take some fights in rival promotion Bellator.
Whatever his decision may be, the whole GSP-UFC scuffle has already created a massive breach in the structure of mixed martial arts.
