Georges St-Pierre has successfully defended his UFC welterweight title for the ninth time by winning a fight against Johny Hendricks by split decision on Saturday. After the fight was over he suggested that he would "go away for a little bit." This has raised many questions as to whether or not the champion fighter will be stepping away from the sport.
Despite St-Pierre's comments UFC president Dana White insisted that he doesn't expect him to take any kind of leave of absence following the fight and believes that the promotion will seek to book an immediate rematch with Hendricks.
The decision in favor of St-Pierre was surprising to many, including White himself.
"Georges knew he lost, his corner knew he lost, Hendricks knew he won and his corner knew they won," said White, according to ESPN. Two judges scored the five-round title fight 48-47 in favor of the defending champion. Meanwhile a third judge scored the bout for Hendricks 48-47. A large portion of the crowd reportedly booed the decision, once handed the microphone he said that he would be hanging up his gloves for a bit, however, wouldn't give a definite answer as to whether or not he'd be retiring from UFC.
"There was a lot of talk about what was going to happen [after this fight]," St-Pierre said. "I have a bunch of stuff in my life happening. I need to hang up my gloves for a little bit. I will make a point on that a little later, but for right now, I've got to go away for a little bit."
"I don't care about Georges," Hendricks said. "That's what I've said from the very get go. I beat him anyway. I just want the belt. That UFC belt, right in front of me. That's the only thing pushing me, motivating me. I don't care who has it or who doesn't. I need to get that. That's really my drive. I thought I got it tonight, but I guess I didn't."
Only time will tell if St-Pierre's win against Hendricks will lead to a rematch or his retirement from the UFC. Check out the video fo St-Pierre's post fight interview below.
