Trading Shots: Georges St-Pierre is coming back to the UFC, but to do what?

In this week’s Trading Shots, former UFC welterweight champion Georges St-Pierre is coming back! But what exactly will he be coming back to do, and how much will it matter to fans who have missed him over the past three years? Retired UFC and WEC fighter Danny Downes joins MMAjunkie columnist Ben Fowlkes to discuss.

Downes: Instead of Sunday night’s fights in Canada, I’d rather talk about a specific Canadian. Last week Georges St-Pierre finally worked out his contractual issues with the UFC and signed a new deal. We don’t have any idea when or who he’ll fight, but that doesn’t really matter. Whether it’s a Diaz brother, Conor McGregor, Michael Bisping or the winner of Tyron Woodley vs. Stephen Thompson, I’ll watch whoever he fights.

Having said that, I find it difficult to get excited about his return. Maybe it’s because of the way he left the sport amid concerns about his health. Maybe it’s because this looks like the final deathblow for a Mixed Martial Arts Athletes Association that never really got off the ground. Maybe I’m just a soulless monster who’s dead on the inside.

What say you? I know you’ll watch any fight GSP’s in, but what’s your feeling on the return of a great one?

Fowlkes: First of all, I’m confused by it. I thought UFC President Dana White said that GSP didn’t really want to fight anymore? And since he’s the sole arbiter of the desire that lurks in men’s hearts, I figured that would be the last word on it. Now the UFC signs a new deal with a guy who doesn’t have “the mentality” to be a fighter? Weird. (LOL jk jk)

Seriously though, like you, I’ll watch just about any fight St-Pierre finds himself in. I won’t even get too caught up on health concerns because he’s the rare fighter wealthy enough to quit at any time with no worries about how he’ll feed himself, and also because he seems smart enough and honest enough to recognize the risks for what they are.

As you love to point out, especially recently, why even have the sport if we’re going to get too hung up on the physical consequences every time someone asks us to let him bang, bro?

There’s really only one way this GSP comeback could annoy me right out of the gates, and that’s if he fights Bisping for the UFC middleweight title in his first fight back. There’s just no way to justify it. If you want him to fight for the welterweight title, despite his long absence from the sport and the division, fine. He deserves that, what with him being the best welterweight ever and all.

Similarly, if you don’t want to worry about titles, but instead just want fun “money fights,” cool, go ahead and run that Nick Diaz fight back. Throw him in against Anderson Silva, if you’re feeling really adventurous. Just leave the middleweight title picture alone.

Why? Because there’s too much awesome stuff going on there right now, and hitting pause on it purely for the sake of pay-per-view buys would be a cynical ploy for profits at the expense of the sort of logical progression that would make sense in an actual sport. It would make no sense. It would be purely about snatching our money. Which is why that’s probably what’s going to happen, isn’t it?

Downes: Probably. It’s been interesting to me how much of the focus has been on the business aspect of his signing. The majority of people have declared GSP’s return a godsend for WME-IMG’s anticipated pay-per-view revenues. I’m sure GSP will grab attention no matter who he fights, but some fights will be more profitable than others.

Right now there’s a lot of speculation. Will GSP return to his dark place? Can he become welterweight champion again? Will he slow down and eventually be relegated to the senior tour?

Whether it’s a GSP match or a fight card from Halifax, it’s easy to dismiss the lineup far in advance. Even the last couple McGregor fights had a slow build and anticipation was at fever pitch once fight week rolled around. I just wonder if that same feeling will arise once it’s fight week.

GSP is a name, but he’s lost a lot of momentum. Let’s also not forget that people hated his fighting style after he lost to Matt Serra. Maybe this will be like the Floyd Mayweather-Manny Pacquiao fight. In the buildup, everyone seemed to forget that Mayweather was a counter fighter. Then when the match wasn’t as fan-friendly as hoped for, everybody acted surprised.

What if GSP goes out there and wrestles his way to a five-round decision? Will that French-Canadian shine fade?

Fowlkes: The only time people seem to care about the entertainment value of GSP’s fights is from about the start of the third round to roughly an hour after the end of the fifth. Like you pointed out with Mayweather, there’s this “oh yeah” moment. Then it’s gone, evaporated, and they’re all pumped up again in time for the next one.

He’s not the only one. Look at the enduring popularity of Chael Sonnen, whose style is not so different from St-Pierre’s, with the exception that he’s less effective at pulling it off. And Randy Couture? Our dear, beloved Randy Couture? How many of his fights were thrilling to watch while he was having his way in them?

If people feel fondly enough about the showman, they’ll keep turning up for the show.

As far as what this means for the MMAAA, the record will reflect that I was never terribly optimistic about this particularly organizing effort, and if GSP’s return to the UFC dooms it then that only proves it was on shaky legs to begin with.

I just hope we all see the potential for a comeback like this, with a legend of the sport still reasonably close to his prime returning home as the former champ who gave up the belt rather than having it taken from him. That’s a special thing. It’s a rare thing. Can we please just not ruin it for the sake of one quick payday? At least not as long as there are so many other paydays to be found?

Ben Fowlkes is MMAjunkie and USA TODAY’s MMA columnist. Danny Downes, a retired UFC and WEC fighter, is an MMAjunkie contributor who also writes for UFC.com and UFC 360. Follow them on twitter at @benfowlkesMMA and @dannyboydownes.