GSP steps down and away, gives up the title ... for now.

From the conference call... GSP vacates the title to get his head on straight. The rest of the call focuses a lot on Dana's tirade after the fight.

There will be a battle for the title ... Robbie Lawler is in the mix for the belt, Hendricks probable match up, Condit may get the first challenge after title decided.

GSP will step back get his head on straight surrounding "personnel" issues. May be a full retirement but really .... he'll watch the top five fight it out for awhile and then come back and take his title back.

NOTE: These are all notes on the fly while listening to the conference call in real time. Accuracy is NOT guaranteed but hoped for!

Dana says "I believe GSP will get his personal life straightened out, without being distracted by training and preparing for fights and he will come back."

Harwani: Did GSP say the VADA contraversy, and his perception that the UFC abandoned during this time have anything to do with his retirement?"

Dana: "No."

pause ... pause .... dead air .... pause .... (heh heh)

Dana: "This is not the end of the GSP story!"

I can't imagine the pressure these long term champs go through month after month ... year after year... going through the training cycles, going through the fights, going through the injuries and all the personal shit this causes.... knowing there is ALWAYS a #1 or a #2 fighter waiting in the wings to get a shot at you.

I think this was a good move for GSP one that does take care of mental, physical and personal health. Even if this is a permanent retirement he went out the classiest fighter in the classiest way with his head held high.

THANKS GEORGES !

Awesome! Thanks for the play by play man!

Yeah NP I just noticed I put it in OFF TOPIC instead of UFC

Damn you DEP!

I think it's great for a few reasons 1) first and foremost GSP needs to take care of himself. I've been the first to complain about him lately because I've become bored of his style...that aside I have MAD respect for him, I think he's a great champion and fighter and has done great things with his career and for the UFC. 2) having said that I want to see him fight again I think stepping away will help. 3) He'll have to fight for the title again...not to keep it...but to earn it back again...and THAT has when we've seen GSP at his best, when he has to earn it and has something to prove...I CANNOT WAIT for that. 4) This will give Hendricks time to improve...and all the others in the weight class for that matter, so the fights can hopefully only get better.

Lot of love for GSP here. I'd love to see how the reaction would have been if Anderson Silva did something like this while he was champ. Probably would've been a petition to file criminal charges against him or something. LOL

dont think many would have a problem with Silva stepping down on top, after many years of dedication. the extra love that gsp is getting is due to him always being a very stand up champ and an honest man.

With all due respect, I think you're very, very wrong about that.
GSP deserves the praise he's getting, without a doubt. But I just find it hard to believe that Silva would be getting the same sort of universal sympathy. He typically (but not always, to be fair) is viewed negatively in practically every career decision he makes. This would've been a PR feeding frenzy on him for sure.

haha that was maybe the most polite rebuttal ive gotten here.
but no, the only knock on silva over the years has been his supposed whining when an undeserving contender comes to the plate; that in no way would overcome his status as an incredible fighter that has beaten everyone there was.
well, at least in my book. i dont respect his as much as gsp, but think that he earned the right to do whatever he wants.

I'm pretty sure that Anderson is going to come back, get his title back in awesome fashion.... maybe one or two more fights and end it the same way GSP has. Give the belt up and maybe come back at a later time ... but I think when Anderson does hang em up he'll hang em up for good.

Anderson has earned and kept in my opinion all the respect as a true champion that a warrior could have.

Heh... having said that this is what Anderson thinks of the issue.

Anderson Silva would leave the UFC if Dana White tries to force him into retirement.

"If I lose again, all the media will criticize me, say that I’m not the same anymore, and maybe Dana will say it’s time to retire," Silva told Roda Viva in Brazil. "He forced Chuck Liddell to retire. He didn’t want to, and is a guy that made history in the UFC, but you have to be prepared."

From mmafighting.com Friday Dec 13