On the special media conference call today, Georges St-Pierre announced his decision to take an indefinite leave of absence from the fight game. Along with this decision, St-Pierre dropped the Welterweight championship he’s carried since 2008.
With the title now vacant, UFC president Dana White announced that GSP’s most recent challenger Johny Hendricks will face off against Robbie Lawler at UFC 171 in Dallas, TX. That will be the second title being fought for on the card as Light Heavyweight champion Jon Jones is already slated to face Glover Teixeira in the main event at the American Airlines Arena.
Johny Hendricks was on a 6-fight win streak prior to giving up the split decision to St-Pierre at UFC 167. Robbie Lawler has gone undefeated since returning to the UFC following the Strikeforce merger. Most recently he upset Rory MacDonald in a split decision at UFC 167 as well.
Dana also stated that he intends to schedule former interim champion Carlos Condit for the UFC 171 card. He will not be facing Matt Brown and Dana hopes to have the details settled by the post-fight press conference for UFC on Fox 9 Saturday night.