Georges-St. Pierre to Retire Friday or Plug Documentary?

It’s been almost a month since UFC welterweight champion Georges St-Pierre earned a controversial split decision over Johny Henricks at UFC 167. Now, the champ is ready to talk about what his future holds in the UFC after alluding to an extended hiatus, or even retirement, following his latest title fight.

Reportedly, St-Pierre will announce what he has planned at a scheduled event for fans and media at a local skating rink in Quebec City on Friday afternoon. The 32-year-old has been quiet since just after the UFC 167 fight, when he set the rumor mill into overdrive with some interesting comments.

“I need to think. I have stuff going on in my life … This is my personal life,” St-Pierre said at the post-fight news conference. “I cannot speak to you about this. You’re a reporter, I know your job is to make things public. But I have a personal life, I keep personal some of my stuff.”

Some of that “personal stuff” was originally reported to be that his father was critically ill. Other speculation about GSP dealing with an unwanted pregnancy and legal problems with a former manager are still swirling. But no matter what St-Pierre is dealing with, UFC president Dana White made it clear that the champ will either defend his title against Hendricks soon, or give it up all together.

While some expect a retirement speech from GSP Friday, I don’t see that happening. When he does retire, you’d have to think he’d do it in Montreal, not Quebec City. There’s also another reason for this scheduled event: GSP’s new documentary “Takedown: The DNA of GSP” which is set for an early-2014 release. St-Pierre has already been plugging the new doc via Twitter and this would be another great opportunity to get the press behind him.

Whether he ever gets back in the ring again is still very much up in the air. If I had to bet, I’d say he fights Hendricks one more time and then packs it in. That said, contrary to what Dana White or anyone else says, St-Pierre doesn’t owe the UFC or its fans anything else at this point. He can retire now and still walk directly into the Hall of Fame.

If he does come back, let’s all just hope it’s for the right reasons.