GSP: 5 Reasons The Greatest UFC Welterweight Ever Should Stay Retired

2. He Has Taken A Lot of Punishment

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E8idjA_Ku-M GSP is the best welterweight in history and arguably the greatest MMA fighter of all time. The only other names in the discussion at this point are really Fedor and Anderson Silva. Fedor, however, never fought in the UFC, and we never got to see him against some of the best, guys like Couture and Lesnar. And when he did face heightened competition, he suffered his first defeats in a decade. Silva didn't really loose between Ryo Chonan in 2004 and Chris Weidman in 2014 (not counting a DQ loss to Yushin Okami), but the level of competition he faced was sometimes questionable. Here's the thing though - amongst the three, GSP has probably taken the most punishment. Silva walks out of most of his fights unscathed, at least up until Weidman, with the exception perhaps of the first Sonnen fight. Think Silva vs. Belfort, Silva vs. Bonnar, etc. Did he even break a sweat in some of those? Fedor, well he saw more damage but his total time in the cage is nowhere near what GSP's is. Look how many 1st round wins the Last Emperor has after all. GSP has spent more time in the UFC octagon than anyone. His fights with Carlos Condit and Johnny Hendricks saw him very beat up, even in victory. GSP's style means, when he's going in for the takedown, as good as he is, he's going to take some punishment. Why is this an issue? It's not like he's Gary Goodridge, right? Well, GSP has talked about missing time. The man alluded to alien abductions, and while he didn't outright say he was abducted, he didn't dismiss the idea either. All this came out on Joe Rogan's podcast last year. While GSP states that he has "lost time" since he was a kid, this could be an early sign of dementia pugilistica. That's a scary, scary thought, because GSP overall is an intelligent guy. He's also struggling with OCD, something he admitted after his last fight. The fight game triggers it, as he focuses obsessively on opponents. With two ACL injuries on top of that, does GSP really need to risk more damage?