Georges St-Pierre Vacates UFC Welterweight Title, Fight To Crown New Champ Announced

UFC Welterweight Champion Georges St-Pierre announced during a special conference call this afternoon that he is vacating his title. St-Pierre said that while he is 100% healthy physically, he is mentally burnt out from years of being champion.

St-Pierre said that if he does return, he will be back better than ever. He does not know how long he will be gone for, but said that he can't go through another training camp anytime soon. He did say that he thinks he eventually will return, but is content with his accomplishments if he doesn't.

UFC President Dana White said that he agreed with St-Pierre's decision, and that his personal problems played into his decision. St-Pierre, who is coming off of a controversial win over Johny Hendricks last month, has been downplaying rumors about his future for a while now. White said that he believes that St-Pierre would have made this decision regardless of how his fight with Hendricks went down.

White announced that Johny Hendricks will Robbie Lawler for the vacant UFC Welterweight Championship at UFC 171 on March 15, 2014 from Dallas, Texas.