This is quite the contrast to tomorrow's main-eventer, Chael Sonnen. Chael will fight anybody, any time, on short notice, wherever, just call him. He fought AS, offered to fight Bones on short notice, and because of that received this title shot out of gratitude by UFC brass.
He gave AS all he could handle, and lost. No shame in being the only guy to dominate the GOAT for most of a fight. And he might get dominated by Bones tomorrow night, but there's no shame in that either. Former champs have been dominated by Bones.
Point is, I can respect Sonnen. GSP is just so scared of losing. It comes out in his fighting style and now in his business decisions. I suppose that's his prerogative, and he's a hell of a welterweight athlete in any event, but his aversion to losing is going to come with consequences in the eyes of the public and in the eyes of those who write history.
He'll always be regarded as a fantastic athlete, but he's heading toward (or is already within) "asterisk" territory--a guy who when everyone talks about all of his greatness, someone will always say, "yeah, but..."
