Well if he comes back and absolutely whoops Henry's ass, I'll believe him, otherwise I'm glad that he is being pushed to do something other than defend his title against people he has beaten 3 times. Maybe this will light a fire under him (not that I doubt he lacks motivation to train) but to take more risks in who he fights like moving up in weight class, if he would have taken that TJ fight and lost he'd be in the same place, still have his belt, but have a lot more money and admiration.
I like GSP but it always stuck with me that he ducked Anderson when they were both in their prime especially considering it wasn't like he didn't have a way to win with his wrestling and Silva's lack of wrestling defense. People like Cormier (even though he fought at heavyweight) and BJ Penn have my respect for a willingness to fight all challengers, even if that attitude on paper was a mistake that cost BJ a lot of losses at the end of his career, I appreciate the fact that he was willing to do it. It's also why I think Fedor has a lot of fans just because a lot of the people he fought were bigger than him and he still whooped their ass.
The sport has changed a lot and there are some crazy weight cuts, if you can do it consistently fine, but there's something appealing about a fighter who is willing to fight whoever whenever. I mean the thing that put the UFC over was Griffin Vs Bonner, it's not just that they slugged the shit out of each other, it's that they WANTED to fight, you get a sense that some fighters are just there for a pay check because that's what they're good at, and others that were called to do it because they enjoy it. You can say what you want but ultimately what is going to stand out in fans memories are the great fights they've seen from fighters, sure historians and record keeper types will go on about 20+ wins and 0-3 losses but some of the most enjoyable fights I've seen are from fighters that were only relevant for a short period of time or were one offs where they just flipped that mental switch and gave it everything they had.
It's very rare that you get a fighter that stays at the top like that and has that kill or be killed mindset mostly due to damage taken but in my mind those are always the "greatest" fighters of all time.
I understand it's a little selfish as the fan, but let's be honest none of us would watch MMA if it was just a bunch of people dancing in circles and laying on top of each other, we want to see knockouts or a good technical fight where the standup is engaging, or there are chains submissions or slick grappling on the ground.
