Mar 16, 2013; Montreal, Quebec, CAN; Georges St.Pierre gives an interview to Joe Rogan after defeating Nick Diaz (not pictured) in their Welterweight title bout at UFC 158 at the Bell Centre. Mandatory Credit: Eric Bolte-USA TODAY Sports

I think it’s becoming clear that UFC welterweight champion Georges St. Pierre plays by a very different set of rules than most MMA fighters – or even most UFC champions.

We’re almost a week removed from his successful title defense against Nick Diaz at UFC 158, and fan opinion on that fight, and on St. Pierre himself, has pretty much solidified. Here’s the problem: when it comes to GSP, fan opinion is contradictory, confusing, and downright weird.

I know what you’re thinking. “Oh lordy, here comes another uppity Canadian to tell us how great GSP is. GO SUCK ON SOME MAPLE SYRUP, YOU HOSER!”

First of all, maple syrup is awesome and don’t you forget it. Secondly, I’m not going to try to change anyone’s mind when it comes to the subject of GSP.

After all, who the hell am I to tell you what to like and not like? If you think St. Pierre is a boring decision machine, and you’d rather watch paint dry than see him compete – well, more power to you. At the end of the day, fights, like everything else, are completely subjective. To each his own.

The problem is that fan and media opinion often goes beyond a simple opinion, and onto “facts” that don’t make a lick of sense. Let’s take a look at a few of the more well-known fan and media assumptions, and I’ll try to explain why they’re so head-scratchingly inconsistent.

He always makes excuses!

Yesterday, news came out via GSP’s head trainer Firas Zahabi that St. Pierre wasn’t exactly at 100% last Saturday night. In an interview with TVA Sports, Zahabi said that not only was GSP fighting with a partially-torn Achilles tendon, but the champ was running a high fever, as well.

So of course, the story quickly became “GSP makes excuses!”.

I mean look at the list: against Diaz, he had an Achilles tendon injury and a fever. Against Condit, he was suffering from ring rust. Against Shields, he was blind in one eye. And he tore his groin against Thiago Alves in the famous “hit ‘em witchur groin!” moment.

So GSP is a dirty excuse maker, except that…

Aren’t those excuses just a little bit legit?

Honestly now – we have every reason to believe St. Pierre actually did tear his groin against Alves. Jake Shield’s repeated raking of St. Pierre’s eyes (whether intentional or not) clearly bothered him in their fight. Against Condit, he was suffering from ring rust – to the extent that anyone who spends over a year on the shelf, rehabbing from major knee surgery, likely is.

Really, the only one we have to take St. Pierre’s word on is this most recent “excuse”, which would help to explain why the normally cardio-invincible St. Pierre was fading in the later rounds. Or he just wants an “excuse” for why he won 50-45 on all three judge’s scorecards against a top-ranked welterweight who’s been finished exactly twice.

Which brings me to…

He can’t finish anybody!

Ah yes, the old standby of the anti-GSP crowd.

In all honesty, there’s more than a little truth to this point. St. Pierre hasn’t had a stoppage victory since January of 2009, when he forced BJ Penn to quit on the stool. Since then, he’s gone 6-0, and all of those fights have ended in decision. From a pure MMAth perspective, GSP really is a “decision machine.”

Which is all well and good, except…

No one else is finishing these guys, either

Trivia question: who was the last guy to stop Nick Diaz in a fight?

Answer: KJ Noons in 2007, via a cut stoppage. Before that, Nick’s only other stoppage loss was in 2002, when Nick was 19 years old. He has never been stopped by anyone in his UFC career.

Question: Who was the last guy to stop Carlos Condit in a fight?

Answer: Pat Healy back in 2006, when Condit was 22 years old. He, too, has never been stopped by anyone in his UFC and WEC career.

Question: Who was the last guy to stop Jake Shields prior to his fight with GSP?

Answer: Marty Armendarez way back in 2000, when Jake was 21 years old. He has been stopped exactly once in his UFC career, and it was after the GSP fight.

What’s my point here? Just that while it’s ok to bash St. Pierre for not getting the finish – because let’s be honest, he fights a very safe, conservative style – you got to put some of that blame on his opponents, too.

Just for kicks, I looked at the records of St. Pierre’s last six opponents on his “decision streak”. Those six guys have a combined 194 professional fights to their credit, with exactly 20 combined stoppage losses. 20. Out of 194 combined fights, against the absolute best guys in the world.

I’m not saying we should expect GSP to be a finisher anytime soon, and I’m not saying you should just overlook this aspect of his game if you’re a fan of dramatic finishes.

But seriously, you try getting into that cage and finishing any one of those guys. Many have tried, very few have succeeded (and most of them happened over a decade ago, when these guys were still cutting their teeth).

Why can’t he be more like Anderson Silva?

We hear this complaint more and more after GSP fights these days. And its main point is simple: Anderson Silva, the pound-for-pound #1 guy in MMA, is a human highlight reel. His list of stoppage victories is as impressive as it is insane. And GSP, the #2 pound-for-pound guy in MMA, fights a safe, undramatic fight that always ends in a decision.

Why can’t St. Pierre be more like Anderson? It’s a good point, except that it conveniently forgets that

We once hated Anderson for his decisions, too – and recently!

Let me take you back to that ancient, forgotten time known as 2010 – where Anderson Silva is without a doubt the most hated man in the UFC.

Fresh off his main event fight with Demian Maia (widely regarded as one of the worst main events in UFC history), Anderson has now rattled off three dreadful, “boring” wins over Patrick Cote, Thales Leites, and Maia. He is in hot water with fans, media, and UFC brass. Dana White has threatened to fire him if he delivers another stinker. Many folks (my wife included) vow never to watch another Anderson Silva fight again.

Watch that Demian Maia fight again (if you can). Ignore the air guitaring, the Royce Grace impersonations, the hiding behind the referee and all the other shenanigans. Listen to what the crowd is chanting. Can you hear it? Sounds a lot like “GSP! GSP! GSP!” Yes, I remember more than a few fans who told me back then that they wished Silva fought a more exciting style “just like Georges St. Pierre.”

Look, I’m not saying you’re wrong to give St. Pierre crap now, just like you weren’t wrong to give Anderson crap a few years ago. But I’ll be damned if longtime fans like myself don’t get a little bit of a chuckle from the rapidly-changing positions (and short memories) of most MMA fans.

I’m never watching GSP fight again!

Well good for you. Seriously, like I said at the outset, I’m not here to tell you what you should enjoy, or what you can and can’t watch.

The funny thing to me is I’ve been hearing people say this since as far back as the Thiago Alves fight, and it represents one of the more ironic contradictions when it comes to GSP.

According to Dave Meltzer of MMA fighting, the GSP/Diaz fight drew around 800,000 buys on PPV. This is right in line with what GSP usually draws, with perhaps a slight uptick. It also makes him far and away the biggest PPV draw in MMA right now. So if so many people are “never watching GSP fight again”, why is he still the top draw in the sport, with numbers that are rising, not declining?

The answer you usually get to that question (when people bother to answer at all) is “it’s all women and Canadians.” Yeah, ok. Listen, I’m a big fan of both women and Canadians – and I can guarantee you that when nearly a million people buy something on PPV, you got to look beyond just those two demographics.

So the next time someone tells me they’ll never watch St. Pierre fight again, I’ll just nod my head, laugh a little, and tell them “Sure…whatever you say bud…can’t wait to hear you complain after the Hendricks fight.”