What’s the story?
Georges St-Pierre will face UFC Middleweight Champion Michael Bisping for ‘The Count’s’ MW strap, in a fight that is being targeted before the end of the year. UFC President Dana White announced the news on Wednesday during SportsCenter.
St-Pierre and Bisping are scheduled to appear in Las Vegas on Friday for a press conference in order to promote the fight, with the UFC looking to schedule the matchup toward the end of 2017, given the fact that GSP needs to be a part of the USADA testing pool for at least four months before he’s allowed to compete under the UFC banner.
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Here’s SportsCenter’s tweet on GSP-Bisping:
In case you didn’t know...
Georges ‘Rush’ St-Pierre is a former UFC Welterweight Champion and is considered to be one of the greatest fighters of all time. He stepped away from the sport of MMA after a hard-fought split-decision win over Johny Hendricks, citing personal reasons, in 2013.
On the other hand, Michael ‘The Count’ Bisping is the current UFC Middleweight Champion, who shocked the world by dethroning arch-rival Luke Rockhold at UFC 199 last year.
The heart of the matter
After names such as Nick Diaz, Tyron Woodley and even Conor McGregor were suggested as viable opponents for St-Pierre on his comeback, the announcement of GSP vs. Bisping isn’t exactly surprising, since GSP first talked about his desire to stage a comeback to specifically face Bisping after ‘The Count’s’ demolition of Rockhold last year.
Here’s what Bisping said in a recent interview with the MMA Hour-
“The only reason I’m saying Georges St-Pierre is because I know he wants to fight me, and I was offered a fight with him. If I wasn’t offered a fight with him, I wouldn’t be thinking Georges St-Pierre. I want that several million dollars in my bank account. I want it for my children’s sake, for my family, for when I’m retired so we can still live a good life. That’s why I’m doing it. Not because I’m trying to rob the UFC, or rob the fans of the No. 1 contender, or do wrong to Yoel Romero. I want it for my family’s sake.”
Friday’s press conference in Las Vegas would get the ball rolling as far as the promotional aspect of this matchup is concerned.
What’s next?
With Bisping currently recovering from a knee injury that’ll keep him out until the month of May, GSP has more than enough time to complete the four-month USADA testing period before stepping inside his former stomping ground.
Besides, with Dana White officially announcing the matchup on SportsCenter, how the rest of the UFC’s Middleweight division reacts will be worth watching.
Sportskeeda’s take
I can very well picture Yoel Romero, goose-stepping his way into WME-IMG’s headquarters. Yes, that seems legit! ‘The Soldier of God’ is truly going to flip out upon hearing this news, if he hasn’t already!
Nevertheless, after years and years of being a gatekeeper in the MW division, Bisping finally achieved his dreams and with the GSP fight all set to be his first million-dollar payday, Romero can wait just a little bit longer for his turn. Besides, who isn’t excited to see ‘Rush’ back inside the Octagon and in a new weight-class nonetheless.
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