Michael Bisping: Georges St. Pierre looking for easiest road to title
UFC middleweight champion Michael Bisping is convinced he knows why he was selected as the opponent for Georges St. Pierre’s return to the UFC.
Bisping thinks St. Pierre was looking for the path of least resistance to a UFC title.
“I respect you coming back but I know why you picked me,” Bisping said during a news conference that featured a great deal of entertaining crosstalk. “You think I’m an easy fight. Just like Anderson Silva did. Just like Luke Rockhold did when I knocked him out in the first round. Just like everyone did. And time and time again I proved them wrong.”
St. Pierre vacated his belt and stepped away from competition in late 2013. He has teased a return on several occasions, but only made it official by signing a new deal with the UFC last month.
There are still logistical issues to work out — notably how long St. Pierre will have to be in the UFC’s random drug testing pool before he is eligible to fight — before a date can officially be confirmed.
UFC president Dana White hopes the fight can be booked for T-Mobile Arena in July. St. Pierre insists he will be ready and better than ever.
“I’m not gonna be the old GSP,” he said. “If I come back as the same Georges St. Pierre as I was when I was very successful, I’m going to have a very bad night the night of the fight. If I come back, it’s because I am, my trainers are, and my training partners are convinced that I am a better version than I was when I used to compete. I believe right now I’ve reached the perfect peak of athleticism, knowledge, and wisdom as a fighter, and I’m going to prove it to everyone.”
St. Pierre denied his decision to challenge Bisping for the middleweight title had anything to do with seeking out the easiest path to the belt.
“I wanted to make a big boom in coming back and as I said, it’s like the stock market,” said St. Pierre, who opened as a slight favorite on the betting boards. “Right now the guy with the highest stock was Michael Bisping, and it’s the perfect timing for me to do it.”
The door remains open for St. Pierre should he defeat Bisping. He could try to go back down and recapture the welterweight belt, seek out a massive payday against Nick Diaz or even Conor McGregor, or perhaps look to defend the middleweight title against Anderson Silva to finally make a fight fans once clamored for between two of the greatest champions in UFC history.
St. Pierre is happy to have options.
“I don’t know what’s going to happen,” he said. “We don’t know who’s up and down, it fluctuates so fast. I have a general idea, a general long term goal and a general direction. I’m 36 years old. I don’t have a lot of fights left but I want to make them as big as possible, so everything I’m going to do, I’m going to do the biggest fights as possible, and I’m going to make history.”
The most unfortunate person in this whole scenario is top middleweight contender Yoel Romero, who will once again have to wait for his championship opportunity.
White promised the UFC would “take care” of him. Bisping said he would be willing to defend the title against Romero six weeks after he beats St. Pierre because he doesn’t expect to take much damage.
NURMAGOMEDOV APOLOGIZES
Top lightweight contender Khabib Nurmagomedov took to social media early Monday to express his disappointment with being unable to fight Tony Ferguson for the UFC interim lightweight title on Saturday at UFC 209.
Nurmagomedov was taken to the hospital late Thursday when he fell ill while trying to cut weight and doctors advised it would be unsafe for him to fight.
“Whoever you are or whatever you do, you’ll get only what God prescribed for you,” Nurmagomedov wrote. “AlhamduliLlah for everything God gifted me for my 28 years, I got much more than I asked. I know that many people was waiting for this fight and I fail them. Want to bring my apologies for all my fans, UFC and my opponent Tony. My health is fine now, thanks God. These tough testing only makes me stronger.
“Thank everyone for the support.”
It’s unclear whether the fight will be rebooked at a later date. This was the third time the fight has fallen apart and Ferguson said he is ready to move on and challenge Conor McGregor for the belt.
Contact Adam Hill at ahill@reviewjournal.com or 702-277-8028. Follow @adamhilllvrj on Twitter.