In his return, St. Pierre will attempt to take the 185-pound belt from Bisping.
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WME-IMG took on more than $1.8 billion in debt to make the $4.2 billion purchase of the UFC past year.
Bisping winning increases his profile, bolsters his legacy and gets things moving in the middleweight division again, making fights with the likes of Romero or Jacare Souza or whomever even bigger.
“I deserve this payday”.
“I know there are people out there who are criticizing me”, Bisping said.
Michael Bisping owns wins over Anderson Silva and Dan Henderson.
Little by little, Georges St-Pierre’s return to the Octagon is becoming real.
On SportsCenter, White announced that St-Pierre will fight middleweight champion Michael Bisping for the title in his return. It’s a big fight.
Frankly, I’m shocked that GSP is valued so highly in this bout. “Georges St-Pierre is another legend that I want to add to my resume”. He is the longest reigning welterweight champ in UFC history, defending his title nine times. The “Soldier of God” is the clear number one contender after racking up eight straight wins culminating in a ferocious flying knee knockout of Chris Weidman at UFC 205.
The UFC have yet to pinpoint an exact date for the lucrative fight, stating only that it will take place in the second half of 2017.
And while fans had called for St-Pierre to face McGregor, White was quick to dismiss talk that the Irishman was even in the conversation. “Because Georges I believe couldn’t come to terms with the UFC”. Now back then I was a kickboxer from England. “He wanted to take some time off from the sport”.
What do you guys think of the decision, are the new owners doing the UFC justice? He’s been talking about coming back for a couple years.
“It’s on”, Bisping said on Instagram in a two-word response to the official announcement. “I’ve known him for a long time”.
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Nick Kalikas of MMAOddsbreaker.com has opened St-Pierre a minus-170 betting favorite to defeat Bisping later this year.
