Dana White announced on ESPN Wednesday that Georges St Pierre’s return to the UFC will be for the middleweight title as he faces Michael Bisping. There’s no date for the fight although a press conference will take place on Friday March 3rd prior to the UFC 209 weigh-ins.
White indicated that the matchup will likely take place in Vegas. According to MMA Fighting’s Ariel Helwani, multiple sources state that GSP won’t fight until the fall although one could imagine this fight headlining UFC’s International Fight Week.
Payout Perspective:
Bisping had stated that this was a fight that he was approached about and one he wanted to take due to the big payday. Obviously, GSP jumps the line of contenders waiting for their shot at Bisping’s title including Yoel Romero and Jacare Souza. Although the fight is likely in Vegas, you can’t help but think it would look good in Canada especially if this fight doesn’t happen in July. This one should help boost PPV buy rates as GSP was once the PPV king of the UFC.
Let’s see what he has left after 4 years away from competition…..its not as if Bisping is a world beater however. If GSP cant beat him, its time to stay retired.
Bisping has been lucky to be matched this way as a champion. The rest of the division must be fuming.
For all of those who were claiming there was nothing on the horizon, this just shows how quickly big fights can pop up out of nowhere in mma. This should draw at least 800k buys and likely make GSP one of only 4 fighters to win a UFC title in multiple weight divisions.