Georges St-Pierre will face fellow MMA veteran Michael Bisping in his return fight after a three-year hiatus from the sport. Considered by most to be the greatest welterweight of all time, UFC President Dana White announced on "SportsCenter" on Wednesday that GSP will make his middleweight debut against Bisping for the 185-pound title later this year.
GSP and UFC negotiations
St-Pierre hasn't fought since defending the UFC welterweight title in a controversial split-decision victory over Johnny Hendricks at UFC 167 in November 2013, claiming that he would be taking a break from the sport before vacating his welterweight crown shortly after the bout. Although many thought that GSP's hiatus ultimately meant his retirement, the 35-year old announced last Summer that he had entered the UFC's anti-doping testing (USADA) and was currently in the midst of renegotiating his contract with the UFC.
However, negotiations took longer than either party had hoped for, with UFC President Dana White claiming that St.Pierre had been offered several lucrative deals but had rejected them all.
White also claimed that GSP had given him the impression that he didn't really want to return to the Octagon, whilst GSP claimed that negotiations had been turbulent due to the UFC's sponsorship deal with Reebok (introduced after St.Pierre's last fight) substantially devaluing his original contract with the company. Following months of deliberation, St-Pierre and the UFC finally agreed on a multi-fight contract in February of this year.
St-Pierre skips long list of middleweight contenders
Despite the middleweight division having several worthy contenders to challenge Bisping for the 185-pound gold at the moment, including Yoel Romero, Jacare Souza and Gegard Mousasi, the announcement of Bisping defending his middleweight gold against St.Pierre doesn't come as too much of a shock.
The UFC have been criticized as of late for passing over deserving contenders in favour of bigger money names, whilst Bisping himself had recently claimed that he was only interested in "big money fights" and a title bout against GSP is certainly that. With Ronda Rousey looking all but retired from the sport (following a second consecutive knock-out loss) and Connor McGregor taking a break from the sport to welcome his first child and potentially make his big-money boxing debut against Floyd Mayweather, St.Pierre's pay per view drawing power will be a much-welcomed addition to the UFC at this time.
St.Pierre and Bisping are expected to appear in Las Vegas this Friday for their first press conference together ahead of the bout. The UFC is aiming to have the bout after the Summer, although no official date or venue has been announced yet. You can watch UFC President Dana White announce the news below.