By now it’s pretty well known that Georges St-Pierre will be returning to fight Michael Bisping. On its face, this match up seems absolutely ridiculous. Politics aside, it’s one of the best match-ups of the year so far. However, there are certain quarrels fans have over the making of this fight. I want to go through these complaints, address them, and hopefully try to justify this amazing fight.
Why Michael Bisping?
This seems to be what most people are asking. Why in hell is the former welterweight champion returning to face the current middleweight champion?
To put it simply – no other fights were an option.
If you remember, GSP was suppose to return to action at UFC 206 in Toronto. However, the deal couldn’t get made (probably a money issue). It would have made the most sense for GSP to return against Tyron Woodley to try and get his 170 lb title back, but of course, Woodley needed to rematch Stephen Thompson since their fight went to a draw. If the immediate rematch didn’t happen between Woodley/Thompson, I’m sure there would have been a public uproar demanding Thompson a rematch (in hindsight, bad decision).
Because of this, Tyron Woodley was not an option.
I’m sure they also ruled out Conor McGregor since he’s still on hiatus – probably until Summer due to the expected birth of his first child.
Another thrown around name was Nick Diaz. He and GSP engaged in a big rivalry back in 2013, but if you remember, the fight itself was not memorable at all. GSP defeated Diaz fairly handedly with very minimal action. I don’t think a rematch is warranted at all.
Besides, the Diaz brothers are infamously difficult to work worth. I’m sure Dana pondered a Diaz/GSP rematch, but I doubt he made any sort of initiative. We’re not even sure Diaz is going to come back anyways.
I suspect they also threw Nate Diaz‘s name out of the mix since he’s only willing to come back for Conor McGregor.
Then there’s the idea of returning against a welterweight contender like Robbie Lawler or Demian Maia, but fighting for a belt means something. If not a belt, then a Conor McGregor-esque pay day which likely would not have occurred if he faced Lawler or Maia. To put it simply – these aren’t big enough fights (even though they’re each amazing).
Now we arrive at Michael Bisping
As GSP has pointed out, Bisping’s stock is very high. He made made a big splash when he took Rockhold’s belt, and then another when with the Dan Henderson fight. Additionally, he plays a character in the new XXX movie. His star status is very high, so with other fighters unavailable, it’s the best opportunity for GSP and the UFC.
But isn’t Bisping too big?
We’ll find out.
GSP was never a necessarily big welterweight, but he wasn’t small by any means either. He was also the best athlete by far in the welterweight division; he had massive physical advantages over many of his opponents.
Furthermore, he’s 5’11” with a 76″ reach compared to Bisping who is listed as 6’2″ with a 75.5″ reach. Though I must say, GSP only looked an inch or two shorter than Bisping during their media staredown.
The big difference comes in weight. Bisping is a rather large middleweight; remember, he used to fight at light-heavyweight. I expect Bisping to have around a 15 lb advantage over GSP when they step into the Octagon, but there’s an x-factor here:
We haven’t seen GSP for a long time. Usually when a fighter takes time off (3 years, in this case), they don’t get lighter – they get heavier. I expect GSP to currently be heavier than when he was active. Since this fight won’t be going down for a while (Dana wants July), then it will give GSP ample time to bulk up and try to negate some of the weight difference.
What about Yoel Romero?
Here’s another frequently asked question.
It’s no debate that Yoel Romero has earned his title shot. But as I just highlighted earlier, Bisping was the only logical opponent for GSP to return against. It’s okay to be upset about the UFC booking GSP vs Bisping. The UFC’s main goal is to put on the biggest, best fights as possible. GSP vs Bisping is exactly that.
Romero can either sit on the shelf and wait for his inevitable title shot, or he can fight another opponent. If Romero wants to get another fight in, I can see him facing Luke Rockhold. After all, Romero was intending on fighting Rockhold for the belt before UFC 199 happened.
That said, I think the best option would have been Bisping vs Romero and GSP vs Woodley. I’m sure this was the intended plan, but obviously Woodley/Thompson I ending in a draw ruined this plan.
‘Jacare’ Souza is also in a similar situation. However, he recently accepted a fight against Robert Whittaker. He also has a recent split decision loss to Yoel Romero so he doesn’t quite have the merit that Romero does.
GSP vs Bisping …
may not make sense when looking at the middleweight title picture, but from GSP’s perspective it was the best option. Of course, you can argue that GSP could have just waited on returning, but with him getting older, he can’t wait much longer.
I have to say, it was nice and refreshing to see GSP back talking to the media and standing in front of that UFC logo. I can NOT wait for GSP vs Bisping!
Welcome back
