Georges St-Pierre’s return fight has been announced and it’ll be against Michael Bisping.
No. 1 ranked Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) middleweight Yoel Romero has been put on the back burner in favor of “Rush.” UFC President Dana White appeared on ESPN’s SportsCenter to confirm St-Pierre will battle Bisping for the middleweight title later this year.
A date or venue have not been announced for the title fight. St-Pierre hasn’t competed since a split decision win over Johny Hendricks back in Nov. 2013. “Rush” went on a hiatus and vacated his UFC welterweight championship in the process. He has been a 170-pounder throughout his career and this will be his debut at middleweight.
“The Count” has made it clear that if a fight with St-Pierre was offered to him, that he’d take it and then fight Romero. Bisping has been eyeing a big payday before he decides to hang up his gloves. This will be his second 185-pound title defense.
Bisping won the middleweight championship in stunning fashion back in June 2016. He knocked out Luke Rockhold in the first round to cap off UFC 199 in Inglewood, California. It was the first time Bisping held UFC gold. He then had a chance at redemption against Dan Henderson, who knocked him out cold back at UFC 100 in 2009. “The Count” retained his title by unanimous decision.
The middleweight title holder is on a five-fight winning streak. St-Pierre, who ruled the welterweight division for over five years, hasn’t suffered a loss since April 2007. It was the upset TKO defeat at the hands of Matt Serra. “Rush” avenged the loss with a dominating TKO win over Serra to get the belt back.
When St-Pierre left the sport of mixed martial arts (MMA), he was riding a 12-fight winning streak. Nine of those fights were successful title defenses over the likes of Matt Hughes, B.J. Penn, Carlos Condit, and Nick Diaz.
Update: Aaron Bronsteter of TSN Sports revealed White said St-Pierre vs. Bisping will fight for the title in Las Vegas. You can see the tweet below.
https://twitter.com/aaronbronsteter/status/836998969477718017
