The promotion is hoping that Georges St-Pierre can commit to a middleweight title unification bout against incumbent champion Robert Whittaker in Australia
The UFC makes its debut in Perth this February and is hoping that the ‘stars align’ to make it a memorable one.
Whittaker defeated Yoel Romero in July to announce himself as the number one challenger to Michael Bisping prior to the Englishman’s loss to returning legend GSP at UFC 217 earlier this month. The marketing potential for the Australian in his homeland is massive and a win over a bonafide all-time great would not just earn him a UFC championship in the process but a huge promotional drive.
At the same time, it is surprising to hear the promotion aiming to push the two-time world champion into a bout with “The Reaper” just three months removed from his title win. UFC President Dana White insists that GSP vs. Whittaker is ‘the fight’ to make in the middleweight division and this sentiment was echoed by UFC Vice President of International content, Dave Shaw:
“I think, as you guys know, the X factor right now is how Georges is doing,” Shaw told MMAjunkie.com. “Listen, bottom line is that we want to have Robbie fight in Perth.”
“The stars are sort of aligning for that event, having a pay-per-view there. It’s probably going to come down to Georges,” he continued. “Three months for anybody is a quick turnaround, so if we line up that fight, that’d be amazing. But there’s no real update at this point.”
