As noted earlier this week, Georges St-Pierre made it clear that he has decided to make his MMA return, with the only thing that could stop him being an inability to reach a deal with the UFC.
Now that St-Pierre is eyeing an Octagon return, who is he thinking about in terms of his first opponent?
GSP spoke with Ariel Helwani on Monday’s edition of “The MMA Hour” at MMAFighting.com and made it clear that newly crowned UFC Middleweight Champion Michael Bisping is his first choice after hearing about Bisping’s recent comments about him.
“There are two things I’m very proud of,” St-Pierre said on The MMA Hour. “There’s my title — my welterweight title that I won — and there’s another record that I hold for the most wins in UFC history. And now I have someone who’s challenging me for it in Michael Bisping.
“I do not believe, if I fight him, he will send me back to a movie set. Yes, he’s bigger than me, but I believe I’ve got more skill, more athleticism, and a higher fighting IQ than he does. The world doesn’t turn around me, but if it’s a fight that the fans and the UFC want to make, they’ve got my number. They can call my agent, no problem. We can organize to make it happen and make an agreement.”
St-Pierre continued, explaining why he feels Bisping is “the man to beat” right now and talks about why he feels he would be the perfect opponent for his first fight back.
“It’s something big,” St-Pierre said. “You just gave me the chills thinking about it, because it’s not the first time that people have mentioned it. I’m sure Michael, on his side, people have talked to him about it, because he created a lot of buzz. I always said, if I come back, I would come back from something very big. Bisping is the man to beat right now. He beat (Anderson) Silva, he knocked out (Luke) Rockhold.
“He’s the bigger name now. He’s the man to beat right now. I always said if I come back, my first fight would be something big that gives me the chills. And he’s a bigger name right now. He is the bigger name, the guy who has the spotlight right now. Like I said, the world doesn’t turn around me. There are a lot of guys hunting him, but if it’s a fight that the UFC wants and the fans want, if it creates a buzz and the money is there, because we’re in a business, I’m down for it.”
St-Pierre (25-2), last fought at UFC 167 back in November of 2013, earning a tough, contested, split decision victory over Johny Hendricks.
