The UFC’s gifting of an immediate title shot to Georges St-Pierre against UFC middleweight Michael Bisping has polarized fans and pundits alike.
When Dana White effectively retracted a previous statement confirming Yoel Romero would fight Bisping next by confirming that GSP would be afforded a shot at the title following his MMA exile, eyebrows were raised. The ambivalence of one one hand seeing the return of the former welterweight champion was countered by a collective sigh on behalf of Romero. The general consensus appeared to be with favoring the Cuban for a shot at the strap.
UFC commentator and stand-up comedian Joe Rogan was one of many to voice criticism of the fight, arguing that the recent trend of “big money fights” has brought the validity of championships and contenders into question. Bisping, on the other hand, found the funnyman’s words to be a little contradictory:
“Listen, Joe’s a very smart man and he’s very learned on the subject of mixed martial arts and the UFC,” Bisping claimed on his Sirius XM podcast The Countdown. “He’s been around forever. He knows the sport, but as I say, he kind of contradicted himself. He’s like, ‘why have title fights?’ but then he says, ‘I, for sure, would get the popcorn and buy this PPV.”
With the most wins in UFC history, and a long career with undoubted service to the promotion, Bisping feels as though he deserves the money-spinning bout:
“See, to become a champion, you have to pay your dues which I did for a long, long, long time. When you become the champion, it changes because now, it’s only a very small portion, but you get a portion of the PPV. Now every single fight you have, there’s a possibility you’re going to lose that fight, So you want to maximize the potential.
“You want the fights to be as big as possible, but in terms of credibility as well, that has to be a factor. With Georges St-Pierre coming back, I feel like I’m trying to justify a point that I’ve said a million times, but Joe actually just said there himself, he would buy the fight. He 100% would buy it, so therefore, there goes my argument.”
