Bisping responds to GSP fight cancelation

Georges St-Pierre is the greatest welterweight in UFC history. And at present he has an ambiguous relationship with fighting. He stopped fighting in 2013, citing the pressures of being on top; he later added PED use to his concerns. On 4/13/2016 he said he was on good terms with the UFC and hinted at a return to the league. Six months later on 10/17/2016 he declared he was a free agent. On 3/1/2017 St-Pierre’s return was made official and it was announced he was fighting Michael Bisping for the title.

There were rumors that St-Pierre planned to beat Bisping, and then drop to lightweight and beat Conor McGregor, thus cementing his status as the greatest fighter of all time, with belts in three divisions. However, two months after the fight with Bisping was announced, on 5/5 GSP said he would be ready to fight, after October.

A clearly frustrated UFC president Dana White said the fight was off, and Bisping would defend his title vs. #1 contender Yoel Romero. Now Bisping has responded, during his latest Believe You Me podcast.

Honestly, it’s news to me,” said Bisping, as transcribed by Jed Meshew for MMA Fighting. “I haven’t heard anything about it. I reached out to Georges and he said he hasn’t heard anything officially either, and I still haven’t heard anything from the UFC or Dana White. I know that a lot of people are complaining about this potential delay with Georges, so we’ll see what happens.

So yeah, to clarify, as of right now, no official word from the UFC. I haven’t heard anything and Georges is still hoping for it, I’m still hoping for it. I’ll say this, I was offered the fight twice. I was offered the fight in October and it never materialized. I was offered the fight in January or February and it did materialize and we had a press conference and we shook hands and we stood there in Las Vegas and we talked a bit of shit. So okay, I haven’t had a bout agreement but that is the plan. That was the offer and I accepted and I kind of feel that once a deal is made, we should stick to it.

GSP speculated that that the Romero announcement was a negotiating tactic, but Bisping had an even simple explanation.

Maybe they need an active champion to fight sooner,” he said. “I think that’s probably the top of it. I honestly don’t think they’re trying to put pressure on Georges. I think they need title fights on the pay-per-views, which I understand. I understand the frustrations from their side, just like a lot of the middleweight division are kind of frustrated. They need good title fights on their pay-per-views and waiting until November is a significant delay so I understand that. But like I said, we did have a deal so I’d like to speak with the UFC and find out what’s happening.

Romero, Gegard Mousasi, Luke Rockhold, Ronaldo Souza, and Chris Weidman have each bitterly complained that the top of the division is gated by Bisping first fighting the unranked Dan Henderson, and then getting scheduled to fight the unranked Georges St-Pierre. However, Bisping said knee issues mean he can’t fight immediately anyway.

It’s a blessing in disguise because I can’t fight anytime soon,” said Bisping. “I can’t exercise, I can’t train. My knee is giving me many, many problems. It was doing it in Thailand, it’s still getting no better. … So long story short, what I’m getting at is I’m not going to be ready to fight anytime soon so again, that’s another reason why this plays into the perfect scenario for me.

[Rockhold] has no grounds to talk. Some people have, to be honest. Yoel’s been there for a bit now. I understand that. Robert Whittaker is there and Gegard as well but I’ve got a fight booked and until I hear anything differently from an official source, I’m expecting to fight GSP.