GSP: I’m the biggest I’ve ever been
GSP: “But as a man, I’m gonna be honest, men want to have bigger muscles.”
The greatest welterweight of all time, Georges St-Pierre, took part recently in a Hayabusa-sponsored Fan Q&A, ahead of his fight with middleweight champion Michael Bisping, date TBA. GSP has put on some size for the fight, and he says he likes it.
When I knew that we were going to fight Michael Bisping, when I signed it, that’s when I decided to try and put a little bit more weight,” said GSP as transcribed by Jed Meshew for MMA Fighting. “I won’t be able to put a lot because I’m a natural guy but I’m already a little bit bigger than I was. I’m the biggest I’ve ever been, right now, in my life. Bisping will still be bigger than me but I’m confident it will help…
It’s not my natural size. I’ve never been that big in my life. But as a man, I’m gonna be honest, men want to have bigger muscles. They want to be big, so it’s a good thing. I’m happy to be a little bit bigger. This is not the weight class I’m used to competing at, but for that fight, I want to make history against Michael Bisping. It’s a guy that I want to fight and he wants to fight me. It’s the guy with the highest stock right now and he’s the man to beat, so that’s why I’m doing it.
GSP has not fought since 2013, and will have to overcome some degree of ring rust, but says he knows what to do.
People say there’s no such thing but I believe in ring rust,” he said. “It will be an issue but I’m a very experienced man. I’m one of the guys that’s spent the most time in the octagon in the UFC, maybe the most, I’m not sure in terms of time. I think because I have a lot of experience, the more time I will spend as the fight goes, the more comfortable I will be. For me, it will be very important the first second of the fight. That’s when I will have to be very aware, very careful. That will be the most dangerous moment for me because when you have ring rust, that’s the hardest part of the fight. When you just step in and the fight start, that’s where the ring rust comes from, the difficulty of adaptation. But after a few minutes, I will be back to normal.
GSP’s new size on display:
For the record, with 5:28:12, GSP is the third most in Octagon time in UFC history. #2 is his next opponent, Michael Bisping, with 5:48:40. #1 is Frankie Edgar with 6:17:40. The fight with Bisping is believed to be part of a quest to cement G.O.A.T. status – beat Bisping for the middleweight title, then drop to lightweight and fight Conor McGregor. With those two wins GSP would be the first UFC fighter to win a belt in the three divisions, and the greatest fighter in MMA history. Maybe he already is.