Georges St-Pierre’s triumphant comeback at UFC 217 to win the middleweight belt from Michael Bisping proved that not only was he one of the best of all-time, becoming only the fourth man in UFC history to hold two titles in two different weight divisions, but that after four years away, he still had it.
Now GSP has vacated the title, paving way for a fight between interim champ Robert Whittaker and former title-holder Luke Rockhold. It’s been GSP’s plan all along to take the biggest fights possible, and a clash with the heavy-handed monster Robert Whittaker didn’t seem like the best idea. That and GSP has said that putting on weight to make the 185-pound limit was detrimental to his health.
So GSP and his camp have transitioned to campaigning for the biggest fight possible — Conor McGregor. His longtime coach Firas Zahabi has made it clear that they want the Irishman as their next fight, because nothing would be bigger. Makes sense.
“He’s got the touch of death in his hands. He knows what he’s doing, he’s highly intelligent, highly captivated, he’s extremely dangerous. And I don’t think he fears anybody. So I think him and Georges would be a phenomenal fight,” Zahabi told Express. “It would probably be the biggest fight in UFC history and MMA history and that record wouldn’t be broken for ten years. So why not do it?”
It turns out that GSP had a guaranteed title defense clause in his contract that he’s ignoring, or has found a medical reason to contractually get out of, and now Dana White is pissed. As per usual. He doesn’t want to give GSP a shot at McGregor, and he’s questioning the man’s heart and desire to fight after a bloody war against Bisping. He told ESPN the following:
“There is no status. I knew what he was doing. That’s why I put [a mandatory title defense] into his contract. We both knew what was going on. I don’t know, man. I don’t think the guy wants to fight. I think he jumped in, grabbed some cash, and went back to Canada.”
Of course, White also said GSP would never come back, there would never be a women’s division, and the UFC wasn’t being sold. He’s the president, but if his WMG overlords want a massive money fight, they’ll get GSP and McGregor in a room. You know McGregor wants it.
(Via ESPN)
