Georges St- Pierre is returning to the UFC and his return couldn’t come at a better time, as the UFC is in dire need of some star power. Conor McGregor isn’t going to be fighting for at least a few more months and Ronda Rousey isn’t going to be fighting anytime soon, if at all. The return of GSP should boost ratings for the UFC, as he is one of the most popular fighters of all time. What can we expect when GSP returns, and who will he fight?
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GSP is Back
UFC president Dana White confirmed that a new deal has been signed with St- Pierre and he kept his first comments short and sweet saying, “He is back. I’m excited. It took a lot of time, but we did it.”
St-Pierre was last seen in action in 2013 when he defeated Johny Hendricks at UFC 167. St-Pierre is 25-2 in his career and he has not lost since 2007. It took some time for St-Pierre and the UFC to come to an agreement and it took some legal threats for the two sides to actually come together on a new deal.
St-Pierre has been the UFC welterweight champion twice and he has the second-most wins in UFC history with 19. “The reason I wanted to go back and fight: I feel right now that I’m at my best,” St-Pierre said last year. “I’m truly confident I can beat the guys that are champion right now.”
Who will GPS Fight?
The two biggest names mentioned as possibilities for GSP to fight next are Conor McGregor and Michael Bisping. Those matchups would definitely be appealing but they might be unfair to GSP unless they came down the road as GSP needs to get back into action first before challenging the best in the game. Other potential opponents include the winner of Tyron Woodley-Stephen Thompson, although a GSP-Thompson fight is very unlikely, Nick Diaz, former middleweight champion Anderson Silva and Hendricks.
The trainer for GSP, Firas Zahabi said that he likes the idea of his fighter going against McGregor or Bisping. "My ideal scenario, I don't know if it's still up for grabs or anything, but I was really happy when there was buzzing of Bisping or McGregor. I thought those were two epic fights. Two, two epic fights," he said, “One he would have go a little lower and one he'd have to go a little higher. Those are really, really intriguing fights. Of course, Tyron Woodley, he's the champion, etc. But he has his fight with Wonderboy. And if Wonderboy wins, you're going to have a trilogy. And of course, we don't want to fight with 'Wonderboy', we go way back together. So I mean, the welterweight title, I think not really something he' thinking about right now because of the landscape as it is right now.”
Zahabi said that whoever GSP fights it will be a huge deal especially if it is McGregor. "But there's always the 185lb belt. And of course, McGregor is such a mega-star that if you put those two in the main event, I don't think anybody in the world wouldn't watch.” Zahabi said, “I think even non-MMA fans would want to watch. But again, I don't make the match ups and I don't do the managing, I'm just talking as a trainer right now."
St-Pierre said that a number of opponents interest him. “There's a lot of fights that interest me," GSP said, "It's like the stock market, you know? Sometimes some guys' stock are more hot than some others, you know? And as a fighter, you always want to have the hot stock."
One of the potential opponents for GSP, Johny Hendricks said that he would win against St-Pierre. “I’m going to have to beat his face in, definitely if he comes to 185. Because that’s a fight that I’ve been really looking for. And now that I’ve got a win under my belt at 185, he’s a newcomer at 185.”
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