UFC Middleweight Champion Michael Bisping is facing former UFC Welterweight Champion Georges St. Pierre in the main event of UFC 217.
GSP is working with boxing trainer Freddie Roach for the bout and it is a relationship that Bisping doesn’t care much about.
“I know [GSP] is a good wrestler, he’s a strong guy. He’s working with Freddie Roach which I couldn’t give a s--t about to be honest. I’m really not concerned about what he’s gonna do or what [Freddie] is gonna improve him on and I hope that he improves his boxing to where Georges wants to stand and have a boxing fight with me. I hope he does that. The only way he wins this fight is by taking me down and holding me down or getting the submission because he ain’t winning on the feet and he knows that,” Bisping said on Believe You Me.
St. Pierre is returning to action after a four year absence, with his last bout being a decision win over Johny Hendricks at UFC 167.
Bisping also acknowledges that when he steps into the Octagon at UFC 217, the fighter he is facing isn’t an idiot.
“What you’ve got to remember is that Georges is no idiot. He’s really not. He’s a very intelligent guy and his approach to the game has always been an intelligent approach. He knows what he’s doing. He’s been preparing for this for a long, long time. All this year he’s been preparing for it and probably the year before that. He’s gonna come with a game plan and be very well prepared and I actually think that the detrimental fact of being away for four years is also going to make him very hungry and we might see the best performance out of him ever,” says Bisping.
UFC 217 takes place on Saturday, November 4 from Madison Square Garden in New York, New York with Michael Bisping and Georges St. Pierre headlining. Fightful is providing live coverage of the event, with a post-show podcast to follow.
