UFC Middleweight Champion Michael Bisping was going to defend his title against Georges St. Pierre later this year, then UFC President Dana White canceled the fight.
Bisping is confused on where GSP is in regards to putting the fight together, so the middleweight champion has now demanded that GSP man up to him before UFC 213.
“Georges, man up!” Bisping said on The MMA Hour. “Make the call. I know you have some issues, but call the man, call Dana White. I’m backed into a corner. I’ve said everything I can say. If he doesn’t step up, I’m going to take on the winner of those two (Romero versus Whittaker). I want to do it. A lot of people want that fight. Failing that, I’ll take one of these two. Georges, if you’re watching, which I know you are because you want to know what I’m saying, you’ve got until Saturday, because on Saturday I’m going to be on the FS1 post-fight show. Tune in, because one of those (fighters), Yoel Romero or Robert Whittaker, will be joining me on the desk. If I can’t say I’m fighting GSP by then, then I have to say I’m going to fight Whittaker or Romero. I can’t be a little bitch about it. Basically, the countdown is on.”
The middleweight champion hasn’t competed since defeating Dan Henderson at UFC 204, while it has been over four years since GSP last competed.
According to what Bisping has heard, the returning GSP would like to fight at welterweight instead of middleweight when he returns.
“Now, Dana is saying (Georges) doesn’t want to fight. Georges is saying he does want to fight. I know that I want to fight and if we can still make the Georges thing happen, then great, I’m all in,” says Bisping.
GSP, upon hearing what the middleweight champion and former opponent said, made a request of his own. That request was told to Ariel Helwani, who then reported it via Twitter:
"Michael, you should man up and fight me 11/4 in NY," he wrote. "I am coming out of retirement to retire you. Dana, PLEASE make it happen."
— Ariel Helwani (@arielhelwani) July 6, 2017
UFC 213 takes place on Saturday, July 8 from the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada with Amanda Nunes and Valentina Shevchenko headlining. Fightful is providing live coverage of the event, with a post-show podcast to follow.
