While UFC president Dana White has stated the middleweight title fight between champion Michael Bisping and Georges St-Pierre has been scrapped, both of the men who were set to be involved maintain they’re yet to hear confirmation of that fact.
White announced that the fight, which was announced with a press conference earlier this year, had been scrapped after St-Pierre was quoted as being busy until October or November. In response, St-Pierre claims the UFC were well aware of his schedule before booking the bout.
For his part, Bisping also says he’s yet to hear from the promotion, and until he does plans to behave as if the St-Pierre contest will come to fruition.
“Honestly, it’s news to me, I haven’t heard anything about it,” Bisping said, speaking on his podcast ‘Believe You Me’. “I reached out to Georges and he said he hasn’t heard anything officially either, and I still haven’t heard anything from the UFC or Dana White. I know that a lot of people are complaining about this potential delay with Georges, so we’ll see what happens.
“So yeah, to clarify, as of right now, no official word from the UFC. I haven’t heard anything and Georges is still hoping for it, I’m still hoping for it. I’ll say this, I was offered the fight twice. I was offered the fight in October and it never materialised. I was offered the fight in January or February and it did materialise and we had a press conference and we shook hands and we stood there in Las Vegas and we talked a bit of shit. So okay, I haven’t had a bout agreement but that is the plan. That was the offer and I accepted and I kind of feel that once a deal is made, we should stick to it.”
For most fans, it’s the timeframe of the affair that rankles the nose. With Yoel Romero having been an obvious (and promised) contender for Bisping’s middleweight title, it seems unfair that he should have to wait for a year before getting the fight he earned with a win over Chris Weidman.
Add in the fact that 185-pounds is a hive of decent contenders at the moment, and Bisping’s wish to wait until late in the year doesn’t seem fair. Although, he claims that St-Pierre or not, he won’t be able to come back much sooner due to injury.
“It’s a blessing in disguise because I can’t fight anytime soon. I can’t exercise, I can’t train. My knee is giving me many, many problems. … So long story short, what I’m getting at is I’m not going to be ready to fight anytime soon so again, that’s another reason why this plays into the perfect scenario for me.
“[Rockhold] has no grounds to talk. Some people have, to be honest. Yoel’s been there for a bit now. I understand that. Robert Whittaker is there and Gegard [Mousasi] as well but I’ve got a fight booked and until I hear anything differently from an official source, I’m expecting to fight GSP. “
