December 21, 2024

Georges St-Pierre vs. Michael Bisping middleweight title fight official for UFC 217 main event

Georges St-Pierre
Esther Lin, MMA Fighting

After a few false starts and much hemming and hawing, Georges St-Pierre’s comeback fight is official.

On Saturday, the UFC announced that the 36-year-old welterweight legend is officially scheduled to challenge Michael Bisping for the middleweight title in the main event of UFC 217at Madison Square Garden in New York on Nov. 4.

The news is a mere formality at this point, as GSP recently shared a photo to social media of himself signing the bout agreement, and he and Bisping have been in talks to fight since this past February when St-Pierre announced his return from what will be a four-year hiatus from competition.

St-Pierre has not fought since winning a split decision over Johny Hendricks at UFC 167 on Nov. 16, 2013, his ninth consecutive defense of the welterweight championship. Shortly after, St-Pierre announced he would be taking a break from the sport and he voluntarily vacated the title. He returns to the Octagon with a 25-2 professional record, including 19 wins in the UFC, which is second-most in company history.

In first place is Bisping, who picked up UFC win number 20 when he successfully defended his title against Dan Henderson via unanimous decision last October. “The Count” has since taken time off to rest and angle for a superfight with St-Pierre. Any talks of him facing interim champion Robert Whittaker were put on hold with the news that Whittaker will be out of action in the near future as he deals with a knee injury.

UFC 217 will be the promotion’s second trip to “The World’s Most Famous Arena” following their wildly successful debut last November that was headlined by a trio of title fights involving stars Conor McGregor, Eddie Alvarez, Tyron Woodley, Stephen Thompson, Joanna Jedrzejczyk, and Karolina Kowalkiewicz.

Bantamweight champion Cody Garbrandt has also been scheduled to defend his title against rival T.J. Dillashaw.

See the updated card for UFC 217 below:

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