Georges “Rush” St-Pierre will be back in the UFC, if only for one fight, according to his former manager, Stephane Patry.
According to MMAFighting.com’s Dave Doyle, Patry joined Doyle’s colleague, Ariel Helwani, on The MMA Hour Monday, and the subject turned to GSP during their conversation. As a fight promoter and manager, Patry knows what’s happening in the Montreal fight scene and why, and he used this expertise and knowledge to comment on GSP‘s current situation.
While the Canadian superstar is currently enjoying a hiatus from MMA, Patry believes his former client will be back to the UFC Octagon in due time.
“Georges is going to come back for one fight,” Patry told Helwani. “I can’t say he’s going to come back and go on a title run and do 10 fights, but I know for sure he’s going to come back for one fight.”
To hear Patry tell it, GSP‘s return is a matter of “when” and not “if,” and Patry expects the UFC to roll out a big-name opponent for the former UFC welterweight champion in this eventual matchup.
“He’s going to come back for that one fight everyone wants to see,” Patry said. “…he’s not going to come back for one fight that doesn’t mean much in the history of mixed martial arts. He wants to make history with that one fight.”
Should Patry‘s prognosis prove correct, it only makes sense that the UFC would line up another superstar opposite GSP. After such a long break from the sport, GSP‘s return would be met with eager anticipation by fans and critics alike, and the right opponent could make this fight one of the best-selling bouts in the sport’s history.
The most commonly speculated opponent for GSP is former middleweight champion Anderson “The Spider” Silva. These two fighters dominated the 170- and 185-pound ranks, respectively, from 2008 to 2013, and fans have long wondered how a bout between the two would go down.
According to a recent report from MMAMania.com’s Adam Guillen Jr. (via The MMA Hour), though, GSP actually already turned down a fight with Silva.
After his most recent scrap at UFC 183 against Nick Diaz, Silva tested positive for performance-enhancing drugs, according to Kevin Iole of Yahoo Sports, putting his immediate future in jeopardy. Compounding the situation, GSP has long rallied against PEDs and has demanded more efficient testing to catch those using illegal substances.
As such, it comes as no surprise that he declined a bout with Silva in the wake of The Spider’s drug-testing fiasco.
However, with Patry‘s latest interview on The MMA Hour in the books, it’s hard not to speculate that GSP vs. Silva might happen sometime in the future. Even if it doesn’t, it certainly appears we have not seen the last of Rush inside the cage.
Stay tuned to Bleacher Report as this situation continues to develop.
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