Robert Whittaker isn’t sure he’s really going to fight Georges St-Pierre next. But if he is, he feels confident after what he saw at Madison Square Garden.
According to Dana White, interim middleweight champ Robert Whittaker is next for Georges St-Pierre. But many are wondering whether GSP will actually stay at middleweight, or vacate for fights in weight classes more to his advantage.
St-Pierre’s coach Freddie Roach seemed to imply he wasn’t long for 185, and you can count Whittaker amongst those who doesn’t think he wants to defend his belt.
“He did not sound like he was happy to do that,” Whittaker told the Australian FOX Sports site. “I’m happy to wait. Fighting a legend like that is worth the time. My wants have to go on the back seat a bit for him. He’s a living legend and in respect I’ll do that. But if he’s going to hang around at middleweight we’ll touch gloves eventually. I’m confident.”
And if GSP doesn’t stick around in the weight class?
“If Georges steps down it makes everyone a potential opponent,” Whittaker said.
And while Whittaker has a lot of love for Georges, you can tell he was not impress with his performance.
“To be honest, he looked slower than he’s ever been,” Whittaker declared. “He’s just as crafty. You can see the intelligence is still there. His fight IQ is still there. He obviously hits harder at middleweight. But I hit hard and I hit fast — and much harder and faster than Bisping. And I have much better defense than Bisping. So it looks good.”
Whittaker also has the advantage of being much bigger than Bisping, who already gave St-Pierre problems with his above-welterweight level power.
Is Georges really interested in taking on a massive 185er with a kickboxing pedigree like Robert Whittaker? We’re not so sure. Even if it’s in GSP’s contract that he has to defend the belt, we think it’s more likely that St-Pierre does whatever he wants to add more distinctions and superfights to his record. His legacy is what he’s working on right now, not title defenses. And if the money looks better, we bet the UFC won’t mind either.