It seems as though there’s a slight possibility that the UFC could use Conor McGregor before year’s end. McGregor hasn’t competed inside the Octagon since November of last year when he headlined UFC 205 from Madison Square Garden opposite Eddie Alvarez. “The Notorious One” downed “The Underground King” in the second round of the bout […]
It seems as though there’s a slight possibility that the UFC could use Conor McGregor before year’s end.
McGregor hasn’t competed inside the Octagon since November of last year when he headlined UFC 205 from Madison Square Garden opposite Eddie Alvarez. “The Notorious One” downed “The Underground King” in the second round of the bout via knockout to capture the lightweight throne, becoming the first dual-weight champion in UFC history in the process.
Shortly after McGregor was forced to vacate his featherweight title and decided to take some time off from competition in order to enjoy the birth of his first child. That break was short-lived, however, as McGregor then signed on to make his professional boxing debut against Floyd “Money” Mayweather.
The Irishman would come up just short as he suffered a 10th round TKO loss after eating a barrage of unanswered shots. Now the MMA world awaits his return; which will likely come against interim lightweight champion Tony Ferguson, who defeated Kevin Lee in the main event of UFC 216 to capture the gold.
Recently UFC President Dana White spoke to the Los Angeles Times‘ Lance Pugmire and revealed that McGregor’s next fight could be finalized by the end of the week. White has until the end of the week to determine the main event for the UFC’s pay-per-view (PPV) event on Dec. 30 in Las Vegas and is hoping McGregor can compete on the card (quotes via Bleacher Report):
“That’s all this week,” White said. “We’re working on that [main event]. I have to have it done by the end of the week.”
Following Georges St-Pierre’s riveting third-round submission to win the middleweight title from Michael Bisping in the main event of last Saturday’s (November 4, 2017) UFC 217, several high-profile fights sit on the bargaining table for the UFC’s newest two-weight champ. The obvious one is a unification bout with current interim middleweight champ Robert Whittaker, who […]
Following Georges St-Pierre’s riveting third-round submission to win the middleweight title from Michael Bisping in the main event of last Saturday’s (November 4, 2017) UFC 217, several high-profile fights sit on the bargaining table for the UFC’s newest two-weight champ.
The obvious one is a unification bout with current interim middleweight champ Robert Whittaker, who is currently recovering from a knee injury suffered while winning the interim belt versus Yoel Romero at July’s UFC 213. It’s a fight that UFC President Dana White insists will be next for GSP, yet there’s another high-profile bout that would out-draw this fight in spades.
That’s St-Pierre’s oft-discussed super fight with lightweight champ Conor McGregor, a bout that’s gained a ton of steam since St-Pierre officially won the middleweight title amidst speculation about his effectiveness after four years off. Both fighters would potentially hold up their respective divisions to make it happen – although that’s nothing new with McGregor – but it would also almost certainly be the biggest fight the UFC could stage at this point, and perhaps ever.
If and when either fight happens, St-Pierre is already favored over McGregor and an underdog to Whittaker according to early odds recently released on Bovada.com. According to their numbers, St-Pierre is a -150 favorite over McGregor, who came in at +120, and a -135 underdog to Whittaker, who is currently a -165 favorite.
This marks a change from the initial release of the odds yesterday, when St-Pierre was a -160 favorite over +130 dog Whittaker. Many hardcore fans believe the much younger Whittaker would defeat St-Pierre after trouncing Romero and Ronaldo Souza in 2017, and apparently the betting public agreed enough to skew the odds in Whittaker’s favor – and by no small margin – in just one day’s time.
Who do you believe should be favored in St-Pierre’s prospective bouts in the foreseeable future?
All of the sudden, Georges St-Pierre has a lot of leverage with the UFC. In a surprising outcome to many, the longtime welterweight champion returned to the Octagon after almost four years off and submitted Michael Bisping in the main event of last Saturday night’s (Nov. 4, 2017) UFC 217 from Madison Square Garden in New […]
All of the sudden, Georges St-Pierre has a lot of leverage with the UFC.
In a surprising outcome to many, the longtime welterweight champion returned to the Octagon after almost four years off and submitted Michael Bisping in the main event of last Saturday night’s (Nov. 4, 2017) UFC 217 from Madison Square Garden in New York City, and now the fight game is his proverbial oyster.
Now that he’s the middleweight champ, the fans who said it was a travesty for Bisping to be fighting a former welterweight who had never fought at 185 after four years off will almost definitely be calling for him to defend his new belt, and indeed UFC President Dana White insists that unifying the belts with interim champion Robert Whittaker will be next for “Rush.”
It’s a fight that makes the most sense in terms of pure meritocracy, something that the UFC was founded on and also an aspect of mixed martial arts (MMA) we don’t see a whole lot of in this trash-talking, star-driven era of today. To illustrate that point, a point of view that’s surfaced from many experienced media members in the fight game is that St-Pierre should take on lightweight champion Conor McGregor, who also has an interim champion waiting to take him on in his own division, in what would almost assuredly be the biggest MMA fight of all-time.
That potential over-the-top booking, which would conceivably take place at 170 pounds where both men have fought in the UFC, comes at a time when the promotion needs a truly huge fight (Mayweather vs. McGregor doesn’t count as their own), and it’s no secret UFC owners Endeavor could use a smashing pay-per-view hit after a yearlong slump in 2017. St-Pierre vs. McGregor is a huge fight – it would feature two champions who are the two biggest names in the sport at the time.
The fact that the larger St-Pierre would be heavily favored due to his dominant wrestling and grappling doesn’t really matter because we’ve seen the decision-making process for booking fights in today’s UFC has more to do with dollar signs that actual sport. Without a true star like either McGregor or St-Pierre in 2017, they’ve struggled to build any momentum, so it would be kind of silly to not book the star power-driven bout now that they actually have one.
The financial ramifications of the bout would be obvious – it would make more money than any other mixed martial arts bout in the sport’s 24-year history. But it could really only happen if both fighters abandoned their current titles because leaving two of the UFC’s best divisions held up even longer after a full year of inactivity already would leave the legitimacy of the UFC in serious question, something many fans already believe has happened this year. Maybe St-Pierre could cut all the way down to lightweight to challenge McGregor for a third UFC title, but that would take quite some time and the entire promotion can’t wait for his next move.
They already do that with McGregor. Two fighters holding up basically everything from 155 to 185 pounds would just be too much.
If both keep their titles and book the fight at 170 or a catchweight, then the actual value of UFC championships will have to be put in serious question. They’d be more like flashy pieces of pseudo-importance the promotion attaches to pay-per-views rather than true gold to be defended.
Overall the discussion is a difficult one. St-Pierre vs. Whittaker and McGregor vs. Ferguson just don’t have that same zing that a St-Pierre vs. McGregor super fight does. Few, if ever, really do. There are just some issues with it being booked right away. It may be a bit of a copout, but I’m not saying it is or is not the right fight to book at this time. If young fighters like Whittaker and Ferguson want to fight for the titles in their prime, perhaps it’s best for St-Pierre and McGregor to abandon the official belts and sign on for the biggest sort of the big fights they seem to be looking for at this points in their respective careers.
The backlash directed towards McGregor and to a lesser extent, St-Pierre would probably be drowned out by the sheer volume of checks being cashed. If that’s enough for McGregor to potentially put his legacy in question, well, this is prizefighting at the highest level, after all.
Do you think the UFC should strike while the iron is hot with potentially their biggest fight of all-time?
After witnessing three UFC titles change hands in shocking fashion at this weekend’s (Sat., Nov. 4, 2017) UFC 217 from Madison Square Garden in New York City, New York, it’s safe to say that the blockbuster event delivered the most exciting, fast-paced night of fights in all of 2017. But that was far from a certainty […]
After witnessing three UFC titles change hands in shocking fashion at this weekend’s (Sat., Nov. 4, 2017) UFC 217 from Madison Square Garden in New York City, New York, it’s safe to say that the blockbuster event delivered the most exciting, fast-paced night of fights in all of 2017.
But that was far from a certainty heading into the high-profile event, as casual fans seemed to be equal parts doubtful and cautiously optimistic about the card, putting the event’s mainstream success in question. Indeed, more seemed to be written about UFC 217’s lack of buzz, with much of that focused on the supposed notion that returning former welterweight champ Georges St-Pierre had lost his connection with fans after nearly four years away from the sport.
That was far from the case, however, if we’re to believe UFC President Dana White – which is something that is unfortunately difficult to do these days – who revealed at the UFC 217 post-fight press conference (via MMA Mania) that UFC 217 had easily surpassed one million buys on pay-per-view, and even broken the previous record for Canadian sales that was just set by august’s Mayweather vs. McGregor:
“I told some of you guys this yesterday. Mayweather vs McGregor had the record in Canada, and we were number two and three. I’m pretty sure this beat Mayweather in McGregor tonight.”
If that proves true, it wouldn’t be the hugest surprise considering St-Pierre was far and away Canada’s biggest combat sports star and remained so even during his four-year break. Much of the emphasis was placed on his clean-cut, respectful demeanor, which many described as the opposite of the trash-talking style of Conor McGregor that currently rules MMA, and many thought this would affect the success of UFC 217, perhaps ever creating a lack thereof.
If you listen to White, though, he always knew it would do a million buys, yet was surprised when it soared past that mark:
“I told you that this would do a million buys, I was way wrong it did over a million, I’ll have a definite answer tomorrow, but it’s looking like we destroyed it.”
Those numbers, if confirmed, come as an extremely needed breath of fresh air for the UFC and owners at Endeavor, as pay-per-view numbers have consistently plummeted during a 2017 without McGregor or any other bankable star outside of provisionally suspended Jon Jones.
Maybe, just maybe, Georges St-Pierre wasn’t the box office flop everyone made him out to be.
His legacy at stake, longtime former UFC welterweight champion Georges St-Pierre sent a verifiable shockwave through the entire sport of mixed martial arts (MMA) when he submitted middleweight champion Michael Bisping last night (Sat., November 4, 2017) in the third round of their main event bout at UFC 217 from Madison Square Garden in New York […]
His legacy at stake, longtime former UFC welterweight champion Georges St-Pierre sent a verifiable shockwave through the entire sport of mixed martial arts (MMA) when he submitted middleweight champion Michael Bisping last night (Sat., November 4, 2017) in the third round of their main event bout at UFC 217 from Madison Square Garden in New York City.
After nearly four years off, it was gutsy, heart-wrenching performance from St-Pierre, who had not finished a fight in the Octagon since a corner stoppage of BJ Penn at UFC 94 way back in 2009. The fact that he was able to return after so long out of the cage, at a bigger weight class, and score his first stoppage win in almost nine years is simply a pure testament to his skill at all aspects of MMA.
I’ll admit I was one of many who thought St-Pierre was wading into dangerous waters in taking on the supposedly bigger and much more active Bisping. He quieted us doubters with a resounding return, yet it wasn’t simply the fact he did it but how easy he made it look. True, his performance wasn’t quite flawless, as he was cut open by several elbows from bottom guard and appeared to be tiring slightly in the second and third rounds.
Regardless, he outclassed “The Count” in the major arena nearly everyone thought he had an advantage in – striking. St-Pierre’s classic jab was as effective as ever, its stinging precision finding a home so early and often that the side of Bisping’s face was reddened from the early first round on. His bread-and-butter takedowns, the major advantage everyone thought he would hold over the champion, were so effective that it began to seem he could and would ground the fight at any moment.
Noah K. Murray for USA TODAY Sports
And just when the cardio machine and legitimate all-time great Bisping seemed to turn the sides ever so slightly in his favor last night, St-Pierre reminded us why he’s plainly the greatest MMA fighter of all-time by blasting Bisping with a picturesque left hook followed by a hellacious onslaught of elbows and punches followed by a rear-naked choke that Bisping refused to tap out to, resulting in him passing out.
These were the brush strokes of Van Gogh, the symphonies of Beethoven playing out in mixed martial arts form. On a night with hyperbole abound, St-Pierre created a storyline worthy of the most hyperbolic type of comparisons, one I will freely make by calling him the best ever. Demetrious Johnson is no doubt an all-time great, but his body of work just doesn’t beat St-Pierre’s right now in my opinion. By comparison, if he went up and won the bantamweight title from new champion TJ Dillashaw, they’d certainly be on equal footing.
One final and perhaps, although it’s under the radar in a sense, most impactful reason St-Pierre’s middleweight title victory was so great was that he risked so much to come back and fight in a larger weight class. He could have so easily stayed retired and not risked taking any more damage, and indeed he was badly bloodied and taken to the hospital after the fight, rendering him absent from the post-fight press conference. If helost, he said he would retire for good, leaving him with precious little margin for error against one of the toughests out the UFC has ever seen.
MMA’s greatest tactician knew he could do something even greater, however, and made his biggest calculated risk yet to earn his biggest-ever prize. His fighting future is all of the sudden incredibly bright, and all because a fighter whom many had written off as too safe and unexciting took a huge risk to make history.
With the MMA world reeling from the utter chaos that was last night’s (Sat., Nov. 4, 2017) UFC 217 from Madison Square Garden in New York City, New York, where legendary former welterweight champion Georges St-Pierre submitted Michael Bisping to become one of four UFC multi-division champions ever, the discussion will now shift to whom “GSP” […]
With the MMA world reeling from the utter chaos that was last night’s (Sat., Nov. 4, 2017) UFC 217 from Madison Square Garden in New York City, New York, where legendary former welterweight champion Georges St-Pierre submitted Michael Bisping to become one of four UFC multi-division champions ever, the discussion will now shift to whom “GSP” will face next.
But first, St-Pierre deserves a bit of time to soak in the praise from a fight game that may have (understandably, at least somewhat) doubted his return after nearly four years off. Now, however, he’s the talk of MMA, and UFC President Dana White had some stellar words about his star’s return to the cage in an interview with Megan Olivi at the UFC 217 post-fight show:
“Unbelievable. You know, to return from a four-fight layoff is . never easy; very few have done it in theri careers and look good. And not only did he come back after four years, but he moved up a weight class. And, you know, everybody thinks Michael Bisping’s an easy fight. Show me one fight where Michael Bisping was an easy fight.”
White also had praise for Bisping too, noting that the former champion was landing some good elbows from the bottom when taken down, enough so to cut St-Pierre significantly. But ultimately the all-time great was able to survive the injury and submit “The Count” in impressive fashion:
“Even tonight, when Georges took him down and was onn top of him, Mike was doing a lot of damage from the bottom. He hit him with that elbow, split him open, hit him with a lot of elbows. GSP looked great tonight.”
As for St-Pierre’s next bout, the options are truly plentiful, as he could take on interim middleweight champion Robert Whittaker, welterweight champion Tyron Woodley, or even lightweight champion Conor McGregor.
But it’s been repeatedly stated that St-Pierre will have to defend his newly-acquired middleweight title, and White confirmed he would be staying at 185, even if he did sneak in a brief laugh at the end of that confirmation:
