UFC 206 goes down in Toronto, Canada this coming December 10, and its causing quite a stir. Currently headlined by light-heavyweight champion Daniel Cormier and his rematch with Anthony Johnson, the penultimate PPV of the year has been in the headlines for other reasons. Earlier this year reports of former welterweight champion Georges St-Pierre finally
UFC 206 goes down in Toronto, Canada this coming December 10, and its causing quite a stir. Currently headlined by light-heavyweight champion Daniel Cormier and his rematch with Anthony Johnson, the penultimate PPV of the year has been in the headlines for other reasons. Earlier this year reports of former welterweight champion Georges St-Pierre finally returning spread like wildfire. Having teased a comeback for many years now, this time around it seemed like it was actually for real.
With the promotion headed to GSP’s home country for UFC 206, rumours of a rematch with rival and fellow returning star Nick Diaz cropped up. Middleweight champion Michael Bisping uttered St-Pierre’s name after his UFC 199 title win, and again following the rematch with Dan Henderson at UFC 204. St-Pierre seems to be locked in a legal dispute regarding his UFC contract, claiming he is a free agent although the promotion has since denied it. Yesterday ‘The Count’ revealed he’d signed the contract to fight GSP at UFC 206, and now UFC president Dana White has responded.
Dana White’s Response
Having already told fans that Georges St-Pierre ‘didn’t want to fight anymore,’ UFC president Dana White has responded to the rumours surrounding UFC 206. As reported by Brett Okamoto, White shoots down the reports of GSP vs. Bisping in December:
Text from @danawhite: There is no Bisping vs. GSP fight in Toronto. I know Mike wants it, but it's not happening.
The Reebok deal was apparently the biggest sticking point in relation to GSP’s comeback to the UFC. We’ve seen it happen before, but is the UFC really going down the route of a contract battle with one of their pioneering champions? Randy Couture warned St-Pierre about the longevity of a court fight with the UFC this week.
GSP Coming Back?
Right now, it looks like the answer is a resounding no. On the other hand, ‘UFC Tonight’ is on later, and we all know how the promotion likes to toy with us in the lead up to huge announcements.
Former longtime UFC welterweight champion Georges St. Pierre hasn’t competed since 2013 when he vacated his 170-pound title, but he announced a few months ago that he was finally ready to return to the cage, and it seemed as if UFC 206, which is slated to take place Dec. 10 from St. Pierre’s home of
Former longtime UFC welterweight champion Georges St. Pierre hasn’t competed since 2013 when he vacated his 170-pound title, but he announced a few months ago that he was finally ready to return to the cage, and it seemed as if UFC 206, which is slated to take place Dec. 10 from St. Pierre’s home of Canada, was a likely landing spot.
St. Pierre, however, has since announced that he was a free agent, a claim the UFC quickly disputed, making it appear as if negotiations have hit a rough patch. UFC President Dana White has also continued to say that “Rush” doesn’t want to fight.
All signs have pointed to UFC 206 going on without the Canadian star, but perhaps there remains a glimpse of hope, as rumors have been swirling lately that a bout between GSP and reigning middleweight champ Michael Bisping could be in the works for the card.
“The Count”, who just defended his title for the first time against Dan Henderson at Oct. 8’s UFC 204, initially denied reports that he could potentially be making a quick turnaround and be fighting at UFC 206, but he took to his official Twitter account last night urging St. Pierre to ‘sign the papers’:
@GeorgesStPierre, we all want more money. But let’s go,sign the papers.Give the people of Toronto what they want, be a hero! Let’s go champ!
Former UFC welterweight kingpin Georges St-Pierre is just beginning what could be a nasty battle with the UFC, after the Canadian star announced he is now a free agent after his lawyers managed to terminate his contract with his longtime promoters. The UFC would soon dispute ‘GSP’s’ claims by issuing an official statement noting that
Former UFC welterweight kingpin Georges St-Pierre is just beginning what could be a nasty battle with the UFC, after the Canadian star announced he is now a free agent after his lawyers managed to terminate his contract with his longtime promoters. The UFC would soon dispute ‘GSP’s’ claims by issuing an official statement noting that St-Pierre is still under Zuffa contract.
One similar situation can be recalled back in 2007 when former light heavyweight champion Randy Couture resigned from the UFC after being dissatisfied with the UFC’s treatment of it’s fighters, as well as his desire to venture for a fight with mixed martial arts (MMA) heavyweight legend Fedor Emelianenko.
Couture recently joined Ariel Helwani on The MMA Hour (courtesy of MMA Fighting) to discuss the similarities between his and St-Pierre’s respective situations with the UFC:
“I certainly saw similarities, and I’m not privy to Georges’ contract and the language in Georges’ contract, but I’m sure it’s in many ways very similar to what I was dealing with back in 2007,” Couture said.
“And maybe, unfortunately for Georges, some of the issues that were pointed in out in their contracts back then that were the impetus for me declaring my free agency back then, and trying to make that Fedor fight happen and having injunctions filed and spending a lot of money on attorneys and stuff — a lot of those things were closed. They [changed their] contracts to some extent to try and prevent athletes from doing what I had been doing.
“But it’s definitely going to be an uphill climb. These guys have controlled fighters and controlled this situation for a long, long time. And they’re good at it. So, I think Georges is certainly going to be up against it.”
Couture’s standoff with the UFC lasted for about a year, a time frame in which he spent more than $500,000 in his battle with the promotion, after which he would ultimately return to the Octagon under a restructured deal to fight Brock Lesnar at UFC 91:
“I certainly hope that Georges is ready to spend a considerable amount of money in legal fees and all of that to fight this battle,” Couture said. “That’s the first thing. These guys are going to try and drag this out as long as they can drag this out and get Georges to spend as much money as they can possibly spend in hopes to bleed him, to make him want to give up and just give it up.
“Obviously you’re still dealing with Dana White, but WME is another thing completely than Zuffa and the Fertittas, and I think that adds another layer to this whole thing. Georges is represented by CAA. CAA and WME go way back, as far as butting heads and kind of fighting over things, so I think there’s probably some of that going on here as well.”
After his failed effort to fight UFC brass Couture not only wasted half a million dollars, but he also wasted precious time he could have spent competing:
“I spent 13 months not competing,” Couture said. “At 44 years old, the clock was ticking. I spent more than $500,000 of my own money to try and fight over my interpretation of the language in the contract, just to continue for who knows how much longer to get a ruling and be able to go one way or the other. And at the end of the day, I wanted to compete. I wanted to fight. I’m a fighter.
“I still felt like I had competition that I wanted to get done and decided just to give it up, to hang it up, to not spend any more of my money fighting the system that was in place.”
When it all comes down to it, Couture states that if St-Pierre attempted to make a fight happen under any other promotion’s banner that he expects the UFC to file an injunction immediately. The process will be long and consuming, possibly taking up time from the former 170-pound champ’s career that he would much rather spend fighting:
“I’m sure that if he moves forward as a free agent, tries to make the fight that he wants to happen somewhere else, there will be injunctions filed, and then it’ll be a time period where they’ll be interviewing everybody,” Couture said. “There’s this time process too see any of that come before a judge and get ruled on, and just like in the situation I was in, how long is he going to want to wait?
“He’s been out for a little while now and not competed. How long is it that he wants to wait? How much money is that going to cost him to continue to fight that battle when he’s unable to fight and compete and make any money anywhere else? And then, what’s the likelihood? What if all of that [happens] and then they rule that the contract is still enforced and he still owes fights to WME and the UFC? Now he’s back to renegotiating and trying to make the fights happen that he wants to happen with that organization after all of that.”
While it may be many young fighter’s aspiration to one day fight for the UFC, Couture praises the work of other organizations such as the World Series of Fighting (WSOF) and Bellator who have seemed to have learned from the UFC’s mistakes. Despite all this, when it comes to the gold standard of MMA promotions, the UFC is still leading the charge by a sizable margin:
“I don’t think it’s their fault if the organization has ruled with an iron fist,” Couture said. “I’m an example of somebody that they’ve tried to black out, and that’s because of my stance with them almost from the very start over ancillary rights and the language in the contracts that they were trying to make me sign.
“Now the other promotions, like the World Series of Fighting and Bellator, have made up a lot ground because of things like the uniforms and the implementation of USADA without any athlete’s voice involved in that process. Some of the things that promotion is doing has allowed some of these other promotions to get traction. They’ve got good people behind them at NBC and with Viacom and the other places that they’re showing our sport. But at the end of the day, the gold standard, if you will, has been with the UFC.
“It’s synonymous with the sport in a lot of ways, so a lot of people aspire and want to fight in that organization. Well, if they want to fight in that organization, they’re going to have to sign that contract, as bad as that contract is.”
You can check out Couture’s interview on The MMA Hour here:
Despite the fact that Jon Jones’ fighting future is currently unclear due to his situation with the United States Anti-Doping Agency (USADA), UFC President Dana White had shown interest in booking top contender Anthony “Rumble” Johnson against “Bones”, the interim champion, rather than giving him a shot at reigning titleholder Daniel Cormier. Ultimately Johnson received
Despite the fact that Jon Jones’ fighting future is currently unclear due to his situation with the United States Anti-Doping Agency (USADA), UFC President Dana White had shown interest in booking top contender Anthony “Rumble” Johnson against “Bones”, the interim champion, rather than giving him a shot at reigning titleholder Daniel Cormier.
Ultimately Johnson received his wish, as he’s set to rematch Cormier in the main event of December 10’s UFC 206 from Toronto Canada. In fact, “Rumble” recently told MMAJunkie that he wasn’t going to accept any other bout aside from a title fight:
“It just came kind of out of the blue, and I said Dana’s crazy,” Johnson said. “I worked my ass off to get this title shot. I’m not about to let him or anybody else get in my way to get it. I wasn’t going to fight unless it was for the title, period. Because I deserved it.”
Johnson and Jones were actually scheduled to fight at April 2015’s UFC 187, but “Bones” was forced to withdraw from the bout due to legal issues. Cormier stepped up to replace him and ended up submitting Johnson to become the undisputed titleholder. Since losing to “DC”, “Rumble” has gone on a tear, scoring three straight knockout victories over the likes of Jimi Manuwa, Ryan Bader and Glover Teixeira.
With momentum behind him, Johnson is expecting a different outcome against Cormier this time around:
“I’m hungry,” Johnson said. “I wasn’t as hungry the first time because the opponent got changed up at the last minute, so it kind of threw me for a loop. This time I just plan on going out there and fighting. Why worry about who it is? Why worry about the crowd? Why worry about all the hype? I just want to fight.”
Who do you expect to walk away with 205-pound gold in December?
Reigning UFC middleweight champion Michael “The Count” Bisping recently defended his title for the very first time earlier this month at UFC 204 against Dan Henderson, but it was rumored that he could be making a quick turnaround against former longtime welterweight champion Georges St. Pierre at December 10’s UFC 206 from Canada. After three
Reigning UFC middleweight champion Michael “The Count” Bisping recently defended his title for the very first time earlier this month at UFC 204 against Dan Henderson, but it was rumored that he could be making a quick turnaround against former longtime welterweight champion Georges St. Pierre at December 10’s UFC 206 from Canada.
After three years away from the sport, St. Pierre made it clear that he was interested in making a return to the cage, but negotiations then took a downward turn as he recently said that he was a free agent, a claim that the UFC quickly disputed.
Given St. Pierre’s star power, especially in Canada, it’s likely that the promotion is still attempting to get him on the card, and Bisping is hoping for the same:
“Georges talked about fighting me a while ago and I’d love to fight the guy,” Bisping told Sport360.com. “It’d be terrific for me business-wise and I also think I’d beat the guy.”
“I’m here if you want to fight Georges, let’s go. Sign the papers, buddy, that’s all you’ve got to do.”
After his bout with Henderson, Bisping was given a 180 day medical suspension for the damage he took in that five round war, but the Brit says he has cleared his tests and is healthy and ready to compete:
“I had a CT scan after the fight and I’m all good,” he said. “There’s some misinformation going around, I don’t know where they’re all getting it, but they are incorrect. I’m good, I’m healthy. My leg is a little bruised, but a bit of ice and a few more days and I’ll be good to go.”
UFC 206 is currently set to be headlined by a light heavyweight title rematch between Daniel Cormier and Anthony Johnson.
Former UFC welterweight champion Georges St-Pierre seemed destined to return this year. After vacating the title in 2013, ‘GSP’ remained inactive, citing personal issues and the problems with the lack of drug testing. St-Pierre’s departure was met with shock from the fans, and with outrage from UFC president Dana White. The promotion reportedly had St-Pierre’s
Former UFC welterweight champion Georges St-Pierre seemed destined to return this year. After vacating the title in 2013, ‘GSP’ remained inactive, citing personal issues and the problems with the lack of drug testing. St-Pierre’s departure was met with shock from the fans, and with outrage from UFC president Dana White. The promotion reportedly had St-Pierre’s belt taken from his locker room and denied him access to the post-fight presser. ‘Rush’ then showed up half way through the conference before discussions with White and Lorenzo Fertitta ensued.
That was the last we’d see of ‘GSP’ during a UFC broadcast. Teasing a comeback frequently during his hiatus, it seemed 2016 would finally be the year of the former champ’s big return. With UFC 206 coming up in St-Pierre’s backyard, the stars appeared to be aligning. ‘Rush’ had expressed interest in fighting both middleweight champion Michael Bisping and his old foe Nick Diaz. All signs were pointing to a big return for ‘GSP’ in 2016, until things just fell apart, quite simply.
Dana White In No Rush
Announcing free agency this past week, ‘GSP’ claimed negotiations with the UFC had broken down. Apparently the controversial Reebok apparel deal was too much of a sticking point, and the Canadian’s lawyer had got the former champion out of his contract. The UFC disputed these claims, stating St-Pierre was indeed still under contract. Dana White once again said ‘Rush’ did not want to fight, to which the all-time great responded by saying only he knew what he wanted. With Rory MacDonald jumping ship to Bellator in 2016 too, sects of fans in Canada have banded together for a boycott of UFC 206.
The UFC enjoys healthy attendances when visiting Canada. The last time the promotion put on a show in Toronto, UFC 165, they scored a 15,000 strong crowd for Jones vs. Gustafsson. Taking to Twitter to voice their displeasure, Canadian fans of Georges St-Pierre have started a ‘Free GSP’ campaign, with the aim of boycotting UFC 206 if the promotion doesn’t release St-Pierre:
![1297488019998_ORIGINAL[1]](http://cdn.lowkickmma.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/1297488019998_ORIGINAL1.jpg)