With only one short day remaining until tomorrow night’s (Sat., Nov. 4, 2017) UFC 217 from Madison Square Garden in New York City, New York, all of the fighters on 2017’s biggest UFC event will step onto the scales for the ceremonial weigh-ins this evening. The fighters made weight with surprising efficiency at today’s official early […]
With only one short day remaining until tomorrow night’s (Sat., Nov. 4, 2017) UFC 217 from Madison Square Garden in New York City, New York, all of the fighters on 2017’s biggest UFC event will step onto the scales for the ceremonial weigh-ins this evening.
The fighters made weight with surprising efficiency at today’s official early weigh-ins, a rare occurrence for the promotion as of late and a positive sign that UFC 217 should deliver some of the anticipated MMA action the lineup promises. With three title fights including Michael Bisping facing Georges St-Pierre in his UFC return, Cody Garbrandt taking on hated rival TJ Dillashaw, and Joanna Jedrzejczyk’s attempt to tie Ronda Rousey’s record for most female title defenses versus Rose Namajunas, the stage is set for a big night in The Big Apple.
Watch the competitors step on the scale and square off one last time in the ceremonial weigh-ins starting live at 6 pm ET/3 pm PT right here:
Last night (Thurs., November 2, 2017) bantamweight champion Cody Garbrandt took his rivalry with former champion and teammate TJ Dillashaw to an all-new level when he posted footage of him allegedly knocking Dillashaw out in training. The two obviously had a heated rivalry pre-installed dating back to their days as Team Alpha Male teammates, where […]
The two obviously had a heated rivalry pre-installed dating back to their days as Team Alpha Male teammates, where Dillashaw supposedly ended Chris Holdsworth’s career with a dirty knee to the head. That was only heightened when the two signed to coach The Ultimate Fighter (TUF) 25 opposite one another earlier this year where the rivals’ disdain for one another became apparent.
Although their scheduled bout was delayed until the co-main event of UFC 217 from New York this weekend (November 4, 2017) when Garbrandt injured his back, the hype and trash talk picked up right where it left off this week when Garbrandt claimed Dillashaw couldn’t “condition his f*cking chin” and that he had “showed Team Alpha Male how to use steroids.” But posting the training footage of his alleged knockout over Dillashaw, which is a sort of an unspoken no-no in many MMA gyms, was the straw that broke the proverbial camel’s back – yet it undoubtedly resulted in some major last-minute push for the bout.
Dillashaw predictably responded with what many online viewers were thinking, that Garbrandt indeed dropped him with a big punch in the video but was far from knocking him out like he claimed, because Dillashaw appeared to get back up to his feet immediately. When presented with that notion on Twitter, Garbrandt quickly responded that Dillashaw “couldn’t even walk” and would have had his skull “pounded in” were it a real fight in the cage:
Lmao he couldn't even walk after that strike hit him ???????? I would of pounded his skull in.
Regardless of the details, however, hype and attention for the already anticipated bout were fostered at just the right time, and that fact may just have pushed the fight into the territory of being the ‘real’ UFC 217 main event.
Photo Credit: Joe Camporeale for USA TODAY Sports
Yes, longtime former welterweight champion Georges St-Pierre will return to the Octagon after nearly four years off to face middleweight champion Michael Bisping in the official UFC 217 main event, but for a bout of that magnitude on paper, it’s getting comparatively little buzz or attention.
Part of that may be to the oft-discussed theory that current MMA fans don’t remember St-Pierre as they’ve only recently started watching during the Conor McGregor/Ronda Rousey era, which is a bit ridiculous but could be true nonetheless, part of it could be St-Pierre’s admitted lack of skill at talking trash, something that obviously hurts him in today’s smack talk-centered UFC landscape, and part of it may be the dislike for Bisping’s perceived holding hostage of the middleweight title, as he’s only defended his belt once against an aging Dan Henderson as the wholly deserving top contenders in his division fought each other and eliminated themselves from the running, save for injured interim champ Robert Whittaker.
No matter what, Bisping vs. St-Pierre, although a massive bout featured two of the legitimately best fighters in UFC history, just isn’t getting the heat a fight of that scope should. There is no backstory present like there is with Garbrandt vs. Dillashaw, and there is certainly no knockout video, even though Bisping and St-Pierre did train together in the past, with “GSP” reportedly getting the better of “The Count.”
So with many in the MMA world prognosticating a lack of hype and therefore a lack of quantifiable numbers for UFC 217, Garbrandt may have pushed attention for his bout to the point where people want to tune in for the co-main event more than the main event. It may not prove true, but Dillashaw recently cited an online poll where supposedly 70 percent of responders wanted to see Garbrandt vs. Dillashaw more than any other bout at UFC 217.
If that does become the case this weekend, then Garbrandt’s training footage could have been the perfect stunt to pull at the last minute, and it could result in a decent boost on the final box office receipts.
Based on pure meritocracy and accomplishment, Bisping and St-Pierre obviously hold all the cards over the younger bantamweights, but in today’s UFC landscape, generating the most hype and buzz, usually on social media, is what it takes to push a bout into must-watch territory.
That’s why Garbrandt vs. Dillashaw may have just become UFC 217’s ‘real main event.’
Middleweight champion Michael Bisping and top-ranked welterweight Jorge Masvidal both have two incredibly important bouts on the main card of tomorrow’s (Sat., Nov. 4, 2017) UFC 217 from Madison Square Garden in New York City, New York, but it’s starting to seem that they’d rather just fight one another instead. After getting into a heated verbal […]
Middleweight champion Michael Bisping and top-ranked welterweight Jorge Masvidal both have two incredibly important bouts on the main card of tomorrow’s (Sat., Nov. 4, 2017) UFC 217 from Madison Square Garden in New York City, New York, but it’s starting to seem that they’d rather just fight one another instead.
After getting into a heated verbal confrontation in the days leading up to UFC 217 earlier this week, the two brash stars met face-to-face again at a photo shoot, and not surprisingly, the expletives started to fly once again.
The beef appears to be a genuinely real one, as it’s highly unlikely the two would ever fight in the Octagon given Bisping’s tendency to pick and choose his fights, of which he reportedly has very few left in his decorated career, very carefully.
Check out his second run-in with “Gamebred” courtesy of Abraham Kawa on Instagram right here:
We’re only two nights away from this weekend’s (Sat., Nov. 4, 2017) blockbuster UFC 217 from Madison Square Garden in New York City, New York. The biggest MMA card of 2017 so far features an unprecedented three title fights when middleweight champion Michael Bisping takes on returning former welterweight champion Georges St-Pierre in the main event, […]
We’re only two nights away from this weekend’s (Sat., Nov. 4, 2017) blockbuster UFC 217 from Madison Square Garden in New York City, New York.
The biggest MMA card of 2017 so far features an unprecedented three title fights when middleweight champion Michael Bisping takes on returning former welterweight champion Georges St-Pierre in the main event, while bantamweight champ Cody Garbrandt meets archrival TJ Dillashaw and dominant women’s strawweight champ Joanna Jedrzejczyk battles Rose Namjunas.
To kick things into full swing, the fighters are set to participate in a pre-fight press conference today (Thurs., November 2, 2017).
Michael Bisping and Jorge Masvidal may be fighting in two incredibly high-profile bouts when they meet Georges St-Pierre and Stephen “Wonderboy” Thompson, respectively, at this weekend’s (Sat., Nov. 4, 2017) UFC 217 from Madison Square Garden in New York City, New York, but that doesn’t mean they can’t drum up a beef amongst themselves. That was […]
Michael Bisping and Jorge Masvidal may be fighting in two incredibly high-profile bouts when they meet Georges St-Pierre and Stephen “Wonderboy” Thompson, respectively, at this weekend’s (Sat., Nov. 4, 2017) UFC 217 from Madison Square Garden in New York City, New York, but that doesn’t mean they can’t drum up a beef amongst themselves.
That was the case in New York today (Wed., November 1, 2017), where Bisping and Masvidal crossed paths and a heated war of words ensued. Needless to say (and not surprisingly) many expletives were thrown about by “The Count” and “Gamebred,” and Bisping even tossed out a steroid accusation towards Masvidal’s Amercian Top Team (ATT) teammate Yoel Romero while Masvidal used a homophobic slur that unfortunately seems to be working its way into too many MMA-related scuffles these days.
Watch the encounter courtesy of Abraham Kawa on Instagram right here:
It may not be receiving the hype one would expect the biggest pay-per-view (PPV) event of the year to garner, but nonetheless, the promotion is set to deliver what appears to be just that, at least on paper, with this Saturday night’s (Nov. 4, 2017) UFC 217 from Madison Square Garden in New York City, New […]
It may not be receiving the hype one would expect the biggest pay-per-view (PPV) event of the year to garner, but nonetheless, the promotion is set to deliver what appears to be just that, at least on paper, with this Saturday night’s (Nov. 4, 2017) UFC 217 from Madison Square Garden in New York City, New York.
In the main event, longtime former welterweight champ Georges St-Pierre will make his return to the Octagon against controversial middleweight champion Michael Bisping after almost four years away from the sport in a bout that has gained a ton of criticism from MMA fans for letting Bisping avoid the top contenders in the stacked 185-pound division while St-Pierre jumps the line.
The co-main event features one of the most heated grudge matches of the year when bantamweight champion Cody Garbrandt finally makes his first title defense against rival former teammate (and former champion) TJ Dillashaw.
Finally, dominant women’s strawweight champion Joanna Jedrzejczyk will attempt to tie Ronda Rousey’s record for most consecutive UFC title defense by a female with six when she meets Rose Namajunas for the belt. Supposed lack of buzz aside, this card is simply stacked.
Get ready for the blockbuster event from New York with the full UFC 217 Countdown video below:
