Dana White scraps plans for Georges St-Pierre vs. Michael Bisping
Georges St-Pierre may be coming back to the UFC, but it appears he's no longer going to face Michael Bisping in his return to the Octagon.
After several delays to the proposed matchup between St-Pierre and Bisping, UFC president Dana White has decided to take the fight off the table and instead give the next title shot to No. 1 ranked middleweight contender Yoel Romero.
White's frustration over the situation stems from St-Pierre just recently releasing a message where he invited Bisping to pick a date for their fight after October when the matchup was originally supposed to take place in July.
White finally said enough is enough and he's pushing forward with a new fight between Bisping and Romero later this year.
“I made this GSP fight, we did a press conference. The thing was supposed to happen in July. Michael Bisping is going to have to defend his title now. We’re not waiting for GSP,” White told FOX Sports Australia’s "UFC Fight Week".
“(Yoel) doesn’t need to voice his opinion on why he needs a title shot. He definitely deserves a title shot. He’s next in line, he’s the No. 1 ranked guy in the world."
The shocking turn of events comes on the heels of numerous contenders at middleweight complaining about St-Pierre getting a shot at the title while Bisping would be sitting out for over a year without defending the belt. St-Pierre is returning to the UFC for the first time in nearly four years but has never competed at middleweight during his career.
Romero was declared the No. 1 contender following his stunning knockout win over former champion Chris Weidman last November, but he stepped aside when the UFC decided to match up Bisping with St-Pierre.
Now it appears the former Olympic silver medalist will get his shot after all and from the sound of things, the bout with Bisping will come together sooner rather than later.
“Georges St-Pierre was coming back. Bisping-St-Pierre — they both wanted that fight. We asked Yoel to step aside, he did. It doesn’t look like that fight is gonna happen now. Georges St-Pierre is saying he will not be ready to compete now until November. Who knows if that’s even the case. It could be next year," White lamented.
“So we’re not waiting for Georges St-Pierre any more. We’re moving on with the division, and Yoel Romero will get the next shot.”
