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GSP Officially Re-signs With The UFC

3K views 39 replies 21 participants last post by  kantowrestler 
#1 ·
Georges St-Pierre, the former UFC welterweight champion and a man widely considered to be the greatest 170-pound fighter to ever compete, is officially back under the UFC umbrella.

St-Pierre inked a new deal with the promotion on Friday, setting the stage for a return to the UFC more than three years after St-Pierre stepped away from the sport.

MMA Fighting confirmed the news Friday following an initial report by Lance Pugmire of the Los Angeles Times. MMA Fighting’s Ariel Helwani previously reported on Wednesday that St-Pierre and the UFC were close to finalizing a new contract.

St-Pierre, 35, now returns to the same organization he ruled over from 2007 until 2013 as one of the most popular figures in the sport. He defended his UFC welterweight title nine consecutive times throughout his second title reign — a record for the division — culminating in a hard-fought split decision over Johny Hendricks in Nov. 2013.

After his victory over Hendricks, St-Pierre surprised many within MMA by vacating the belt and exiting the UFC on top, however he cautioned to never use the word “retired” to describe himself throughout his leave.

“Rush” first announced his desire to come back to MMA in June 2016 on The MMA Hour, revealing his desire to return to the Octagon and challenge UFC middleweight champion Michael Bisping. What followed was a quagmire of contractual issues with the UFC that complicated that return, culminating in an Oct. 2016 interview on The MMA Hour during which St-Pierre announced that he was a free agent and had terminated his UFC contract.

Those fences were ultimately mended, however, and MMA Fighting reported Wednesday that St-Pierre is now targeting a UFC fight in the third quarter of 2017.

When he returns, St-Pierre (25-2) will hit the ground running on a 12-fight win streak that includes victories over Hendricks, Carlos Condit, Nick Diaz, Jake Shields, B.J. Penn, Matt Hughes, and Jon Fitch, among others.

A two-time UFC welterweight champion and pioneer for Canadian MMA, St-Pierre will turn 36 years old this upcoming May.
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Been a good day for the UFC, the return of GSP and Cyborg. Some much needed star power.
 
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#2 ·
They need it. They better strike the iron while it's hot cuz the last generation of superstars are aging w/ only one true mega superstar left who's currently looking to cash in on a boxing bout.

If they were truly smart they'd do a GSP vs Bisping or Anderson fight.
 
#4 ·
I think we'll see a different beast in his return fight, he's still been training like a fighter in his absence and he claims to have learned a lot of new stuff. It could be Bisping, Silva or Woodley for his return, honestly I think he beats all them all.
 
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#5 ·
GSP hands down was probably the best master strategist. His early fights pre UFC were very different. He was a very reckless and offense type of fighter. Look at his TKO fights. Then early on in the UFC he was quite dynamic, then of course his loss to Hughes and Serra completely changed his mindset. I suppose ya gotta lose sometimes (badly even) to evolve for the better.

I need to watch him vs Anderson.
 
#7 ·
They will probably pay him a million per fight at the very least. Theres no way they will pair him up with some gate keeper. GSP fights are prime time. He may only fight 2 or 3 times. Each of those fights have to be BIG fights.

My money is on him getting a title shot immediately.
 
#10 ·
I'm glad the word "resigns" in the title didn't mean what I thought it did.

It would be terrible if GSP resigned after re-signing with the UFC.

(I don't even know how re-sign/re sign is supposed to be spelled blech)
 
#12 ·
Just imagine if he fight Bisping for the title. Bisping could have a win over Anderson Silva and title defences against Dan Henderson and GSP.

GOAT Bisping.



I only really caught the tail end of GSP, so don't find this very exciting. The second fight against BJ made me hate him and then the Hendricks fight I thought no way in hell he won.
 
#14 ·
I think if Bisping somehow wins his fight against Romero (not likely) GSP should get the next shot cause in all honesty that would be the easier fight. The only reason why Bisping got the belt was because Rockhold underestimated him and he kept the belt because Henderson was just old. Successfully defending the belt against GSP, good luck with that!
 
#15 ·
But.... GSP is a 5ft 8 (listed 5ft 10 on sherdog, but we all know that i bullshit, maybe in heels) 170lber, i wouldn't be that confident he can come back off a layoff and beat a big MW, with takedown defense like Bisping.

If not Silva, then GSP should come back at 170, i think he could poke Woodley with his jab for about.... 4 hours, if he wanted. Wonderboy... could be rough, might struggle getting in range for his takedowns, still has a better chance than at 185.
 
#16 ·
Well come to think of it I was thinking that middleweight was thin because of the champion but then again guys like Jacare, Romero and Weidman make it rather competitive. Yeah he would be better off at welterweight where he fits in size wise. Though I keep wondering why everyone is saying he should fight Conor considering GSP has karate skills that could blow Conor out of the water.
 
#20 ·
meh, I'm not that enthused, and I'm a huge fan. Ring rust and a wonky knee - I don't want him coming back to a top-tier guy for his first fight, at the very least, and I hope he sticks to Welterweight. Silva would be his retirement fight, W or L. I just envision him as being a bit slower and not as hungry. Can anyone retire at the top of their game and simply leave it at that?
 
#26 ·
To far away IMO. Bisping needs to fight GSP in may or defend against Romero.

If he loses to Romero then the GSP fight will probably not happen.

I don't expect GSP to want the Bisping fight, the more I think about. GSP wanted to create some noise about his return to use as leverage, what better way to do that than mention Bisping, who in turn would create a lot of noise about himself.
 
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#38 ·
I would really like to see the Bisping fight. GSP at 185lbs would be something to see, he's a large WW anyways so he just wouldn't have to cut much weight. It would be a good fight imo. I know he stated he won't fight Wonderboy so he's most likely not getting a crack at that WW belt. A fight at 155lbs with McGregor would be nice but I think he gets KO'd at that weight from all the cutting.
 
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