St-Pierre promises to win comeback bout at UFC 217
TORONTO — It seemed only fitting that the UFC chose the Hockey Hall of Fame to hype Georges St-Pierre’s comeback fight against middleweight champion Michael Bisping.
Back in 2010, UFC president Dana White stirred a Maple Leaf hornet’s nest when he declared that GSP, then welterweight title-holder and mixed martial arts’ pay-per-view king, was the “most famous athlete to ever, ever — in the history of the world — come out of Canada.”
When someone brought up Wayne Gretzky’s name, White doubled down.
“Super nice guy,” he said of No. 99. “Got nothing against him. Fly him over to England, fly him over to Asia, fly him to anywhere in Europe, Georges St-Pierre gets mobbed, nobody knows who the hell Wayne Gretzky is.”
Seven years later, White may have seen the irony of sitting centre stage in the Hockey Hall of Fame’s Great Hall, with Gretzky and other hockey legends looking down from their induction panels.
“This is cool,” said White, no doubt hoping that GSP’s appeal lives on four years after his last fight.
While White and GSP were on their best behaviour Friday, Bisping (31-7-0) embraced his role as heel ahead of the Nov. 4 showdown at UFC 217 at Madison Square Garden.
The brash Brit, who now calls sunny California home, made fun of St-Pierre’s French accent, accused him of taking steroids, called him a boring fighter and a “lizard,” and dubbed the pro-GSP fans in the audience “douchebags.”
“You’re going to jab-jab, double-leg (takedown), bore everyone to sleep,” Bisping said. “I, on the other side, am going to try and knock you out.”
“I am going to do whatever I want to do whenever I want to do it,” replied StPierre, promising he won’t need five rounds to finish Bisping.
Most bookies have made the 36-year-old St-Pierre (25-2-0) a slight favourite over the 38-year-old Bisping.