GSP saving his jabs for return to Octagon
The last time Dana White sat on stage with two fighters in Toronto, Conor McGregor and Floyd Mayweather put on an over-the-top show.
Friday, White was back, this time with Georges St-Pierre and Michael Bisping in tow, and the results were significantly more subdued.
In front of only an intimate crowd of 60 or so fans at the Hockey Hall of Fame, St-Pierre and Bisping took verbal shots at each other, but the overwhelming take-away from Friday’s press conference was that the fighters share an underlying respect for one another. How could they not? With McGregor and Mayweather, the goal of an entire summer’s worth of media events was to convince the world they shared enough animosity that anything could happen in a fight that was easy to dismiss as a dumb stunt.
There’s no need to do that with a fight between an MMA legend in St-Pierre and the UFC’s current middleweight champion. Everyone knows they can fight.
While it might not have compared to July’s McGregor-Mayweather madhouse, Friday wasn’t without fireworks. Bisping, in particular, was in a punchy mood and took shots at everything from Canada’s inability to produce another MMA star other than St-Pierre — which is rich, coming from an English guy — the fans in the audience sporting GSP’s signature headbands and the Montrealer’s tame onstage push after last week’s press conference in Las Vegas.
For his part, St-Pierre refused to engage.
“All this is a mind game, I’m used to that,” said St-Pierre, who hasn’t fought since beating Johny Hendricks in late 2013. “They always come out with the same song, I’ve heard it before ... English is not my first language. If I would start a war of words with Michael, obviously he’s British, I’m French-Canadian.
“My English is not as good as his, so he will win every time. I choose my battles, I’m going to fight him in the Octagon and beat him there.”
Big night brewing
A day after the UFC announced a welterweight matchup between Robbie Lawler and Rafael dos Anjos will headline UFC Fight Night: Winnipeg Dec. 16, the promotion announced the co-headliner, too.
The co-main event will officially feature former featherweight champion Jose Aldo returning to the Octagon for a fight against Ricardo Lamas.
That’s the top-ranked 145-pound contender in Aldo taking on the guy currently ranked No. 3.
On a card that already features big names like Antonio Rogerio Nogueira, Glover Teixeira and Canada’s own Misha Cirkunov, there’s now some serious star power at the top of the ticket.
Speaking with TSN Friday, White confirmed whoever wins between Lawler and dos Anjos will get the next shot at 170-pound champion Tyron Woodley.
Meanwhile, Aldo’s recent history — he lost the featherweight belt to Max Holloway in June — likely means he needs to win a couple fights before he gets another crack at the belt, while Lamas is riding a two-fight win streak.
There are often complaints about the strength of the UFC’s cards when the company comes to Canada, but Dec. 16 is shaping up to be a spectacular night in Winnipeg.