GSP will return against Bisping

TORONTO The UFC has decided against matching Georges StPierre with current title-holder Tyron (The Chosen One) Woodley, opting instead to return to its original plan and have the Canadian star make his comeback against middleweight champion Michael Bisping.

UFC president Dana White made the announcement after Woodley’s calculated but drab title defence against Brazilian submission ace Demian Maia at UFC 214 on Saturday night.

“Because I know Michael Bisping will fight,” White told the post-fight news conference when asked about the change in opponent. “Michael Bisping will show up and he will fight. So yeah, I’m going to give it to him.”

White said there was no date set yet.

The 36-year-old St-Pierre, who has not fought since November 2013, reacted to the news with a thumbs-up and happy face emoji in a text to The Canadian Press.

He also posted a picture of him having breakfast with coach Jorge Blanco, saying he had “started planning how I’m gonna beat Bisping!”

Bisping responded via social media: “Looks like George (sic) had a good bowlful of make believe for breakfast.”

Woodley, in his post-fight interview in the cage Saturday, cited St-Pierre as his next assignment on Nov. 4 in New York.

But White was unhappy at the lack of spectacle in the Woodley-Maia fight, which set a record for the fewest punches thrown in a five-round UFC title fight.

Woodley (18-3-1) was unapologetic after the fight, calling it “a chess match and I won it convincingly.”

On Monday, he told “The MMA Hour” that he won despite a torn labrum suffered in the first round and that he was upset at the lack of postfight respect from White.

Bisping is the high-profile opponent St-Pierre wanted in ending his hiatus in February when he signed a new contract with the UFC. But White pulled it from the table after the Montreal star said he wasn’t ready to fight until November because of an eye injury.