Georges St-Pierre out Indefinitely After Being Diagnosed with Colitis

UFC middleweight champion Georges St-Pierre will reportedly be sidelined for a while as he has come down with colitis.

Dana White, the UFC president, confirmed the news on Saturday, per Mike Bohn and John Morgan of MMAJunkie. He said: "They called me yesterday and I think it's out that he has colitis. So he's out for a minute."

GSP returned to the Octagon at UFC 217 after a four-year hiatus and beat middleweight champion Michael Bisping to claim the title. Things had gone quiet around the 36-year-old since then, with fans expecting an announcement regarding his next fight soon.

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Rising star Robert Whittaker beat Yoel Romero for the interim title at UFC 213, and the 26-year-old appeared the favourite to be announced as his next opponent.

GSP has spent the bulk of his career at welterweight, so the Canadian could also return to one of the lower divisions to face someone like dominant champion Tyron Woodley.

A prolonged spell on the sidelines for GSP would be bad news for the middleweight division. Bisping's injury problems almost brought the division to a complete standstill, with former contenders Luke Rockhold and Chris Weidman forced to take a patient approach on their way back to the top.

Whittaker and Kelvin Gastelum both have plenty of momentum, and Romero remains a hugely popular fighter―the UFC can't afford for this exciting division to grind to a halt yet again.