Michael Bisping Expects Georges St-Pierre Fight Despite Dana White Cancel Threat

UFC middleweight champion Michael Bisping has said he expects his next fight to be against returning legend Georges St-Pierre, despite organisation president Dana White appearing to cancel the bout over timing issues.

Bisping said on his podcast Believe You Me (h/t Jed Meshew of MMA Fighting) that he still wants the fight to happen, and White has not contacted him after GSP revealed he wouldn't be able to battle after October.

The Brit said:

“Honestly, it’s news to me. I haven’t heard anything about it. I reached out to Georges and he said he hasn’t heard anything officially either, and I still haven’t heard anything from the UFC or Dana White. I know that a lot of people are complaining about this potential delay with Georges, so we’ll see what happens.

So yeah, to clarify, as of right now, no official word from the UFC. I haven’t heard anything, and Georges is still hoping for it, I’m still hoping for it. I’ll say this, I was offered the fight twice. I was offered the fight in October and it never materialized.

I was offered the fight in January or February and it did materialize and we had a press conference and we shook hands and we stood there in Las Vegas and we talked a bit of s--t. So OK, I haven’t had a bout agreement but that is the plan. That was the offer and I accepted, and I kind of feel that once a deal is made, we should stick to it.”

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According to the BBC, Yoel Romero has now been lined up to battle Bisping for his title, and White confirmed GSP is not ready to fight.

"Georges St-Pierre is saying he will not be ready to compete now until November," said White. "Who knows if that's even the case? It could be next year. So we're not waiting for Georges St-Pierre any more. We're moving on with the division, and Yoel Romero will get the next shot."

Bisping claimed title gold after defeating Luke Rockhold in June 2016 at UFC 199, becoming the UK's first champion in the organisation.