it seems that Georges St-Pierre might be looking for a fight with the biggest draw in the UFC if he can take out Michael Bisping at UFC 217.
Georges St-Pierre will be making his long-awaited return to the Octagon at UFC 217 in November when he meets Michael Bisping for the UFC middleweight title. It will be GSP’s first fight at 185 pounds, but with Tyron Woodley ruling the 170-pound division and generating very little fan interest, GSP asked for and received the more lucrative opponent in Bisping.
If GSP can become the fifth multi-division champion in UFC history with a win over Bisping, many wonder where he’ll go from there. A matchup with interim champion Robert Whittaker should await either winner of the bout, but that may not be the case, especially in the “new” UFC. GSP’s teammate Olivier Aubin-Mercier believes that the Candian legend may have another plan in mind if he wins, and it’ll involve the current biggest draw in the sport. He explained what he thinks to The TSN MMA Show (transcribed by TSN):
“I think what would be possible is if he called out Conor [McGregor] after. If Georges wins, he's the biggest MMA fighter of all-time. If Conor wins, he is too and if [Georges] wins, I don't think people are going to hold it against Conor.”
“I think Conor is a smart fight for anybody in any division right now,” added Aubin-Mercier.
He also said the fight with Whittaker, while intriguing, isn’t going to be as lucrative:
“I think the promotion of the fight would not be like Bisping against him or Conor against him since both GSP and Whittaker are humble guys and unfortunately fans don't really like that.”
He’s not wrong - obviously a GSP/McGregor fight would be one of the biggest draws in UFC history, while a title defense against Whittaker would draw a fraction of the audience. This is when it comes down to sports vs. entertainment though, and it seems the UFC has definitely leaned in the entertainment direction more lately though.
First things first though - St-Pierre has to get though the current middleweight champion in Madison Square Garden at UFC 217 before any of this can happen.
