This weekend, UFC returns to Madison Square Garden with a stacked line-up for UFC 217: Bisping vs GSP. Featuring a trio of title bouts, including the long-awaited return of Georges St. Pierre – albeit under somewhat unusual circumstances – this promises to be a good card on paper. For all you gambling types, take a look at the updated betting odds for UFC 217. Keep in mind that since the event is in NYC, we can expect all kinds of wackiness with refereeing, judging, and all other things which involve the New York State Athletic Commission, so play at your own risk.
[#1 MW] (C) Michael Bisping vs [NR] Georges St. Pierre for the UFC Middleweight Championship
To be honest, I am not particularly excited for this fight. Partly because I am not a huge fan of either fighter, partly because I would like to see Michael Bisping defend his title against the interim champion (WME-UFC lingo for #1 contender) Robert Whittaker instead of taking another meaningless “money fight”, and partly because St. Pierre returning as a middleweight and getting an immediate title shot makes no sense. I guess asking for UFC matchmaking to make sense may be asking too much at this point. GSP has not fought in four years, leaving the sport and his welterweight title after winning a very controversial decision against Johny Hendricks at UFC 167. There are plenty of interesting matchups available for Georges in the welterweight division, and even walking directly into a title shot against Woodley would have been better than once again holding up the middleweight title picture. Hell, a rematch with Hendricks would have made more sense than the Bisping fight, alas Johny is also a middleweight these days…
If recent photos and comments from one of his long time coaches are anything to judge by, GSP is not carrying the extra weight well and it is questionable how his never-ending cardio has held up with the age, weight gain, and long layoff. Bisping in the meanwhile has evolved into an elite fighter late in his career, favorable matchups aside. I think GSP will be greatly out sized, and for the first time in his career out-performed in terms of endurance. St Pierre always excelled mainly due to his ability to keep the fight in the area where he has an advantage over his opponents, whether it be striking or on the ground. With Bisping, St. Pierre’s advantage is definitely on the ground – but we have historically seen many aging wrestlers find it more and more difficult to take down their opponents like they once used to, and with his lack of striking power GSP may be forced to fight Bisping on the feet for extended parts of the fight which will likely go the distance. It won’t be pretty or exciting, but it will be more of a typical Bisping fight than a typical GSP fight.
Prediction: Michael Bisping by decision.
