There’s no shortage of potential contenders for new UFC middleweight champion Michael Bisping’s first title defense, but the new king of the hill is more than willing to add another huge star to the list for good measure.
The star he has in mind is former welterweight champion Georges St. Pierre, and the idea appears to stem from a lengthy Facebook post that GSP’s coach John Danaher posted recently, praising Bisping on his title success, while pointing out that it now leaves both ‘The Count’ and St. Pierre tied for the most wins in UFC history – 19.
Ariel Helwani brought this fact to Bisping’s attention on the latest edition of ‘The MMA Hour’ radio show, and the middleweight champion admitted that the thought of fighting the Canadian superstar had crossed his mind.
“It kind of has now that you mentioned it,” Bisping said. “As you said, fighting Georges St-Pierre [would be] great, and of course for the title for who has the most wins in UFC history…I mean, that alone is a fantastic tagline and great promotion. And of course, the numbers would be fantastic with Georges St-Pierre, he’s a massive, proven draw, and at the end of the day we’ll try to generate as much money as possible.
“I do want to defend the belt, and I want to make as much money as I can in the process. So, I would certainly be open to sending Georges St-Pierre back to a movie set because that would be a fight I would definitely win and if Georges St-Pierre is listening, any time you fancy it, just be a man and sign on the dotted line and your return will be short-lived.”
In his interview, Bisping also seemed open to the idea of fighting Ronaldo ‘Jacare’ Souza, while he suggested that two other top contenders, Luke Rockhold and Chris Weidman should fight to establish a new No.1 contender.
In addition, Bisping indicated that he was also eager to avenge an infamous loss at UFC 100 to Dan Henderson.
“Of course, there’s been talk about Dan Henderson, which kind of came out of the blue,” Bisping admitted. “Dan Henderson kind of tweeted it out, and Joe Rogan put a picture on Instagram, and that seems to be getting a lot of traction. Of course, that is a fight that I would love. There hasn’t been any kind of offer or anything like that, but that’s a fight that I would take because everybody knows about UFC 100, and Dan Henderson still has an image of him floating above my head while I’m knocked out as his logo. So, I would like to put him in his place.”
Whoever he ends up facing, Bisping suggests that his first title defense will take place later in the year, and he hopes that the UFC will agree to let him do so in his own home patch in Manchester, England.
