Former UFC welterweight champion Georges St. Pierre made his triumphant octagon return at UFC 217 with a brilliant performance against Michael Bisping. The smaller GSP was able to out land and score takedowns during the fight, although he did have some scary moments with Bisping bloodying him up with hard elbows from the bottom.
St. Pierre ultimately landed a hard shot in the third round that rocked Bisping and was able to take his back. GSP’s squeeze was so on point that “The Count” didn’t even have a chance to tap and was ultimately choked unconscious.
Interim-middleweight champion Robert Whittaker was watching cage side since he’s supposed to face the winner and offered his opinion on Georges St. Pierre’s performance.
“To be honest, he looked slower than he’s ever been,” Whittaker said of Georges St. Pierre when speaking to the Australian media. “He’s just as crafty. You can see the intelligence is still there. His fight IQ is still there. He obviously hits harder at middleweight. But I hit hard and I hit fast — and much harder and faster than Bisping. And I have much better defence than Bisping. So it looks good.”
“I’m happy to wait,” Whittaker continued. “Fighting a legend like that is worth the time. My wants have to go on the back seat a bit for him. He’s a living legend and in respect I’ll do that. But if he’s going to hang around at middleweight we’ll touch gloves eventually. I’m confident.”
