MMA News: Georges St-Pierre believes Michael Bisping is 'Terrified' of him
What’s the story?
With UFC 217 just around the corner, the verbal sparring between headliners Georges St-Pierre and Michael Bisping has been escalating quickly.
The veteran fighters have had three heated encounters whilst promoting their main event fight on November 4th. In a recent interview with The MMA Hour, Georges St-Pierre revealed that he believes UFC Middleweight Champion Michael Bisping has shown a huge weakness in his game amidst his trash-talking...
“He’s playing always the same song. He’s terrified of me wrestling him. Terrified. In every interview he does, he’s begging me to stand and bang with him. In every interview. ...I mean, if you don’t know the ground, you shouldn’t be in MMA. You should be in kickboxing. Fighting on the ground is part of the game, and he’s terrified. So he wants me to be like, ‘Oh, okay, I’m going to stand and bang with you.’
In case you didn’t know…
St-Pierre is scheduled to challenge for the Middleweight Title against Bisping in the main event of UFC 217 on November 4th at Madison Square Garden in New York City.
It will be his first competitive fight since he defeated Johnny Hendricks in 2016 and is expected to be one of the most lucrative main events of the year for the UFC.
The heart of the matter
Before taking a four-year break from the sport, Georges St-Pierre was renowned for his dangerous take-downs and ground game in the UFC, whereas Bisping is renowned as a dangerous stand-up fighter with world-class striking skills.
Both fighters have indicated that they have spotted weaknesses in each other's style, however, St-Pierre did manage to leave some mystery around his overall game plan for the fight:
“I’m more confident in this than I was before. I trained a lot of [things] in the four years. People say you can’t reinvent yourself, but I’m going to prove that you can, and I’m going to prove it to everybody. I’m not the same guy that I was before, the last time. I have a lot more tools … and I’m specialized in different things. I have a lot of new tricks that I’m going to bring to the game.
What’s next?
Assuming there are no last-minute complications, St-Pierre and Bisping will face off in the main event of UFC 217 on November 4th, where we will see whose game plan prevails in the Octagon.
Author’s take
St-Pierre is recognised as one of the greatest UFC fighters of all time, and has every right to be confident heading into any fight. However, stepping up against a distinguished champion like Bisping after a four-year absence is an enormous challenge for even the most accomplished fighters.