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Why GSP vs Bisping Is The Right Fight
In November 2013 Georges St Pierre beat Johnny Hendricks to defend his Welterweight title. His run of defences up to that point included Jon Fitch, Jake Shields, Carlos Condit, BJ Penn & Nick Diaz. The fight against Hendricks was a razor close one that is still debated today, but the long and the short of it is, St Pierre won, and retained his title. He then retired, a legend of the sport.
In the years in between, much has changed in the MMA landscape, and in the UFC in particular. USADA has cast a strong shadow over the sport and we've seen many fighters banned for 1-2 years for failed drugs tests. Subtly, this has seen fighters rise to the top that we may never have expected to, and Michael Bisping is the epitome of this. What St Pierre & Bisping have in common, is their frequent calls for a clean sport, and from two athletes who have competed clean in long and illustrious careers, this is an important thing to note as the time comes for them to fight each other.
In the middle of his career, Bisping suffered losses to Chael Sonnen, Vitor Belfort, Wanderlai Silva & Dan Henderson. All four of these fighters have questionable records when it comes to talking about clean fighters. Henderson was a TRT user for many years. Sonnen has all but admitted his use of cheating to get ahead of the pack. Belfort is one of the poster children of MMA for failed tests. And Silva failed due to, quite literally, running from a test. If USADA had been enforcing stricter policies for the last decade, make no mistake, Bisping may not have taken until the twilight of his career to win the Middleweight title.
Yoel Romero is the number one contender to the MW title in most people eyes after brutally knocking out Chris Weidman, but many question marks hang over Romero both from a USADA smell test point of view, and from his questionable conduct in the ring. In an era where the sport is attempting to become a drug free, even playing field, he is the last person who deserves to fight for a title.
Jacara Souza is the number one contender in my personal opinion. A run of wins, marred only by a questionable decision loss to Romero, make him Bispings most dangerous opponent, and would be an intriguing match up. Jacare doesn't have a fan friendly style though, and though many of us want to see grapplers as much as knockout artists, we have to accept the sport needs to sell tickets to exist. Unfortunately Jacare isn't the kind of fighter that sells tickets.
So we come to GSP. Three and a half years since his last fight, no one knows if he'll be the same fighter. No one ever took him to the places Hendricks did in his last, brutal fight. Retirement suggested it had taken the spirit from Georges, and at this point, few thought he'd return. But return he has, and to a division 15lbs above the one he dominated for so long. This isn't a surprise, three years older, and without IV's, he may feel the weight cut to 170lbs is too much, and it's surprising so many think MW isn't where he now belongs. But the biggest thing people are neglecting to see as they cry for Bisping to fight Romero or Jacare, is what GSP wants.
A legend of the sport deserves respect, and GSP is undeniably one of those. Maybe he didn't want to fight a young, hungry fighter like Woodley on his return. Maybe he just wants one last fight, one last payday, before he concentrates on his life outside of the cage. Maybe he mistakenly sees Bisping like a lot of fans, an easy fight and a lucky champion. Whatever the case though, the point is moot. GSP is back, and this is the fight he wants.
After the career he's had, and the blood, sweat & tears he's put into MMA. That's the only important thing here. If anyone deserves to return on his own terms, just like he went out on them. It's Georges St Pierre.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Dreville79 is an MMA enthusiast and author highly respected by no one in the MMA or Journalistic world. His lack of training and MMA experience is impressive even amongst UGers, and he's competed in absolutely nothing. On top of the lack of achievements mentioned, he also has almost no grammatical knowledge. We feel this lack of competence make him a worthy addition to the UG Blog, and we're honoured to have him here