GSP ready for UFC return; eyeing Michael Bisping, big name fights

The UFC and fights fans everywhere received some wonderful news on Monday, courtesty of The MMA Hour: Former UFC welterweight champion Georges St-Pierre is ready to end his nearly three-year long hiatus and he wants the biggest fights, specifically with the newly crowned middleweight champion.

"There are two things I'm very proud of," he told Ariel Helwani. "There's my title, my welterweight title that I won, and there's another record that I hold for the most wins (19) in UFC history. And now I have someone who's challenging me for it in Michael Bisping."

The always brash Bisping shocked the world just a few weeks ago with a first-round knockout of then champion Luke Rockhold at UFC 199. Prior to that, he defeated one of the all-time greats in Anderson Silva via unanimous decision which made the Brit one of the biggest draws in the sport.

"I always said if I come back, my first fight would be something big that gives me the chills and he's a bigger name right now.

"There are a lot of guys hunting him, but if it's a fight that the UFC wants and the fans want, if it creates a buzz and the money is there, because we're in a business, I'm down for it," St-Pierre added.

When asked about potential opponents in Conor McGregor or Nate Diaz, the three-time Rogers Sportsnet Canadian Athlete of the Year said, "I do not run after these guys, but if they call me out and if it's what the fans want - I know he's a big draw, huge draw - I'm in interest of fighting him and I think I can beat both of these guys too. As a fighter I'm confident, you know, that I'm the best. But if it's something, like I said the world doesn't turn around me, but if it's something UFC wants to do they got my number. They know where to reach me. And if it's something the fans want to do they can create a buzz. If there is a buzz around it, it will happen."

St-Pierre admitted that he currently walks around at 187 pounds which is quite small in comparison to the other welterweights, so moving down to the lightweight division for him where fighters weigh in at 155 pounds could be an option. The division, belonging to champion Rafael Dos Anjos, includes the likes of Khabib Nurmagomedov, Eddie Alvarez and Donald Cerrone, who aren't exactly household names, at least not to your casual MMA fan. It would be unthinkable, given his star power, to book St-Pierre on a non-pay-per-view card. The aforementioned lightweights have yet to make the jump to consistent PPV regulars like McGregor, Jon Jones and Ronda Rousey.

If St-Pierre's future bouts are based on draws, the UFC brass may be more inclined to keep him at welterweight or move him up to middleweight. He's always been linked to Silva as a dream superfight for the UFC. Despite neither fighter currently holding a title, there's surely still a high level of interest in seeing St-Pierre vs. Silva.

Before we all get too excited with this news, St-Pierre's management team and the UFC brass have yet to iron out a new deal. But if there's anything we've learned from the most recent bookings of Brock Lesnar and McGregor-Diaz 2, it's that if both parties have interest then the UFC will get it done. And it's clear that St-Pierre has interest.

"I love my sport and I still feel I'm at my best right now and the clock is running," he said. "I'm not getting any younger. I'm in my peak of my career and there is a shot, there is another goal, another run. I better do it and do it quick because it's time to do it now."

With an invigorated GSP, it seems like it's just a matter of time before we see him step foot inside the octagon for a UFC fight again.

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