On “UFC Tonight” on Fox Sports 1 last night, Tyron Woodley offered to fight Michael Bisping if Georges St. Pierre doesn’t come through soon enough.
“I think Georges St. Pierre is playing games with us,” he said. “He didn’t want to fight me, so he went up to middleweight, then mentioned going down to lightweight. Michael Bisping, I stand by my offer, ten toes down. If you want to get it on July 8, I’ll be there and I’ll be ready.”
Woodley isn’t first in line to replace GSP, though, against Bisping at the July 8 event. Instead, Bisping has said he’d like to defend against Yoel Romero, who is ranked no. 3 in the Middleweight Division in MMATorch’s March Rankings, behind Luke Rockhold and champ Bisping.
Kenny Florian, a cohost of the show, responded. “I’m hearing the Bisping – Georges St-Pierre fight isn’t going to happen in July,” he said. “So Bisping, we’ll learn pretty quickly if you’re going to fight Yoel in July.”
Keller’s Analysis: I’m less excited about GSP vs. Bisping than average, I think, because I just don’t know how much we’ll learn from it. If Bisping wins, is GSP rusty or a shell of his former self? If GSP wins, is he beating a weak champion who had a below-average night? And if GSP wins, then what happens to the Middleweight Division’s top contenders? Does GSP become a fighting champion, or does he wait around for big money super fights which may or may not be in the Middleweight Division. I’m a fan of champions defending titles against top contenders on a frequent basis more than I am a fan of grinding divisions to a half because the champs become big stars who don’t defend titles unless it’s against a huge star for mega-bucks. So therefore, I’m rooting for Bisping vs. Romero. If Romero wins, the belt’s on a top tier legit badass who isn’t such a big name that he will wait around for “just the right fight,” but would be more likely to defend the belt often to build his name and earn the most money in his prime. And if Bisping beat Romero, he’d silence critics (well, some at least) and be stronger for a future GSP fight. Then, GSP can have a different “super fight” against perhaps Woodley or another current day fighter that makes sense or a “super fight” against a legend.
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