Michael Bisping’s first defense of the Middleweight Championship will come later this year, and it’s seemed the most realistic options came down to Ronaldo “Jacare” Souza, Luke Rockhold, or Chris Weidman, but he’s got a couple of other ideas as well.
In an interview with Ariel Helwani on The MMA Hour on Monday, Bisping talked about the possibility of a rematch with Dan Henderson, who scored a KO win over him back at UFC 100 in 2009, as well as the possibility of a fight with Georges St-Pierre as exciting potential options.
“Of course, there’s been talk about Dan Henderson, which kind of came out of the blue,” Bisping said. “Dan Henderson kind of tweeted it out, and Joe Rogan put a picture on Instagram, and that seems to be getting a lot of traction. Of course, that is a fight that I would love. There hasn’t been any kind of offer or anything like that, but that’s a fight that I would take because everybody knows about UFC 100, and Dan Henderson still has an image of him floating above my head while I’m knocked out as his logo. So, I would like to put him in his place.
“…Fighting Georges St-Pierre, the great Georges St-Pierre, and of course, for the title of ‘Who has the most wins in UFC history.’ That alone as a tagline, and great promotion. Of course, the numbers would be fantastic with Georges St-Pierre, he’s a proven draw. And at the end of the day, we’re all trying to generate as much money as possible.
“I do want to defend the belt and I want to make as much money as I can in the process. So, I would certainly be open to sending Georges St-Pierre back to a movie set, because that would be a fight that I would definitely win. And if Georges St-Pierre is listening: buddy, any time just be a man, sign on the dotted line, and your return will be short lived. But, whether it’s Georges St-Pierre, Dan Henderson, Jacare Souza, whoever it is, please line them up and I will knock them down.”
Penick’s Analysis: Georges St-Pierre makes for an interesting idea, and he’s said if he comes back he wants to take interesting, entertaining fights. That would be an easy sell for the UFC. There’s potential money in a Bisping-Henderson rematch, but there’s no realm in which that should be a fight for a UFC title. That’s not a fight Henderson has earned at this stage, especially if it’s at the expense of “Jacare” Souza’s well-earned shot. Still, that hasn’t stopped the UFC in the past, and they’ll wind up going with whichever fight they believe sells best for them at this point.
[Photo (c) Jake Roth via USA Today Sports]
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