UFC legend Georges St-Pierre is getting a little rounder ahead of his return to the Octagon — and challenger Michael Bisping wasn’t shy about letting him know.
The 35-year-old St-Pierre announced his return to the promotion earlier in the year, and president Dana White confirmed his first fight back in the cage would be against the middleweight champion, Bisping.
“It’s probably going to be Las Vegas,” White said at the time. “Everyone wants to take a shot at Michael Bisping. They think he’s beatable, and obviously, Georges St-Pierre is no different. So he’s going to step up and try to take his 185-pound title.”
St-Pierre, who dominated the 170-pound welterweight division for years, clearly has taken his weight gain prep for the middleweight division seriously, nursing a hearty pot belly in a promotional video released earlier in the week.
Bisping — while obviously amused by the prospect of one of the UFC’s most revered warriors holding a few extra pounds — was confused by his opponent’s video.
“I don’t know what’s going on, to be quite frank,” the 38-year-old champ said, according to MMAFighting.com. “But he looks like he’s been impregnated by an alien. He’s got his shin pads and his MMA gloves on. And a gigantic belly sticking. I know he said he’s getting bigger.”
Bisping confirmed their fight would happen, but was apprehensive to name a date.
“GSP is gonna do it,” Bisping said. “It’ll be a little bit later in the year. Listen, we had a press conference.
“The fans want it, he wants it, I want it. It’ll be a big payday. Make a lot of money. I don’t think it’ll be July. I’m 99 percent certain on that. A couple more months later — maybe October. But it’s now looking like October is probably more likely.”
Bisping isn’t the only one gearing up for a shot at the former UFC champion. Johny Hendricks, who also recently jumped up a weight class, sent a chilling message to St-Pierre upon hearing his comeback plans.
“I’m going to have to beat his face in, definitely if he comes to 185,” Hendricks said at a post-fight press conference in February. “Because that’s a fight that I’ve been really looking for. And now that I’ve got a win under my belt at 185, he’s a newcomer at 185.”