“If there is a shot, there is another goal, another run, I better do it and do it quick, because it is time to do it now.”
Georges St-Pierre is intent on making his UFC return.
The former UFC welterweight champion and living legend of the MMA world has tested his resolve in the Tristar gym and feels he has some big fights left in him. It has been almost three years since he stepped away from the sport but that competitive urge has compelled him to return.
St-Pierre believes a joust with newly-crowned UFC middleweight champion Michael Bisping is the biggest fight on offer and he has no qualms about stepping up to roll with the 185lber. Not only would a victory push the Canadian onto 20 career wins in the UFC, and give him a belt, it would keep Bisping stuck on 19 wins.
It is a fight, he told The MMA Hour, that gives him “chills” thinking about.
There had been a lot of talk, around UFC 196, that Conor McGregor could propel himself into a whole new level with a welterweight win over Nate Diaz. In fact, it has since been confirmed that ‘The Notorious’ would have been in line for a 170lb title shot against Robbie Lawler, at UFC 200, had he beat Diaz.
The Stockton native tore up that script with an impressive submission win over the Dubliner so the pair are slated for a rematch at UFC 202, in August. St-Pierre was asked if a McGregor win would tee up a tilt at 170. He replied:
“Look, I do not run after these guys. I do not run after him but if he calls me out and if it’s something the fans want – I know he is a big, huge draw – then I am am interested.
“I think I can beat him. I can beat both of these guys [McGregor and Diaz] too. As a fighter, I’m confident of beating them because I think I am the best.
“But, as I said, the world doesn’t turn around me. It’s something that I want but if it is something the UFC want too, they’ve got my number. They know where to reach me… If there is a buzz about it, it will happen.”
Where Conor McGregor is concerned, all St-Pierre needs to do is sit back. The featherweight champion will create all the buzz he wants for a potentially thrilling superfight.
