Some superfights are meant to remain little more than barbershop banter, and Georges St-Pierre's return bout is no exception.
The welterweight legend will end a layoff spanning over three years with a UFC middleweight title bout, facing incumbent champion Michael Bisping at a yet-to-be-determined date. While a meeting between the two winningest fighters in promotional history has its merits, there are too many red flags to regard it as anything more than a shameless cash grab on the part of both Bisping and the brass.
Here's a look at the damage the bout is destined to leave in its wake, what it means for the champ and the division he calls his purview, and where the promotion's priorities now clearly lie.
What it does to Bisping's legacy
While Bisping gained a legion of new fans by upsetting Luke Rockhold to win the title at UFC 199, he's done everything possible to turn them against him since.
Even the staunchest of the Brit's detractors had to appreciate how he came to hoist the strap. One of the promotion's longest-tenured fighters - perpetually ridiculed for his purported lack of punching power - got his first title shot against a veritable destroyer on just over two weeks' notice thanks to an injured Chris Weidman, and what did ol' pillow fists do? He knocked Rockhold out in the first round to become the UFC's first British champion. What's not to love about the quintessential underdog triumph?
Eight months later, all Bisping has to show for his reign is: an apparent aversion to taking on the lineup of contenders chomping at the bit for their deserved title shots; an incessant campaign for a superfight with GSP that, until recently, only he and St-Pierre wanted to see; and a single title defense against 46-year-old Dan Henderson - who knocked Bisping into the Middle Ages at UFC 100 and held a No. 13 ranking heading into their rematch at UFC 204.
What Bisping fails to understand, despite spending a decade in the world's premier promotion, is that staying at the top carries far more weight than getting there.
(Photo courtesy: Getty Images)
Yes, "The Count" has fought a murderers' row of middleweights and broken the promotional win record, and he might, just might, deserve the life-changing payday he's been pining for. But the two fights comprising his reign have come against an aging slugger who'd lost six of his previous nine fights, and a career welterweight who hasn't entered the Octagon in over three years. He may insist he isn't ducking his rightful challengers, but he's given them plenty of ammunition to argue otherwise.
Is St-Pierre versus Bisping worthy of the superfight label? Sure, but fight fans were clamoring for a matchup with middleweight legend Anderson Silva - not The Count - while GSP was kicking ass, taking names, and cementing his place as the greatest 170-pounder the world has ever seen. Simply put, this fight could fall through and St-Pierre could walk away from the sport tomorrow, and only a fraction of the MMA world would actually wonder how the fight would've played out.
What it means for the middleweight division
Most criticism of Bisping's angling for the matchup centered on the damage it would inflict on the middleweight title picture. If Conor McGregor's reign as featherweight champion offers any parallels, Bisping's naysayers could be proven right.
Before GSP hammered out a new deal with the UFC, Bisping appeared destined to defend the title against top contender Yoel Romero, with Ronaldo "Jacare" Souza, Rockhold, and a bevy of others breathing down his neck. But with the Brit still recovering from knee surgery and his date with GSP expected to take place later this year, how will the division Bisping's turned on its head keep chugging along in the meantime?
President Dana White maintains Romero has dibs on the winner, but with the UFC tossing around interim belts like they're going out of style (they are), the Cuban is more likely to find himself opposite Souza in a rematch for some makeshift paper championship while the division's remaining contenders face each other en route to collective self-destruction.
As for Bisping, he expects to emerge from his dance with GSP healthy enough to give Romero his due as early as six-to-eight weeks later. The last time he asked for a quick turnaround, though, the champ changed his tune, claiming he'd sustained some injuries in his fight with Henderson and that his nickname wasn't "Short Camp Sally." In other words, MMA traditionalists shouldn't hold their breath.
What it says about WME-IMG's priorities
The UFC's new owner, WME-IMG, has kept out of the public eye since purchasing the promotion for north of $4 billion this past summer, but it may have shown its hand with the booking.
In the months following the historic sale, several reports revealed the new brass had shouldered a hefty amount of debt. A number of investors took on a total debt exceeding $1 billion to raise the sales price, with the promotion promising an exponential increase in profitability. Simply put, the UFC has a big nut to cover, and booking one of the most reliable pay-per-view draws in the sport to face Bisping goes a long way toward doing so.
(Photo courtesy: Action Images)
While the booking is a shrewd move by the front office, it might also signal the end of what was left of the meritocracy in combat sports. Even the casual fan knows that if it makes dollars, it makes sense - but St-Pierre's comeback bout is as close as WME-IMG can get to making the adage its official new mandate.
Now that the promotion's emphasis on box-office returns is plain as day, expect more than a few contenders across every division to catch a case of sour grapes in the near future.
