Georges St-Pierre’s trash talk is so rare it should probably come with with its own collectors case. Mint-in-box original GSP shade for the discerning MMA trash talk connoisseur. The former welterweight champion and shortlist fighter for GOAT hasn’t set foot in the cage since unexpectedly hanging up his gloves after UFC 167 back in 2013.
But, GSP’s 3+ year retirement is coming to an end as he’s currently gearing up for a shot at middleweight champion Michael Bisping. And while a date has yet to be picked out, ‘Rush’ is out making some media rounds to start building hype for his comeback fight.
Most notably, in a recent interview for RT Sport, St-Pierre took aim at the potential size difference in taking on an opponent, in Bisping, who started fighting two weight classes above the career welterweight (transcript via MMA Fighting).
“I never was interested in moving up a division because I had a lot of work to do,” St-Pierre said. “Every time I finished a fight, I had another challenger coming at me and I also blew out the ACL in my knee. I had an injury, so I took some time off and I had to come back and right away defend the title again. Also one of the reasons is the weight. I’m not a big welterweight. I’m an average/middle-sized welterweight. Now that I have some time off, I took some time to gain a little bit of weight and make sure it’s well done.
“I’ve never been afraid to compete at 185 [pounds]. It’s not to fight at 185, the problem is when you train, you need to train with bigger guys and in order to train with bigger guys, it has more chance to have injuries. So that’s the thing. But now is the perfect opportunity for me to do it. I had some time off. I took some time to gain some weight. I’m still putting on some weight.”
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“Of course Michael Bisping will be bigger than me but I believe that will be the only advantage that he will have — his size. Technically, tactically, athletically, I have all the edges on him. It doesn’t matter if he’s taller and bigger than me. The only difference that it’s gonna make is when he hits the floor, it’s gonna make a bigger boom.”
Michael Bisping’s offical height is recorded as 6’1”, a 3-inch advantage over the 5’10” St-Pierre. However, GSP will reportedly be carrying a 1-inch reach advantage (76” compared to Bisping’s 75”). That could make a whole world of difference when it comes to Bisping’s ability to turn his height into an effective range game.
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