The Michael Bisping-Georges St-Pierre rivalry was one of the stranger ones in UFC history.
Michael Bisping and Georges St-Pierre were never supposed to fight each other. Bisping was long thought of as just one level below championship standard at middleweight and to a lesser extent, the light heavyweight division. GSP, on the other hand, is the consensus greatest welterweight ever. In many people's eyes, he is the best fighter to ever grace an Octagon.
Yet somehow, both these legends clashed in UFC 217's headliner. Bisping won the 185 lb strap by coming in on short notice and knocking Luke Rockhold clean out. After a four-year hiatus, St-Pierre wanted to return in a big fight. So he had that 185 lb strap and a money fight against Bisping in his sights.
When the promotional tour kicked off, Bisping engaged in his usual shit-talking masterclass. St-Pierre appeared to have fun with these back-and-forths and always stood his ground in the verbal sparring matches. However, they weren't really rivals. It was really difficult to tell what was real and what was just selling a fight.
As GSP explained during a recent appearance on the
Joe Rogan Experience, not even he knew most of the time.
https://twitter.com/SportsJOEdotie/status/837794032931729408
Craic in the jacks
St-Pierre did recount one amazing anecdote about a chance encounter with Bisping during the UFC 217 promotional tour when the cameras weren't rolling. Nature called for both of them at the same time while they were doing an ESPN shoot in Boston. This lead to a pretty humorous exchange that he relayed to Rogan.
"I go to the bathroom and who comes next to the bathroom with us, it's Michael Bisping! There is the camera that follow us in the bathroom. We're taking a piss next to each other, we're like this (puts hands on hips). Then, I turn around and see Michael Bisping. I'm like, 'Oh, holy shit!'
At this point, Bisping told the cameraman to get the 'F out'. Then he looked at GSP at the urinal and both of them started laughing.
"Then I told him, I say, 'Hey, you got a Range Rover?' He's like, 'Yeah, but now it's in the garage.' I'm like,' Yeah, you need to get rid of it because after a while it start breaking down.' He's like, 'Yeah, I know... ok, gameface. See you later.' (laughs)"
Once GSP got that line out, Rogan burst into laughter. GSP ended by posing the question, 'How could I hate that guy?'
