Dana White changed his mind and now Michael Bisping will fight George St-Pierre.
Going into UFC 214, the welterweight championship fight between Tyron Woodley and Demian Maia was supposed to determine the fighter who will welcome George St-Pierre back to UFC. Sometime during the night (specifically round five of Woodley vs. Maia), Dana White said he decided UFC Middleweight Champion Michael Bisping will be fighting St-Pierre. White confirmed this multiple times including a media scrum back stage.
"I'm absolutely, one hundred percent giving that fight to Michael Bisping," said White. "Bisping-GSP is on," he added.
At the UFC 214 post-fight press conference, White was critical of Woodley's performance. He said he thought Woodley was not active enough and could have easily finished his opponent Maia. He then re-confirmed Bisping facing St-Pierre and said he knew Bisping would give a more satisfactory performance.
"Because I know Michael Bisping will fight. Michael Bisping will show up and he will fight. So yeah, I'm going to give it to him," said White.
Woodley spoke about his performance at the post-fight press conference. He was satisfied with his performance and thought St-Pierre should have to fight him. He then suggested St-Pierre does not want to fight him. Woodley also questioned why Bisping would not be fighting the interim UFC Middleweight Champion.
Bisping was recently in the cage staring down Robert Whittaker right after Whittaker won the interim UFC Middleweight Championship at UFC 213. No title unification bout had been scheduled for Whittaker and Bisping before White's declaration last night.
The rest of the post-fight press conference can be found on UFC's YouTube channel.
Fightful MMA also provided live coverage and recapping podcast for UFC 214.
