Four year lay-off. New weight class. It didn’t matter for Georges St-Pierre at UFC 217. The former welterweight king added the middleweight title to his collection, choking out Michael Bisping in the third round with a rear-naked choke. The choke came following a left hook that dropped Bisping and a series of elbows on the ground that had Bisping in all kinds of trouble.
With the victory, St-Pierre became the fourth fighter in UFC history to hold titles in separate weight classes. Randy Couture, BJ Penn, and Conor McGregor accomplished the feat prior to him.
In his post-fight speech, St-Pierre said it was “my dream come true.”
St-Pierre looked like he had barely missed a beat in the first round, stunning Bisping with his trademark superman punch and landing a takedown. The former middleweight champion rebounded in the second round as St-Pierre looked to be slowing down. Bisping cut open St-Pierre with elbows from the bottom, but failed to take advantage of St-Pierre’s possible vision loss on the feet.
Bisping looked like he survived St-Pierre’s left hook and onslaught on the ground, but the Canadian champion jumped on the back and put a tight squeeze on Bisping’s neck. The brash British personality refused to tap out, but went out, forcing the referee to step in and call an end to the fight.
St-Pierre seemed noncommittal on what might be next for him during his post-fight interview with Joe Rogan.
Check out Fightful's full UFC 217 coverage right here.
