There were plenty of questions surrounding the middleweight title bout between Georges St-Pierre and Michael Bisping last month at UFC 217.
For starters, the odds between the two veterans were pretty close, and many were wondering who would walk away with UFC gold that Nov. 4 night in New York City. But for top middleweight contender Yoel Romero, who watched the action closely (being present at UFC 217), things were pretty clear, at least according to him.
“The Soldier of God” knew Bisping would fall short to St-Pierre, thus losing his middleweight title, as he believed Englishman didn’t possess the tools to get the job done against the former welterweight king.
“It’s not a surprise for anybody, it’s not a surprise, it’s not a surprise,” Romero told Ariel Helwani on Monday’s edition of The MMA Hour. “I knew that Michael Bisping didn’t have good wrestling or grappling, I knew this guy had nothing for St-Pierre. And I knew St-Pierre would beat him and go out again.”
Of course, one of the biggest unknowns following St-Pierre’s historic win was whether St-Pierre would stick around to defend his newly crowned title or go back to retirement. And as we came to find out earlier this month, St-Pierre vacated the 185-pound throne, forcing the UFC to promote interim champ Robert Whittaker to the undisputed champ slot.
The news of St-Pierre walking away from the middleweight belt didn’t catch Romero off guard, as the Cuban fighter believes St-Pierre just saw an “easy” opportunity to make history with the Bisping fight and had no intention of sticking around the “dangerous” 185-pound division.
“For sure, (I knew St-Pierre would vacate the middleweight belt), because 185 pounds is a very dangerous category, many people have good quality,” Romero said. “I clap for Georges St-Pierre because he’s smart, ‘ok, I have another belt, very easy with this guy. I kill him and I have a very good Christmas.’”
Get the latest gear
