For years, the biggest fantasy matchup in MMA was between then-UFC welterweight champion Georges St-Pierre and then-middleweight champion Anderson Silva but the bout never materialized because St-Pierre insisted he would only leave the welterweight division if he took the time to add on weight properly for a move to 185 pounds. Now with a middleweight title fight against champion Michael Bisping looming, St-Pierre has said he put on the weight and is the biggest he’s ever been, but not everyone believes him.

On the most recent edition of his Believe You Me podcast, Bisping, after looking at St-Pierre’s Instagram, contends that “Rush” looks exactly the same as he always has and that his training is irrelevant to their fight.

“I think he looks exactly the same,” said Bisping. “He looks in great shape, he looks athletic, he looks like he probably just had a good pump and he’s probably stood next to a dwarf. Not a dwarf but he’s probably not the biggest guy.

“I’m not bothered by what he’s doing to be honest, I fight the way I fight. Go lift, go do backflips, do whatever the f**k you want. At the end of the day, I fight the way I fight and he’s gonna fight the way he fights and may the best man win.”

Bisping went on to say that he hopes St-Pierre has added weight because it will make him slower when they face each other. The middleweight champ then discussed some of the other training habits of St-Pierre, namely his work with boxing legend Freddie Roach which, like adding weight, Bisping says could backfire on the former welterweight champion.

“I know [Georges] is a good wrestler, he’s a strong guy. He’s working with Freddie Roach which I couldn’t give a s**t about to be honest. . . I’m really not concerned about what he’s gonna do or what [Roach] is gonna improve him on and I hope that he improves his boxing to where Georges wants to stand and have a boxing fight with me. I hope he does that.

“The only way he wins this fight is by taking me down and holding me down or getting the submission because he ain’t winning on the feet and he knows that.”

But for all the discussion about what St-Pierre looks like on his Instagram, the biggest questions surrounding this fight is what GSP will look like fighting for the first time in over four years. Many people expect that long of a layoff to seriously impede St-Pierre in his return but Bisping isn’t one of them. Despite his lack of concern for St-Pierre’s training habits, Bisping believes GSP will be fully prepared come November and possibly the best he’s ever been.

“What you’ve got to remember is that Georges is no idiot. He’s really not. He’s a very intelligent guy and his approach to the game has always been an intelligent approach. He knows what he’s doing. He’s been preparing for this for a long, long time. All this year he’s been preparing for it and probably the year before that. . . He’s gonna come with a game plan and be very well prepared and I actually think that the detrimental fact of being away for four years is also going to make him very hungry and we might see the best performance out of him ever.”

Michael Bisping faces Georges St-Pierre for the UFC middleweight championship at UFC 217 on Nov. 4 in Madison Square Garden.

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MUST-READ STORIES

Stann. Brian Stann explains why he’s leaving his UFC commentary job.

Good look. Demetrious Johnson doesn’t know if he will get paid for Ray Borg’s withdrawal from UFC 215.

MMA retirement. Nick Newell ends his retirement and signs with LFA.

Not impressed. Raquel Pennington wasn’t impressed by Amanda Nunes or Valentina Shevchenko at UFC 215.

TAM. Yair Rodriguez discussed his recent training with Team Alpha Male.

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VIDEO STEW

Don Frye message to Takayama.

Countdown.

Rockhold-Weidman getting the Twenty/20 treatment.

Broner on Conor.

Never gonna happen.

Anthony Pettis vs. Nate Diaz is something I would watch the hell out of.

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LISTEN UP

Beatdown. Discussing whether RDA is a legit contender at welterweight.

The Co-Main Event. Discussing UFC 215 and looking ahead to Rockhold vs. Branch.

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SOCIAL MEDIA BOUILLABAISSE

Stipe.

Cool.

Good guy Eddie Alvarez visiting a fan who got hit by a car.

Tucker’s statement.

Celebrating.

McCall backing up Borg.

Maybe 170 for the trilogy fight after all.

Make it stop.

If you want in.

Just a head’s up for those who care.

Sage.

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FIGHT ANNOUNCEMENTS

Justin Ledet (8-0, 1 NC) vs. Azunna Anyanwu (14-4); UFC Pittsburgh, Sept. 16.

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TODAY IN MMA HISTORY

1999: Wanderlei Silva made his Pride debut, winning a unanimous decision over Carl Malenko at Pride 7. Also this night, Mark Kerr suffered his first setback after being stopped by Igor Vovchanchyn by knees to the head. The outcome was initially ruled a win for Vovchanchyn but later changed to a No Contest because knees to the head of a downed opponent were illegal at the time.

2014: At Bellator 124, Emanuel Newton knocked out Joey Beltran with a spinning backfist to retain his Bellator light heavyweight title.

2015: At Invicta FC 14, Tonya Evinger stopped Pannie Kianzad with punches in what was supposed to be a bantamweight title defense but was turned into a catchweight bout when both fighters missed weight.

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FINAL THOUGHTS

Per the poll yesterday, a healthy majority of y’all had Shevchenko beating Nunes so take that for what it’s worth.

Anyway, that’s all for today folks. Take it easy and Conor bless.

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EXIT POLL

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