Former UFC welterweight champion Georges St-Pierre is set to make his return to the octagon after a four-year layoff when he challenges middleweight champion Michael Bisping at UFC 217 later this year. St-Pierre has made it clear that he is coming back to fighting to cement his legacy and is only interested in the biggest fights, so what happens if he beats Bisping? While St-Pierre would ostensibly be forced to defend his title against interim champion Robert Whittaker, that bout seems unlikely to have the kind of big fight appeal GSP is looking for. Instead, according to the current rumors, St-Pierre is looking for possibly the biggest fight against current lightweight champion Conor McGregor. That call out might not work out so well for the former welterweight champion though, at least not according to former women’s bantamweight title holder Miesha Tate.

Speaking recently on MMA Tonight on SiriusXM Rush, Tate gave her opinion on the hypothetical matchup, saying that she would favor the former featherweight champion and current 155-pound kingpin over the all-time great.

“Conor McGregor, I’ve underestimated the guy a number of times, thinking he wasn’t going to win some of the fights that he won and he did it,” said Tate. “The man is truly in a league of his own. When it comes to his game planning, when it comes to his trash talking, when it comes to getting inside people’s heads, nobody does it better than Conor McGregor. So I absolutely would not count him out in a fight like that.

“I think the speed favors him. I think he has great striking and I think the fact that GSP’s been out for so long, I think Conor McGregor can put together a strategy to beat pretty much anybody and I think the matchup actually favors Conor.

“I feel almost bad saying that because I’ve been a huge GSP fan for a really long time. He’s perfect when he fights. Maybe not the most exciting fighter you’ve ever watched but he’s almost perfect and that’s so hard to do. If you’ve been an athlete in any sport, to have a perfect game or a perfect match or a perfect bout, it almost never happens. You watch him go out there and he’s pretty much perfect in all of his fights. He never waivers from his strategy and he’s like a robot, like somebody’s controlling a controller somewhere and he’s just doing exactly what he needs to do to get through those fights. But I think with this one, Conor’s just so hard to beat and he’s so hard to get around mentally. I think the speed actually, being the smaller guy, does favor Conor.”

St-Pierre made his mark on MMA in the welterweight division, holding the UFC title twice over the course of his career (alongside one interim title), with his final reign lasting 10 fights and five years, culminating in his retirement in 2013. St-Pierre was only defeated twice in his entire career, coming back to brutally avenge both losses. McGregor meanwhile, has made his hay competing at 145 and 155 pounds. He has twice made the foray into 170 pounds, splitting wins with career lightweight Nate Diaz in a pair of fights last year. A win over St-Pierre would be nothing short of incredible but Tate insists that McGregor could absolutely pull it off.

“Yes. I know that sounds crazy but dude, crazier things have been said about Conor and he’s done it. He literally predicts his exact what he’s gonna do in every fight. When he lost to Nate Diaz, I thought he was gonna lose again and he came out and he had the right game plan. He’s just brilliant. He knows how to figure out people. Not to mention, GSP has never had to deal with someone’s berating, that constant mental barrage that Conor McGregor does. Something is there. People haven’t quite figured it out but there’s something, an element that Conor McGregor adds that’s not just his skillset. He gets inside people’s heads and he ruins them before they even step inside the octagon. To say that he couldn’t do to GSP when he’s done it to everyone else, it’s insane to think that he couldn’t do that.

“So I just think he would probably do well. He’s evolving, he’s very athletic, he’s heavy handed. I think he could knock out a lot of guys bigger than him. Look how well he did against Mayweather. I was so impressed with how he did there. I thought he was gonna lose that fight handily and he hung in there tough.”

If St-Pierre manages to beat Bisping in November, perhaps McGregor will get his chance. He might even be able to capitalize on that chance. After all, the last man to beat St-Pierre was also a lightweight at one point in time.

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MUST-READ STORIES

Retire. Matt Brown discusses his retirement, leaves door open for possible return.

Gas. Gokhan Saki says transitioning to MMA caused his cardio issues in UFC debut.

Out. Paige VanZant vs. Jessica Eye has been pulled from UFC 216.

USADA. UFC newcomer Azamat Murzakanov flagged by USADA for potential violation.

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VIDEO STEW

Freddie Roach says GSP’s athleticism is the difference maker in the Bisping fight.

Max getting the Maurice Spears remix.

Free fights.

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LISTEN UP

The Co-Main Event. Breaking down the most recent weekend of fights.

Anik and Florian. Kenny’s brother Keith joins and calls Conor the GOAT.

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SOCIAL MEDIA BOUILLABAISSE

Good guy Overeem.

Pickin’ a fight.

And ensuing beef.

Upset.

Stepping up.

Already back in the gym. If they match him up right, Saki could be an incredible action fighter.

Karolina denying she was ever offered a fight with Andrade.

Such violence, would watch.

The latest Covington trash talk.

Sad that this is probably true for many.

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FIGHT ANNOUNCEMENTS

James Vick (11-1) vs. Joe Duffy (17-2); UFC 217, Nov. 4.

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TODAY IN MMA HISTORY

2003: UFC interim light heavyweight champion Randy Couture won a unanimous decision over actual light heavyweight champion Tito Ortiz to unify the disputing belts at UFC 44. In the co-main event, Tim Sylvia knocked out Gan McGee to retain his UFC heavyweight title but he was later stripped of the title for failing a post-fight drug test. This event also saw the UFC debut of Nick Diaz who submitted Jeremy Jackson with an armbar.

2014: At Bellator 126, Brandon Halsey submitted Alexander Shlemenko to win the Bellator middleweight title.

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FINAL THOUGHTS

Sorry for missing yesterday y’all, but I was feeling a bit under the weather. Now we’re back to our regularly scheduled programming and this week is a down week with nothing major happening until UFC 216 next Saturday. So take it easy and see y’all tomorrow.

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EXIT POLL

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