Georges St-Pierre on Michael Bisping title fight: 'There is nothing bigger than this'

NEW YORK CITY – Georges St-Pierre is ready to reclaim UFC championship glory when he returns from a four-year layoff to fight middleweight champion Michael Bisping in Saturday’s UFC 217 main event.

UFC 217 takes place at Madison Square Garden in New York City. St-Pierre challenges Bisping, No. 1 in the latest USA TODAY Sports/MMAjunkie MMA middleweight rankings, in the pay-per-view headliner following prelims on FS1 and UFC Fight Pass.

St-Pierre (25-2 MMA, 19-2 UFC) took a four-year hiatus beginning in late 2013, vacating the UFC welterweight title he held for the better part of a decade. He attempts to become the fourth multi-division champion in UFC history, potentially joining Conor McGregor, B.J. Penn and Randy Couture.

“Rush” was going to step back in the octagon only with something significant at stake, and he said fighting Bisping (30-7 MMA, 20-7 UFC) is the perfect scenario.

“There is nothing bigger than this,” St-Pierre said at today’s UFC 217 open workouts. “I’m fighting for the world title against the guy who has the record for most wins in UFC history. I’m fighting for my legacy. I’m fighting also to be among an elite group of fighters to hold the title in two different divisions. … It’s never been done before. If I do it I’ll be the first one to do it. I can’t think of a better scenario. I’m very excited.”

St-Pierre appears calm heading into his return. He said he expects a standout performance at UFC 217.

“I’m very happy,” St-Pierre said. “This has been four years in the making working very hard. I never took a break. I’ve always trained, training for fun. Now I’m training for performance, and I have one goal in mind, and that’s to become world champion again.”

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