Georges St-Pierre's UFC Return Seems Imminent | MMAWeekly.com

The possibility of former welterweight champion Georges St-Pierre returning to the Octagon seemingly took a big step forward after a meeting between the Canadian fighter and UFC president Dana White.

Prior to the meeting, St-Pierre said negotiations with the fight promotion’s new owners WME-IMG had soured and claimed to be a free agent. White has insisted for months that St-Pierre doesn’t really want to return. That all changed after their sit down in Las Vegas.

“My relationship has never been better with GSP. I’m glad we got together,” White said in a text message to Postmedia News.

Asked if he was “somewhat confident” that St-Pierre would compete in the UFC again, White said, “He’s under contract with the UFC. So yes, if he returns to fighting, it would be with us.”

Earlier this week, middleweight champion Michael Bisping revealed on Twitter that UFC officials had been negotiating a fight between himself and St-Pierre for UFC 206 in Toronto and said that he had verbally agreed to take the bout.

St-Pierre responded to Bisping via video message on Twitter.

“Nothing would make me more happy in the world than to fight you in Toronto, Michael,” St-Pierre said. “Last week, I met with (new owner) Ari (Emanuel) and I made peace with Dana. I tried to resolve things, but unfortunately right now, it’s not happening. Hopefully, things will change soon. Thank you.”

White stressed that St-Pierre will not be fighting at UFC 206. “He will not be fighting in Toronto.”

While a fight between St-Pierre and Bisping seems off the table, at least for UFC 206, the probability of “Rush” returning to competition appears to be just a matter of time.

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