Georges “Rush” St. Pierre, 36, of Montreal, Quebec, Canada is the new middleweight champion of the Ultimate Fighting Championship. He won the title by dethroning Michael Bisping, 38, of Manchester, England, United Kingdom.
After going on hiatus for four years, the Canadian mixed martial artist made a successful comeback on November 4, 2017 at “UFC 217” at Madison Square Garden in New York City, New York, United States. The Canadian challenger submitted the English defending champion via rear-naked choke at 4:23 of Round 3 in the main event.
Prior to “UFC 217,” Bisping’s last MMA loss happened on November 7, 2014. He was submitted by Luke Rockhold, 33, via guillotine choke at “UFC Fight Night 55” at Allphones Arena in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia.
The “UFC 217” loss downgraded Bisping’s professional MMA record to 30 wins and 8 losses. On the other hand, St. Pierre now has 26 wins and 2 losses.
The only two fighters who defeated St. Pierre are Matt Hughes, 44, and Matt “The Terror” Serra, 43. St. Pierre lost to Hughes via armbar submission at “UFC 50” on October 22, 2004 and to Serra via technical knockout via punches at “UFC 69” on April 7, 2007.
As the new UFC middleweight champion, St. Pierre is expected to face Robert “The Reaper/Bobby Knuckles” Whittaker, 26, in 2018. The latter became the interim champion in the division after defeating Yoel Romero, 40, at “UFC 213” on July 8, 2017 at T-Mobile Arena in Paradise, Nevada.
Before Bisping, the last opponent St. Pierre had was Johnny “Big Rig” Hendricks, 34. On November 16, 2013, St. Pierre defeated Hendricks via split decision at “UFC 167” at MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada.
Hendricks was also in the main card of “UFC 217.” He lost to Paulo “Borrachinha” Costa, 26, via technical knockout in the second round.
Watch the post-fight interview with St. Pierre here:
CONAN Daily 