“Ooh… [in a dodgy French accent] a lot of things… You f***ing lizard!”
You had to feel for Dana White.
Two hours after Khabib Nurmagomedov missed weight and had to pull out of UFC 209, White fronted a press conference to promote a summer fight between Georges St-Pierre and UFC middleweight champion Michael Bisping.
The only problem was that Bisping was not there.
White kicked off the presser by saying he would like GSP to fight Bisping at International Fight Week in July and saying he would sort out No.1 contender Yoel Romero [he did not reveal whether that would be financially or with a guaranteed fight].
St-Pierre, who has been out of the game three and a half years, was midway through his second question when Bisping showed up, 15 minutes late, and told him to ‘Shut the f*** up’. His opening diatribe, after a brief apology, was memorable:
“I can’t wait to f***ing square off against you. Look at the size of me and look at the size of you… F*** off back to Canada.”
Bisping went on to accuse St-Pierre of taking steroids and making excuses not to come back to the sport sooner.
Bisping to GSP:
"Look at the state of you, you old f**king midget!" pic.twitter.com/7tpNl9Vv9z
— SportsJOE (@SportsJOEdotie) March 3, 2017
Perhaps the “midget” remark struck a nerve as ‘Rush’ accused the British fighter of being drunk and of letting the temptations of Las Vegas get to him. Bisping did not deny it:
https://twitter.com/TheJivemaster/status/837794040317870080
As the pair squared off, following the presser, St-Pierre told Bisping he could smell the alcohol off his breath.
“Where did you get your suit,” Bisping remarked.
“I hope you’re ready,” he goaded.
“When have I ever not been ready for a fight,” Bisping replied.
We’re looking forward to this fight already.
…
