Written By Vegas Matty
The UFC’s biggest fight of the year will take place at Madison Square Garden in New York City this Saturday night when former welterweight champion Georges St-Pierre returns from a hiatus of nearly four years to battle middleweight champ Michael Bisping for his title belt in the main event at UFC 217. But don’t be fooled, Conor McGregor’s boxing match against Floyd Mayweather on August 26th might be considered the organization’s most important bout of 2017, with GSP’s return to the Octagon second.
In a year of major disappointments, from Ronda Rousey’s disappearance to another suspension for Jon Jones during McGregor’s sabbatical, the UFC is betting on St-Pierre to come through and save the sport. The organization has run out of options to sell Pay-Per-Views to anyone other than hard-core bettors and die-hard MMA fans, which is why GSP is getting a title shot in his debut at 185 pounds. Why not, right?
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First of all, his opponent Bisping has been ducking the top middleweight contenders ever since he won the belt in an upset victory against Luke Rockhold almost 17 months ago. Bisping’s lone title defense came against a 46-year-old Dan Henderson on his own turf in Manchester England last October, and it was not easy. Born two years earlier than GSP, Bisping is now the slightly older yet more active fighter.
While Bisping’s five-bout winning streak has been somewhat impressive, he is a borderline Top 5 middleweight at this stage of his career. He has been a good company man over the years and earned the right to pick his opponents to some degree, which is the only reason the Hendo fight happened.
On the other side, GSP mysteriously fell off the MMA grid much like Rousey but without her skid. He has won 12 in a row, and his last bout was a controversial split-decision nod over Johny Hendricks, who would later win the belt after St-Pierre vacated it in 2013 for still unknown reasons.
GSP went on to tear the ACL in his left knee while training early the following year. Then he was brought back by the UFC in 2017 with McGregor out of action due to the birth of his son and training for the Mayweather fight. It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to figure out the coincidence there. The promotion finally needed him back in a big way and gave him a winnable matchup versus Bisping.
Ok, so who is worth betting in this blockbuster bout between two future Hall of Famers? That’s a very tough question, as you can make a case for either fighter, especially with a Pick’em price at BetOnline.AG. Who honestly knows how GSP’s layoff will impact him when he enters the Octagon. Ring rust for that long is real, although Bisping has not been overly active since winning the belt either. Some say Bisping is in incredible shape, and his takedown defense will negate GSP’s greatest strength – his wrestling. Keep in mind, there is a good reason this is a Pick’em, because nobody knows for sure what the hell will happen.
On that note, there is a ton of value in the co-main event on former bantamweight champion T.J. Dillashaw, who can be had at +170 at BetOnline.AG. His opponent, Cody Garbrandt is the current bantamweight champ and a former teammate of Dillashaw’s with Team Alpha Male, so there is true bad blood between these two fighters. Not only that, but Dillashaw still feels like he was robbed of his belt when he lost to Dominick Cruz in another controversial split decision in January of 2016.
Make no mistake about it, Dillashaw’s experience is unmatched when compared to Garbrandt, who took the belt from Cruz in his last bout. Garbrandt is coming off a back injury too, which kept this title fight from happening at UFC 213 on July 8th. If you want someone to bet when the PPV card kicks off, Dillashaw is your man. This line should be closer to Pick’em than its current price, so take a shot on the underdog challenger offering great value — and then count your money while you try to enjoy what’s a less exciting main event.
