In one of the biggest events in the promotion’s history, UFC 196 had many different big names in attendance, including numerous celebrities, but one of the most shocking guests of the night was former UFC welterweight superstar Georges St-Pierre. With GSP in attendance, many people were questioning if maybe there was a reason, such as a possible announcement of when he would make his return, but when Dana White was questioned about it, he stated that he was just there to watch as a fan and nothing more.

With the rumors of GSP being interested in a return, what better time to do it then at UFC 200? Leading up to UFC 196, there were different discussions occurring of if Mcgregor defeats Diaz, that he would compete against Robbie Lawler for the welterweight title at UFC 200. McGregor previously stated that he was very interested in a fight with St-Pierre and who knows, if McGregor was victorious at UFC 196, maybe he would’ve called out the future Hall of Famer rather than the current champion in Robbie Lawler. Since Lawler’s win against Condit back in January, he has still not gotten an opponent, likely due to the UFC waiting for the outcome of UFC 196. With the huge upset loss of one of, if not they biggest PPV draws in the promotion in Mcgregor, it puts a lot of questions into what will happen now for UFC 200. There have been some talks of Diaz challenging Robbie Lawler for the belt, but if you have the return of GSP for the championship belt on UFC 200, it will bring in way more interest and will give the card the star power it needs to help make it the biggest event ever.

I believe the UFC is in a position right now that they need St-Pierre back more than ever, with the promotion’s two biggest stars in Ronda Rousey and Connor Mcgregor both coming off of losses, it makes perfect sense to do whatever it takes to get the former champion back for that event. Even if the bout is not for the title against Lawler, there is another super fight matchup that both the fans and GSP are very interested in and that is against “The Spider” Anderson Silva, which is a matchup that has been talked about for years but never ended up happening.

Another possible candidate could be Diaz. Diaz spoke in an interview with bjpenn.com in the lead up to the McGregor fight, stating that due to no intriguing matchups at lightweight, he was going to move up to welterweight.

White stated on Sports Center that the promotion and GSP are in discussions, but there has been no confirmation on anything yet. If GSP is seriously considering coming back, then it will be at UFC 200 for either a chance at getting his belt back against current champion Lawler, or Diaz, who overnight has turned into one of the biggest current draws on the UFC roster.

 

About The Author

Jake Schneider
Staff Writer

Jake Schneider is a student at the University of Rhode Island who is currently looking to pursue a double major in Communications and Journalism. He is an MMA fanatic who has been following the sport for years. He began to share his wealth of knowledge and opinions on the sport to many of his family members and friends as well as various MMA forums online. His love and passion for the sport has been able to make many people that are a part of his life fans of mixed martial arts as well. His insight of the sport both inside and outside of the cage is what makes his analysis on fights and individual fighters so well informed.