Dana White opens up on status of relationship with Georges St-Pierre after meeting

Relations between the UFC brass and former UFC welterweight kingpin Georges St-Pierre have continued to be strained over the last few weeks as St-Pierre’s highly anticipated return to the Octagon was once again postponed after negotiations for ‘Rush’ to return at UFC 206 failed. This resulted in St-Pierre revealing in an interview that he had terminated his contract with the UFC after the promotion failed to secure him a fight in a reasonable amount of time.

Despite that, rumors of St-Pierre returning to the Octagon at UFC 206 for a fight with Michael Bisping continued to surface, until this week, when St-Pierre sent a message to Bisping via social media, in which he stated:

“Nothing would make me more happy in the world to fight you in Toronto, Michael. Last week I met with Ari, and I made peace with Dana [White]. I tried to resolve things, but unfortunately, right now it’s not happening. Hopefully, things will change soon. Thank you”

Unfortunately, since then there has been no word from GSP’s camp, or the UFC brass, as to the current status of negotiations, and whether or not we will ever see St-Pierre in the Octagon again.

With that being said, UFC President Dana White, who has remained very adamant that St-Pierre doesn’t truly want to return to the Octagon, sent a brief update on the status of his relationship with Georges St-Pierre to ‘The Star Phoenix’:

“My relationship has never been better with GSP. I’m glad we got together.”

In addition, White commented on the rumors of GSP being a free agent, saying:

“He’s under contract with the UFC, so yes, if he returns to fighting it would be with us.”

In the meantime, UFC middleweight champion Michael Bisping has remained deadset on signing to fight at UFC 206, whether it’s against Georges St-Pierre, or someone else. Following St-Pierre’s message to Bisping regarding their potential fight, Bisping wished St-Pierre all the best in his negotiations with the UFC before then releasing another statement in which he stated that he would be willing to fight Nick Diaz, who was reportedly offered a UFC 206 fight with Bisping recently. In addition, Bisping stated that he would be willing to fight anyone, he just wants to fight.

Only time will tell if GSP will ever return to the Octagon, however the status of his relationship with White is certainly a good sign!