Luke Rockhold doubts “joke” Georges St-Pierre will show up at UFC 217

On November 4, in the main event of UFC 217, former UFC welterweight king Georges St-Pierre is scheduled to make his long-anticipated return to the Octagon. His opponent will be UFC middleweight king Michael Bisping. At least, that’s the plan. In the opinion of former champion Luke Rockhold, St-Pierre’s actually showing up on fight night is unlikely.

Rockhold shared his doubts about St-Pierre on a recent episode of MMAJunkie Radio, also assuring that if the Canadian bails on UFC 217, he’ll happily step in to replace him.

“I think Georges St-Pierre is a joke,” Rockhold said. “I still don’t have faith that Georges makes it to the fight, so we’ll see what happens.”

Rockhold then discussed the possibility of stepping in to replace St-Pierre on November 4, just weeks after his Saturday night scrap with former World Series of Fighting champion David Branch.

“I’m fucking tired of waiting,” he said. “I’m not fuckin’ around. I’m tired of this shit. I’m tired of talking about it. I’m coming with a vengeance.”

Rockhold’s bout with Branch will headline the UFC’s return to Pittsburgh, titled UFC Fight Night 116, this Saturday. The bout will be Rockhold’s first since he surrendered the title to Michael Bisping in June of 2016, succumbing to a first-round knockout in one of the year’s biggest upsets. In his next most recent bout, Rockhold won the UFC middleweight crown with a thudding TKO of former champ Chris Weidman. He preceded this title win with dominations of Lyoto Machida, Michael Bisping, Tim Boetsch, and Costas Philippou, all of whom stood out as top contenders at the time.

If Luke Rockhold defeats David Branch this weekend, would you be interested in seeing him serve as an alternate for George St-Pierre’s title shot against Michael Bisping? Join the conversation in the comments section

This article first appeared on BJPenn.com on 9/12/2017.