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NEW YORK — Georges St. Pierre peered through the blood that washed over his face and locked on a choke hold, a packed house at Madison Square Garden absolutely roaring for “G-S-P!”
St. Pierre tightened his grip until Michael Bisping had no more fight left. Four years after he walked away from UFC for a mental breather, St. Pierre walked out of MSG a champion — a breathtaking reminder that the Canadian is still one of the best ever inside the octagon.
And he proved it in the main event in one of UFC’s all-time great cards.
St. Pierre ended UFC 217 by reasserting himself as a top star in the sport, turning his middleweight championship bout against Bisping into a mismatch Saturday night. The 36-year-old fought like he had only four months off, not four years.
“I don’t have words in my mouth right now,” GSP said, wiping blood from his face. He went to a hospital after the fight to get stitches on his nose.