LAS VEGAS - JULY 11: (L-R) Georges St. Pierre battles Thiago Alves during their welterweight title bout during UFC 100 on July 11, 2009 in Las Vegas, Nevada. (Photo by Jon Kopaloff/Getty Images)
Georges St-Pierre officially has an opponent for his UFC return.
The 35-year-old Canadian former welterweight champion is set to move up to 185 pounds and face middleweight champ Michael Bisping in a fight later this year at a date and place to be determined.
UFC president Dana White announced the news Wednesday on SportsCenter.
St-Pierre (25-2) and Bisping (30-7) are expected to appear in Las Vegas on Friday for a joint press conference to discuss the announcement.
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St-Pierre is required to undergo four months of enrollment in the USADA testing field before he is allowed back to active competition, hence the delay.
The Canadian, who gave up his 170-pound title after suffering a knee injury three years ago, has not fought since 2013. He is the longest reigning welterweight champ in UFC history, defending his title nine times. He has never fought at 185 pounds.
Bisping, meanwhile, last defeated Dan Henderson via unanimous decision at UFC 204 in England and has been inactive since, needing a minor knee surgery in January. He said he would not return to fight until at least May.
The Brit, who turned 38 on Tuesday, won the UFC middleweight title in June 2016 when he scored a first-round knockout of Luke Rockhold at UFC 199. Bisping is on a career-best five-fight UFC win streak that includes a victory over Anderson Silva.
“The only reason I’m saying Georges St-Pierre is because I know he wants to fight me, and I was offered a fight with him. That’s the only reason he’s in my mind,” Bisping said recently on The MMA Hour. “If I wasn’t offered a fight with him [in 2016], I wouldn’t be thinking Georges St-Pierre. But that just got that carrot dangled in front of my face of a several-million-dollar payday. Call me stupid, but I want that f—ing carrot.”
Bisping added that he also wants to fight St-Pierre “for his children’s sake and for his family,” so that they can “still live a good life” after he retires.
LAS VEGAS – JULY 11: (L-R) Georges St. Pierre battles Thiago Alves during their welterweight title bout during UFC 100 on July 11, 2009 in Las Vegas, Nevada. (Photo by Jon Kopaloff/Getty Images)
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