Michael Bisping again headed for UFC title bout with Georges St. Pierre

UFC president Dana White declared Georges St. Pierre’s return bout to the UFC will happen against middleweight champ Michael Bisping just days after saying the “ship had sailed” on that particular matchup.

Apparently, it did so without a navigator.

“The ship turned around and (expletive) sailed back,” White joked Saturday night.

Bisping and St. Pierre have been connected to a middleweight title bout since early this year when it became clear St. Pierre would come out of retirement. White had said the fight was off because both fighters were forced to the sidelines for the next several months and Robert Whittaker had captured the interim middleweight title and secured a fight against Bisping.

Whittaker, however, is now injured with a bad knee. And welterweight champ Tyron Woodley, who was supposed to fight St. Pierre now that Bisping was off the table, didn’t please White with his performance in retaining the belt Saturday night at UFC 214 in Anaheim, California.

White was critical of Woodley for failing to more aggressively pursue a finish of jiu-jitsu ace Demian Maia, who was overmatched because he failed to get Woodley to the ground.

“I know Michael Bisping will fight. Michael Bisping will show up and actually fight,” White said of why he had a change of heart. “If you had a remote control for (Woodley), the guy is a freak of nature, an incredible fighter. Now, it’s easy to say a win is a win, but when you get booed out of the arena, that means people don’t want to watch you fight. That’s how you make a living and it’s not good if people don’t want to watch you fight.

“You ask fans if they want to see Woodley fight again. That would be a flat out no. Who wants to pay to see Tyron Woodley fight again? He is an absolute physical specimen; the guy could’ve finished that fight at anytime he wanted to. But he didn’t want to take the risks. You take no risks you get no rewards.”

No date is confirmed, but Bisping and St. Pierre are considered a strong possibility to headline the UFC 217 card on Nov. 4 at Madison Square Garden in New York.

Cyborg realizes dream

Now that Cris “Cyborg” Justino has captured the belt in a division the UFC essentially created for her, she is ready to see what challengers are available.

There are very few true 145-pounders on the roster. Justino’s first defense is likely to come against either Holly Holm or Cat Zingano, who have both been mostly fighting at bantamweight.

“It was the same with 135 pounds,” Justino said after knocking out Tonya Evinger in the third round of their UFC 214 bout to claim the vacant women’s featherweight title. “(The bantamweight division) started with Ronda (Rousey) and then they started building it little by little. Now they’ve made it a (strong) division. I think with 145 it will be the same.”

Justino said she’d like to fight in November and prefers Holm as an opponent, a proposal White seemed amenable to when addressing reporters.

Invicta featherweight champ Megan Anderson was supposed to fight Justino on Saturday, but had to pull out of the fight last month. She’s another possible future opponent.

Justino is just excited to finally have the UFC belt strapped around her waist after spending much of her year embroiled in a contentious relationship with the organization.

“I’ve had this dream for a long time,” she said. “A lot of things have happened in my career, but I’m just so happy right now. I just kept training because I knew the day would come and today is the day.”

UFC headed to China

UFC officials announced Saturday the organization would hold a card on mainland China for the first time.

A UFC Fight Night event will take place at Mercedes-Benz Arena in Shanghai on Nov. 25. The card was revealed as the schedule for the rest of the year was unveiled during the UFC 214 broadcast.

UFC officials have been pursuing an event in China for several years. The organization has held three events in Macau.

Contact Adam Hill at ahill@reviewjournal.com or 702-277-8028. Follow @adamhilllvrj on Twitter.