UFC 217 is happening at Madison Square Garden in New York City on November 4. While any card in New York City is going to be a big deal, the highlight of this event is the return of Georges St. Pierre. GSP is a UFC legend. But he’s 36 years old now and hasn’t stepped into the Octagon for nearly four years. How will he fare in his highly-anticipated return?
Michael Bisping vs. Georges St. Pierre – Middleweight
Favourite: Georges St. Pierre -140
Bisping (30-7) will defend his title against St. Pierre (25-2), who returns to the Octagon for the first time since a split-decision win over Johny Hendricks in November 2013. St. Pierre was the welterweight champion then, but that was a long time ago. When he was at his best, St. Pierre was arguably the best wrestler that the UFC had ever seen.
While Bisping is more of a boxer and striker, it’ll be interesting to see if and how he can defend takedowns from St. Pierre. The biggest wrinkle in this fight will be time: St. Pierre will have been out of the UFC for four years by the time this fight rolls around. St. Pierre also had a knee injury prior to this fight, and he had to work to get up to 185 pounds. As for Bisping, he hasn’t been in the octagon since defending the belt against Dan Henderson in October 2016 and he’s also had an injury (eye) to deal with. There are a lot of question marks on both sides that need to be answered when they step into the octagon.
Cody Garbrandt vs. TJ Dillashaw – Bantamweight
Favourite: Garbrandt -145
Garbrandt (11-0) will defend the title against Dillashaw (14-3), who lost the belt to Dominick Cruz via split decision in January 2016. Garbrandt has a major striking advantage over Dillashaw, who is a very strong wrestler. These two are no strangers to each other. They used to be teammates at Team Alpha Male. Dillashaw has since left to train with Duane Ludwig, but these two fighters know each other well, so it’s going to be a chess match.
Stephen Thompson vs. Jorge Masvidal – Welterweight
Favourite: Thompson -150
Thompson (13-2-1) has a draw and a loss to champion Tyron Woodley in his last two fights, although the loss was by a majority decision and almost as close as the draw. Masvidal (32-12) lost via split decision to Demian Maia in May. Both of these fighters are still in the top five in the welterweight division. Former champion Robbie Lawler is the No. 1 contender after beating Donald Cerrone, and then Maia lost to Woodley. That leaves Thompson and Masvidal with the winner likely in line for a title shot in 2018.
*Odds as of September 29, 2017