Georges St-Pierre vacates middleweight title as Robert Whittaker vs Luke Rockhold becomes championship fight
GSP forced to relinquish title just one month after winning it in the shortest UFC championship reign in history
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Georges St-Pierre was vacated the middleweight championship that he won at UFC 217 just one month ago due to health issues in the wake of his victory over Michael Bisping, resulting in the shortest title reign in Ultimate Fighting Championship history.
GSP returned to the Octagon after four years away from the sport in semi-retirement, with the UFC tempting one of the greatest fighters ever to be seen back to the sport to take on Britain’s Bisping in what transpired to be a classic middleweight encounter.
The Canadian, who held the welterweight title during his first stint in the UFC, clinched victory over Bisping with a rear-naked choke submission in the third round.
However, due to ill health, and the prospect of not defending the title for a number of months, St-Pierre informed the UFC on Thursday that he was relinquishing the title with immediate effect, with the company confirming the news late on Thursday night.
“My fight at UFC 217 was one of the greatest nights of my life but I now need to take some time to focus on my health,” St-Pierre said. “Out of respect to the athletes and the sport, I don’t want to hold up the division. I will be giving up my belt and once I’m healthy I look forward to working with the UFC to determine what’s next in my career.”
With Bisping already fighting – and losing – since the UFC 217 bout in his UFC Shanghai defeat by Kelvin Gastelum, the middleweight division has opened up for a new champion to emerge, and the UFC confirmed that the already-arranged UFC 221 bout between former champion Luke Rockhold and current interim champion Robert Whittaker will now be for the vacated championship.
Australian Whittaker will be elevated to undisputed champion, and subject to approval from the Combat Sports Commission in Western Australia, his bout with Rockhold in Perth, Australia, will now become a five-round title bout.
Rockhold lost the championship to Bisping at UFC 199 in June 2016, with the Briton taking the fight at just 17 days’ notice, but the 33-year-old American has rebuilt his way to the top by defeating David Branch in September and will have the chance to reclaim the gold that he won at UFC 194.
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