It seems a little bit too convenient that Georges St-Pierre was getting cozy with Bellator staff while he’s embroiled in a contract dispute with the UFC.
Arguably the greatest fighter to ever grace an Octagon was in attendance at the Bellator 165 event on Saturday night.
GSP was cornering for his Tri-Star teammate Francis Carmont, who lost a unanimous decision to Linton Vassell on the undercard of the lightweight title fight between Michael Chandler and former UFC champion Benson Henderson. Chandler successfully defended his belt in the headliner, taking the split decision in a fight of the Year candidate.
Normally, a fighter attending a Bellator show to support their teammates or even just to soak up the event itself wouldn’t attract much attention. However, St-Pierre’s case is a little bit different.
The former UFC welterweight champion was expected to make his highly anticipated return after more than three years away from the cage in the main event of UFC 206 in Toronto, Canada, but he couldn’t strike a deal with the promotion in time.
With Dana White persistently saying he doesn’t believe St-Pierre wants to ever fight again, while the fighter has constantly claimed otherwise, seeing snaps of GSP posing alongside alongside Bellator CEO Scott Coker, Rory MacDonald and Fedor Emelianenko got a lot of people thinking he may have been sending a warning shot to the UFC’s new owners.
Hanging out with @rory_macdonald tonight, I had the pleasure to meet one of my idols, the baddest man that ever lived: @Fedoroskol pic.twitter.com/wDTq68vx9D
— Georges St-Pierre (@GeorgesStPierre) November 20, 2016
St-Pierre is set to reopen talks with the UFC about returning in early 2017. However, with the likes of Rory MacDonald, Chael Sonnen, Phil Davis, Benson Henderson and Matt Mitrione having already made the switch from the promotion to their biggest rivals, it does feel like St-Pierre is sending some sort of message with this move.
Thanks @chaelsonnen for inviting me to train in the @bellatormma cage! Learned so much new stuff under the supervision of @neilmelanson pic.twitter.com/ndsnS60AaK
— Georges St-Pierre (@GeorgesStPierre) November 20, 2016
The fans seem to agree with this assessment too. Although the majority of people aren’t banking on GSP becoming a Bellator employee just yet, the consensus is that he is trying to keep the UFC on their toes with these photos.
Could GSP posting posting pictures of himself at Bellator be anymore of a middle finger to the UFC?
— Daryl Chumbley (@Dzlr69) November 20, 2016
GSP training with Chael Sonnen in a Bellator cage can only mean one thing and it'll be bad business for UFC thanks to their Reebok deal #UFC
— Johnny Harris (@JohnnyHarris91) November 20, 2016
https://twitter.com/kendixon92/status/800192848893243393
https://twitter.com/xeaux2/status/800136421444980736
somewhere Dana White is furious
— NJD4LIFE (@keldev03) November 20, 2016
…good way to put pressure on UFC
— Jose Velazquez (@jvelax) November 20, 2016
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