{"id":261913,"date":"2017-10-19T10:26:50","date_gmt":"2017-10-19T17:26:50","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/staging.tcpcharms.com\/bjpenn\/?p=261913"},"modified":"2017-10-19T10:26:50","modified_gmt":"2017-10-19T17:26:50","slug":"chael-sonnen-not-optimistic-georges-st-pierres-future-middleweight-division","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/staging.tcpcharms.com\/bjpenn\/mma-news\/chael-sonnen\/chael-sonnen-not-optimistic-georges-st-pierres-future-middleweight-division\/","title":{"rendered":"Chael Sonnen is not optimistic about Georges St-Pierre’s future in the middleweight division"},"content":{"rendered":"

In the latest episode of his “Beyond the Fight” series, UFC veteran and current Bellator star Chael Sonnen shared his belief that former UFC welterweight champ Georges St-Pierre<\/a> should not be counted out<\/a> in his UFC 217 showdown with Michael Bisping.<\/p>\n

\u201cPeople think Bisping is going to kill him,\u201d Sonnen said of widespread perceptions that St-Pierre will lose this fight. \u201cLuke Rockhold, one of the best middleweights of all time, former champion, Luke Rockhold\u2019s opinion matters. He says it\u2019s not even a close fight, that Michael Bisping runs him over.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cGeorges is now the underdog,\u201d Sonnen added, touching on the fight’s actual betting odds. \u201cThat stunned me. I\u2019m not sure what\u2019s different now than when this fight got announced.\u201d<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

While Sonnen believes St-Pierre has a good chance of defeating Bisping, however, he is not particularly optimistic about the former welterweight’s continued success in the middleweight division. He envisions real problems for St-Pierre when it comes time for fights with monstrous middleweight contenders like Yoel Romero, Ronaldo “Jacare” Souza, and of course, interim middleweight champion Robert Whittaker.<\/p>\n

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“When this [Michael Bisping vs. Georges St-Pierre] fight got announced, I almost wasn’t that interested,” Sonnen said. “I was thinking ‘well, what’s Georges going to do?’ If Georges is right, and he likes the matchup [with Bisping], and he goes out and gets the win, is going to go back and defend the title? So when you start having the conversation [about] styles, right, and you start thinking ‘Georges vs. [Yoel] Romero, or Georges vs. ‘Jacare’ [Souza], or Georges vs. [Robert] Whittaker, it’s very easy to close your eyes and just envision Georges not being big enough.”<\/em><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

What do you think of these comments from Chael Sonnen? Do you think Georges St-Pierre can hang with the UFC middleweight division’s premier contenders? Join the conversation in the comments section!<\/p>\n