When Georges St-Pierre and Michael Bisping squared off during Friday morning’s UFC 217 press conference at the Hockey Hall of Fame in Toronto, Bisping made a comment and put his finger in St-Pierre’s face. St-Pierre swatted the middleweight champion’s hand away but did so with a smile and little intensity.
When Bisping confronted St-Pierre backstage following the media event, however, there were no smiles and tension filled the air.
“Hey Georges, you don’t put your hands on a man,” Bisping said. “You put your hands on a man that means you got a [expletive] problem, so keep your [expletive] hands to yourself, pal. I will knock you [expletive] out right now.
The expletive-laden altercation was captured by a TMZ Sports camera and posted online Friday evening.
St-Pierre has been the poster boy for professionalism throughout his vaunted mixed martial arts career, but the clean cut and typically reserved Canadian went on the offensive when he was confronted.
“Hey [expletive] off, man. [Expletive] off. You’re the one that put your hand on me,” St-Pierre yelled back.
UFC staff and security immediately got in between the two sides and Bisping’s trainer, Jason Parillo, helped steer his fighter away.
“I’m not afraid of you,” St-Pierre said. “Don’t touch me because I’ll break you, man. I will break you, man. I’m not afraid of you. I don’t give a damn.”
Bisping then fired back with: “You should be [afraid of me] you little [expletive]. You little [expletive] nerd. Look at you. Look at the state of you. You won’t do [expletive] all, man. You won’t do [expletive]. You will not do a [expletive] thing. I’ll break your [expletive] jaw.
“Don’t try and act tough because it doesn’t suit you. You look stupid.”
St-Pierre, the former welterweight champion, is set to challenge Bisping for the 185-pound title in the main event of UFC 217, which takes place Nov. 4 at Madison Square Garden. St-Pierre hasn’t competed in nearly four years after taking an extended leave of absence from the sport.
Here is a look at the complete UFC 217 fight card to date.
MAIN CARD
— Michael Bisping vs. Georges St-Pierre
— Cody Garbrandt vs. T.J. Dillashaw
— Joanna Jędrzejczyk vs. Rose Namajunas
— Stephen Thompson vs. Jorge Masvidal
— Johny Hendricks vs. Paulo Borrachinha
PRELIMINARY CARD
— James Vick vs. Joseph Duffy
— Walt Harris vs. Mark Godbeer
— Ion Cuțelaba vs. Michał Oleksiejczuk
— Randy Brown vs. Mickey Gall
— Oleksiy Oliynyk vs. Curtis Blaydes
— Corey Anderson vs. Patrick Cummins
— Aiemann Zahabi vs. Ricardo Ramos
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