St-Pierre’s return may be later than anticipated

When former UFC welterweight champion Georges St-Pierre announced in February he was returning to the UFC after a three-and-a-half-year hiatus, UFC president Dana White said he hoped his return bout against middleweight champion Michael Bisping would be at UFC 213 on July 8 during International Fight Week. However, that is looking less likely by the day.

White told TSN before UFC 210 in early April that a firm date was expected to be confirmed within a week. To date, nothing has been announced.

Last week, Bisping’s manager Audie Attar joined The MMA Hour with Ariel Helwani, telling him he now expects the fight to happen in late fall or early winter.

This is not good news for those at the top of the middleweight division, especially Yoel Romero, who is considered the consensus top contender and, having just turned 40, is not getting any younger.

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Issues in the women’s featherweight division

The future is murky right now when it comes to the UFC’s women’s featherweight division.

The first issue is the ongoing saga with Cristiane ‘Cyborg’ Santos, who has been pushing hard for a title fight against Germaine de Randamie at UFC 214 on July 29 in Anaheim. Cyborg’s contract, regardless of when she fights, reportedly expires in October. Many have speculated that the division was created to showcase her, so it could mean that the division’s future is in limbo.

Cyborg has been quick to express her disappointment with how she has been handled by the UFC. Her complaints have ranged from having her cut down to 140 pounds, despite the ramifications on her health, to publicly discussing her turning down title fights and bringing up insulting comments made in past years by Joe Rogan and White. All of these things have created a tumultuous relationship between the organization and, perhaps, the greatest female mixed martial artist ever.

To make matters worse, former UFC bantamweight champion and featherweight contender Holly Holm posted on her Facebook page last week that there were rumours that de Randamie was considering retirement. While de Randamie’s manager has denied those rumours, MMA Fighting’s Ariel Helwani reported that her immediate future was up in the air and that there has been some talk of her vacating the featherweight title.

Invicta featherweight champion Megan Anderson was a guest on today’s episode of The MMA Hour and, unexpectedly, Cyborg called in and said that she wanted a UFC featherweight title fight against Anderson at UFC 214.

While this idea is intriguing, it raises the question about de Randamie’s status and whether she would be willing to vacate the title or if the UFC would be unafraid of the optics of creating an interim women’s featherweight title when, to date, there has only been a single fight in the division.

The UFC currently doesn’t list rankings for the division, namely because they don’t have enough fighters in the weight class.

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Gordon upset on The Ultimate Fighter: Redemption

Going into The Ultimate Fighter: Redemption, Team Serra-Longo product Eddie Gordon, who won The Ultimate Fighter Season 19 at middleweight, had to be considered one of the favourites to win the show.

In the second episode of the season, Gordon was pitted against Tom Gallicchio, who typically fights at lightweight and lost in the elimination round of The Ultimate Fighter 22.

Gordon appeared to have a clear advantage when the fight was standing, but Gallicchio was eventually able to implement his wrestling, take Gordon down and score a submission victory in the first round.

With Gordon’s loss, Cody Garbrandt has now had three of his top four fighters eliminated. Top pick Seth Baczynski was eliminated in the first episode and fourth pick Hector Urbina failed to make weight and was sent home.

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Woodley teases upcoming fight

UFC welterweight champion Tyron Woodley told Fox Sports’ PROCast he will be fighting in July, but can’t reveal who his opponent is just yet.

This likely means that Woodley will be fighting at UFC 213 in Las Vegas during International Fight Week or at UFC 214 in Anaheim, but the date and venue are not as intriguing a mystery as the opponent.

Stephen Thompson, who Woodley just fought twice in a row, is almost certainly not an option. Robbie Lawler has a fight scheduled for UFC 213, so he is out of the question. Carlos Condit has been inactive and is coming off a loss to Demian Maia. Third-ranked Maia is fighting the fifth-ranked Jorge Masvidal at UFC 211 on May 13, so the winner of that fight may be an option, but it would be a very tight turnaround.

The wild card is Nick Diaz, who is undoubtedly a big draw, but also hasn’t won a fight in more than five years. While Woodley-Diaz would be a marketable fight, it is definitely a tough sell to purists who believe in a meritocracy.

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Rousey’s judo coach doubtful she returns

Since Ronda Rousey lost at the hands of UFC women’s bantamweight champion Amanda Nunes at UFC 207 in December, very little information regarding her UFC future has been relayed.

Earlier this month, White told TSN that she hadn’t mentioned anything to him about a comeback and that, if he had to guess, he doesn’t think she will return.

Last week, in an interview with Submission Radio, Rousey’s judo coach Justin Flores added some more information.

“Personally, I don’t think it’s in the cards. I don’t think that’s what she wants in this time of her life,” said Flores. “I just don’t see that being something she wants to jump into and focus full force to be the best.”

While nothing has been announced, some have speculated that Nunes will defend her title against Valentina Shevchenko at UFC 213 in July. Nunes previously beat Shevchenko at UFC 196 in March, 2016.