Georges St-Pierre’s most aggressive foray into trash talk was about a decade ago, telling Matt Hughes, “I’m not impressed by your performance.”

GSP, one of the best fighters of all time, upped his game a bit Friday at a UFC 217 press conference in Las Vegas. Sitting feet from his Nov. 4 opponent, Michael Bisping, St-Pierre made a strong statement.

Maybe it’s appropriate that the fight is at Madison Square Garden, because GSP channeled his Canadian countryman, New York Rangers legend Mark Messier, by guaranteeing a victory. St-Pierre acknowledged Bisping's spot among the greatest in UFC history, but added that caveat.

“Yes, he is,” St-Pierre said. “But he’s got a loss Nov. 4. This I can guarantee you. He’s not gonna beat me. There’s nothing more sure. Water is wet, fire burns and I'm gonna beat Michael Bisping.”

On that night, Bisping will defend the middleweight title against GSP, who is returning from a four-year layoff. St-Pierre is the former longtime UFC welterweight champion, but has never fought at middleweight before. Bisping asked GSP how he planned to accomplish his vow and St-Pierre answered quickly and aggressively.

“I’m gonna do whatever I want to do,” St-Pierre said. “I’m gonna strike you, I’m gonna put you down, I'm gonna submit you, I’m gonna restrike you if you stand back up, I'm gonna do whatever I want — whatever I want when I want to do it. That's what I'm gonna do.”

Throughout the press conference, Bisping made fun of St-Pierre — for his size for the 185-pound division, his suit, his accent. You name it. But GSP got in some digs of his own and even played a little amateur psychologist.

“He’s a very angry man,” St-Pierre said. “He takes everything as insult, he takes everything personal. If you would have asked Michael Bisping 10 years ago, ‘What would make you happy?’ He would probably say, ‘Be world champion.’ Now that's world champion he's not happy anymore. I thin he has a lot of holes that he can't fill in himself. That's a problem.”

That prompted the typical Bisping reply: “If you want to go out filling holes, that’s up to you, pal. I'm happy.”