Interesting Opponents for GSP

Recently Georges St-Pierre has decided to come out of his not retirement after about 2 1/2 years of inactivity and proclaimed that he is ready to take a fight that, as he says, gives him the " chill ". He stated that he would be all for a fight against Michael Bisping (everyone seems to be down for a Bisping fight right now), who happens to be the middle weight champ at the moment. So GSP, who has fought his entire career at welterweight, and famously declined super-fights with the likes of Anderson Silva at different points when they were both at the peak of their powers, claiming size differential reasons, is now all for going to middle weight. Its a mystery as to what GSP's mindset is at the moment now that he has only recently deemed himself active. Does he want to fight Bisping for the actual title, or just a one off? Does he think that Bisping is an easy fight and easy money in the bank for him? If this fight happens and he wins, would he be willing to stay at middle weight and defend it against behemoths in the weight class like Rockhold, Jacare, and Weidman? Is he wanting to fight at middle weight because he's put on extra weight and muscle with the time he has been away and does not feel like cutting to make 170 yet? I say this for his first fight back because he says he's willing to go down to lightweight to take a fight. I don't know the answer to these questions, but in all likelihood, GSP is probably just in " fun fight" mode, which seems to be an ever popular distinction of fights in the UFC these days. His contract is still being worked out with the UFC repping Reebok and himself being sponsored by Under Amour. That issue is still needing to be resolved, but once that is settled, it should be all systems go for the return of GSP. With that, here are four fights that I think could interest GSP, the fan base, and UFC.

1. Donald " Cowboy " Cerrone: Cowboy is looking for pay raise. No doubt a GSP fight would make his bank account a little fuller and help go towards a couple new jet skies or mountain climbing gear, or whatever piques his interest at the time. Cerrone is kind of in " fun fight" mode himself, with his last two fights coming at welterweight after spending his entire career at lightweight. He has said he is willing to jump back and forth between divisions, looking to get the best fights for himself. A fight with GSP could be held at welterweight, since he seems to be just fine jumping up. This would be a fight the fans would be excited for, but i'm not sure Cerrone is quite a big enough name for GSP. It would be a fun fight for sure. If GSP were to use his wrestling to take Cowboy down, he may have a bit of trouble there, because Cowboy is great off of his back and is always going for submissions. It would be interesting to see how this fight ultimately played out.
   Vitor Befort admiring his Vitor Belfort-style haircut
2. Vitor Befort: In his last fight, Vitor got mauled by Jacare Souza, who was sporting a torn MCL in the process. He's lost two out of his last three and does not seem to be able to carry the same explosion with him to the cage that he has shown in the past. But Vitor is still a big name in the sport and it would be intriguing to see a fight made between these two after it never really being a possibility or even thought about until now. This fight would have to be made at middle weight, because I'm not sure Vitor could cut much below 185. GSP said he would be willing to go to middle weight for Bisping, so i'm assuming he's willing to take other fights at middle weight as well. In the first minute or two in a fight, Victor can be incredibly dangerous still, just look back on his fight with Weidman. He almost finished him with a ferocious onslaught of punches until he gassed out and then was submitted. It would be interesting to see how GSP would deal with that initial fury if Vitor came out the way he usually does.
   Khabib explains to a bewildered Joe Rogan why Sambo is better than Ju Jitsu
3. Khabib Nurmagomedov : This fight is unlikely to happen, but would get the diehards pumped. How would GSP deal with the Sambo style wrestling and takedowns that Khabib uses to absolutely demoralize and break the will of his opponents, often suplexing them multiple times through a fight with ease? GSP is up there with the best welterweight wrestlers of all time, and you would be putting him against maybe the best wrestler right now in the sport. This fight could be contested at lightweight, if GSP is okay, as he has claimed, going down a weight class or a potential catch-weight fight. It would be fascinating to see who has the better wrestling and if GSP's size would be a factor. Khabib might not be the biggest name yet, but this fight might spark St-Pierre's competitive drive and override that factor to see who is the better grapple.
   McGregor takes his stance in a very nice tree-piece suit
4. Coner McGregor: Of course I have to mention Coner. This fight was much talked about and speculated to possibly be headlining UFC 200. Coner though, ended up headlining UFC 200 in a rematch against Diaz, until he wasn't. Coner is still scheduled to fight Nate at UFC 202, which takes place in late August. Its not yet known when GSP is looking to fight. It could be a little while before his contract matter is settled, which would give this scenario time to matriculate. It could very well be another month before GSP has his contract worked out, deemed in good physical shape to start a camp, get any issues in order with USADA, ect. It could be pushing August, which could fall in line with a fight with McGregor. The fight could perhaps take place on UFC's end of the year card, which is usually one of their biggest and around the very end of December. If GSP truly is looking for a big fight, there is no other fight out there that would be bigger. It could be argued this would be the biggest and possibly most watched fight in UFC history. The UFC's former top draw and star in GSP, against its current top draw and probably at this point, a bigger star than GSP ever was in the prime of his career. This could take place at the money-weight division for McGrgor, which would actually be GSP's home at welterweight. McGregor has shown he's willing to fight at feather, light and welterweight divisions, wherever there a big fight or title to his liking, and i'm assuming he would be more than willing to again jump to welterweight for this fight. This is of course assuming he actually beats Nate Diaz this time around. If he doesn't, this fight may no longer make any sense at all, if it ever really did. He may be in damage control and his star may have dulled a bit. At that point, I assume he would have to defend his feather weight belt against Frankie Edgar or Jose Aldo.

Who do I think his opponent will ultimately be? To be honest, I have no idea. I think it all comes down to what the UFC wants to to with Bisping. He seems to be at the center of everyone's attention at the moment. Whoever Georges St-Pierre takes on in his return fight to the octagon, there's no doubt there will be much joy and jubilation from the fans once he makes his walk to the cage, and this time probably attired in a new Reebok brand Gi and headband.