'Not the same guy'

Michael Bisping called Georges St-Pierre a boring fighter. He played down his new physique. He ridiculed his decision to take a four-year break from the sport.

But St-Pierre, the legendary Canadian mixed-martial artist, shook off the insults from the UFC's reigning middleweight champion, saying that Bisping will see his improvements soon enough. –

The two men staged a highly entertaining news conference at the Hockey Hall of Fame on Friday to hype their Nov. 4 fight, UFC 217 at Madison Square Garden. It's St-Pierre's first bout since 2013. The famous French Canadian, who was once a ratings star for the UFC, has added some 15 pounds so he can challenge for the middleweight title. The fighter once known for his endurance, speed and strong fight plans, said today, at 36, he's even better.

"I've stepped up tremendously in those four years," St-Pierre said.

"I'm not the same guy I was when I left off. I'm a much better version, and he's going to find out the bad way."

The 6-foot-2 Bisping embraced playing the role of villain, taking every chance to upstage and embarrass the Canadian with his playful belligerence. The whiskered Englishman, outfitted in tattered black jeans, started in on the clean-shaven St-Pierre for his navy designer suit and just kept the act rolling. He ridiculed GSP's French accent and his 5-foot-9 stature, speculated the Canadian had taken steroids and called him an unemotional lizard whose fights were so boring they put him to sleep.

UFC president Dana White sat between the fighters during the presser with his eyes buzzing and his lips curled in a giddy smile, his attention whipping back and forth between the men, lapping up every insult they traded.

The glossy, movie-style trailer that dropped this week to promote the fight focuses on St-Pierre's comeback – a legend's return to the Octagon – not on Bisping's second title defence. Bisping jumped on the opportunity to suggest that's because UFC fans have forgotten all about the once-beloved champ.

"I've been fighting in UFC 12 years now, so you don't need reminding that I'm here," Bisping said. "But you need reminding that Georges is back, because he's the guy that ran away."

St-Pierre was asked to answer for his sudden departure in 2013, which followed a narrow victory over Johny (Bigg Rigg) Hendricks, his 12th in a row at the time.

"I was always rushing, fighting, preparing for the next guy, the next guy and the next," St-Pierre said. "I needed a break. Now I'm happy to be back."

He's appeared in a few movies during his time away from competition, such as Kickboxer: Vengeance, Cartels and Captain America: The Winter Soldier. Yet, St-Pierre took very little time away from training. He maintained his boxing and martial-arts workouts, along with an eclectic mix of other training, such as sprinting, wrestling and gymnastics. He also now works with boxing coach Freddie Roach.

"He's a lifelong martial artist. He's compelled to train all the time," said Showdown Joe Ferraro, a mixed-martial-arts analyst, who has known St-Pierre for 15 years. "Many trainers have kicked Georges out of their gym, told him to go party in New York or call Leonardo DiCaprio and go to Monaco. They kick him out of martial-arts training, and he goes to do gymnastics, they kick him out of there and he goes somewhere to wrestle. He loves to train."

St-Pierre did highly detailed work to correct imbalances and improve his movements. He said he corrected neurological patterns to improve some of his leg movements. As he has since 2010, he continued to work on flexibility, alignment and spacial orientation with Canadian national team gymnastics coach Patrick Beauchamp.

Beauchamp called St-Pierre a unique thinker, able to strengthen his body through his workouts on rings, trampoline, parallel bars, and floor exercise.

"We looked closely at how he jumps and runs and moves, so he moves more efficiently now, he's better aligned, and we worked on his upper back to make sure he walks straighter," said Beauchamp, who works with him once a week in Montreal. "People might expect him to be slower because he's bigger now, but not at all. He's just as fast and just as powerful.

Bisping pooh-poohed St-Pierre's weight-gain, mockingly admiring his physique and saying the old tactics he used to win in the 170-pound weight class won't work in a 185-pound fight.

"Underneath his suit you can see some nice little round muscles," sneered Bisping, repeating a line he's used many times in the lead-up to this fight. "He's still going to be the smallest guy I've ever fought."

St-Pierre, who said he rarely engages in news-conference barbs with his opponents, because English isn't his first language, mostly smiled and rolled his eyes at the Englishman. With several rows of fans whooping in the back of the room, jeering at Bisping and chanting "G-S-P," the Canadian did deliver a few cutting digs.

"I defended my title nine times, man," hollered St-Pierre at one point. "Who are you? What have you done?"

If he loses, St-Pierre has said he'll quit for good. If he beats Bisping, he says he'll fulfill obligations to defend the middleweight title against Robert Whittaker. But many think St-Pierre might be plotting to then drop weight and clash with lightweight champion Conor McGregor, further bolstering his legacy by winning a belt in a third weight class.

"In my contract it says Robert Whittaker," said St-Pierre when asked about the prospect of facing McGregor. "But Dana is the boss, and he'll decide."

Bisping then loudly interjected: "Georges will be going back under the rock he came from."

The traditional face-to-face stare-down photo opp at the end of the news conference had a little dose of theatrics. The two bumped noses and Bisping impishly poked St-Pierre's face with a finger. That's when the Canadian snarled just a little and unleashed his own swipe.