| UFC 217: Bisping vs. St-Pierre | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 The poster for UFC 217: Bisping vs. St-Pierre | ||||
| Promotion | Ultimate Fighting Championship | |||
| Date | November 4, 2017 (2017-11-04) | |||
| Venue | Madison Square Garden | |||
| City | New York City,New York | |||
| Attendance | 18,201[1] | |||
| Total gate | $6,200,000[1] | |||
| Buyrate | 875,000[2] | |||
| Event chronology | ||||
| ||||
UFC 217: Bisping vs. St-Pierre was amixed martial arts event produced by theUltimate Fighting Championship held on November 4, 2017, atMadison Square Garden inNew York City,New York.[3]
The event was the second that the promotion has hosted at Madison Square Garden.[3]
AUFC Middleweight Championship bout between current champion andThe Ultimate Fighter 3 light heavyweight winnerMichael Bisping and former two-timeUFC Welterweight ChampionGeorges St-Pierre headlined this event.[4][5] The bout was originally announced in March, but without a date attached. As time wore on the contest appeared to fall apart, with UFC PresidentDana White claiming Bisping would fight interim middleweight championRobert Whittaker next and St-Pierre would get current welterweight championTyron Woodley. When Whittaker announced he was injured and Woodley put on a successful title defense againstDemian Maia atUFC 214 in July that didn't meet White's standards, he reverted to the initial plan, which St-Pierre and Bisping said they wanted all along.[6]
AUFC Bantamweight Championship bout between championCody Garbrandt and former championT.J. Dillashaw, was previously scheduled to serve as headliner forUFC 213.[7] However, Garbrandt withdrew from the fight due to a back injury.[8] The fight was later rescheduled for this event.[9][10]
AUFC Women's Strawweight Championship bout between championJoanna Jędrzejczyk and former title challengerRose Namajunas took place as the third title fight of the event.[11]
Gadzhimurad Antigulov was expected to faceIon Cuțelaba at the event. However, Antigulov pulled out of the fight on September 26 citing an injury.[12] He was replaced by promotional newcomerMichał Oleksiejczuk.[13] In turn after the weigh-ins, Cuțelaba was pulled from the event byUSADA due to a potential Anti-Doping Policy violation stemming from its investigation into voluntary disclosures by Cuțelaba during an out-of-competition sample collections on October 18 and October 19. He was provisionally suspended and the bout cancelled.[14]
A heavyweight bout betweenWalt Harris andMark Godbeer was initially slated forUFC 216. However, the fight was scrapped on the day of the event as Harris, was tabbed replacement opponent forFabrício Werdum after his scheduled opponentDerrick Lewis pulled out of their fight with a back injury.[15] The Harris/Godbeer pairing was rescheduled and took place at this event.[16]
Patrick Cummins was expected to faceThe Ultimate Fighter: Team Edgar vs. Team Penn light heavyweight winnerCorey Anderson at this event. However, on October 17, Cummins pulled out due to a resistantstaph infection.[17] He was replaced by former interimUFC Light Heavyweight Championship challengerOvince Saint Preux.[18]
| Main Card | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Weight class | Method | Round | Time | Notes | |||
| Middleweight | Georges St-Pierre | def. | Michael Bisping (c) | Technical Submission (rear-naked choke) | 3 | 4:23 | [a] |
| Bantamweight | T.J. Dillashaw | def. | Cody Garbrandt (c) | TKO (punches) | 2 | 2:41 | [b] |
| Women's Strawweight | Rose Namajunas | def. | Joanna Jędrzejczyk (c) | TKO (punches) | 1 | 3:03 | [c] |
| Welterweight | Stephen Thompson | def. | Jorge Masvidal | Decision (unanimous) (30–26, 30–27, 30–27) | 3 | 5:00 | |
| Middleweight | Paulo Costa | def. | Johny Hendricks | TKO (punches) | 2 | 1:23 | |
| Preliminary Card (Fox Sports 1) | |||||||
| Lightweight | James Vick | def. | Joseph Duffy | TKO (punches) | 2 | 4:59 | |
| Heavyweight | Mark Godbeer | def. | Walt Harris | DQ (illegal head kick) | 1 | 4:29 | [d] |
| Light Heavyweight | Ovince Saint Preux | def. | Corey Anderson | KO (head kick) | 3 | 1:25 | |
| Welterweight | Randy Brown | def. | Mickey Gall | Decision (unanimous) (29–28, 29–28, 29–27) | 3 | 5:00 | |
| Preliminary Card (UFC Fight Pass) | |||||||
| Heavyweight | Curtis Blaydes | def. | Alexey Oleynik | TKO (doctor stoppage) | 2 | 1:56 | [e] |
| Bantamweight | Ricardo Ramos | def. | Aiemann Zahabi | KO (spinning back elbow) | 3 | 1:58 | |
The following fighters were awarded bonuses:[22]
LikeUFC 33,UFC 205 andUFC 214, the card featured three title fights. However, this was the first time in UFC history that all three champions lost their belts on the same card.[23]
