Dana White not mad (or surprised) after Georges St-Pierre vacated UFC middleweight title - ‘It is what it is’

Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) president Dana White said he’d be “super pissed” if Georges St-Pierre failed to defend the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) Middleweight strap.

As it turns out, it didn’t bother him too much.

After “Rush” opted to vacate the 185-pound strap he won at UFC 217 a few weeks agoby submitting Michael Bisping in order to get his health back on track, the brash head honcho said he’s not mad or surprised St-Pierre did what he did.

“I thought I would be (super pissed), but I’m not. I expected it,” White said. “Listen, I had him sign a contract that said he would defend against Whittaker for a reason — because I knew he wouldn’t,” he said during a media scrum courtesy of MMA Fighting.

Of course, no one could predict Georges would come down with a bad case of colitis. Still, the writing was on the wall, as St-Pierre’s team constantly stated he would no longer compete at 185-pounds following his dominant win against “The Count.”

“At the end of the day, there’s a reason I put that stuff in the contract for him to sign,” White insisted. “There’s a reason. And am I shocked? I don’t think anybody is shocked. He came out, he hand-picked Bisping and then went away again. So, whatever, it is what it is.”

You can’t ignore the fact White feels this was Georges plan from the get-go, as he reiterated St-Pierre’s desire to fight only Bisping over and over.

“He doesn’t want to fight anybody at welterweight,” White continued. “That’s why he fought Bisping. He didn’t want to fight (Tyron) Woodley, he didn’t want to fight (Stephen) ‘Wonderboy’ Thompson. He didn’t want to fight any of those guys. He wanted to fight Michael Bisping, and he did, and now he’s off again. So, listen, I’m not shocked, I’m not mad. It is what it is.”

As a result, the promotion branded Robert Whittaker the official champion and booked him to defend his strap against Luke Rockhold at the upcoming UFC 221 pay-per-view (PPV) main event, set for Sat., Feb. 11, 2018 inside Perth Arena in Western Australia

As for whether or not Georges St-Pierre ever competes inside the Octagon again, that remains to be seen.