'It's news to me': Michael Bisping responds to Dana White's comments that GSP fight is off

Michael Bisping has reacted to UFC president Dana White's remarks that his middleweight title fight with Georges St-Pierre has been called off.

The duo were expected to fight in the summer after an official announcement was made in March, however, with more than two months gone, there is still no confirmed date for the bout, with St-Pierre expected to compete only after October.

As a result, White recently claimed the UFC will not be waiting for "GSP" anymore and that Yoel Romero would get the next shot at Bisping's title.

"The thing was supposed to happen in July," White said. "Michael Bisping is going to have to defend his title now. We're not waiting for GSP. We're moving on with the division, and Yoel Romero will get the next shot."

While the statement was big news, the fight was not officially called off either as Bisping responded to the news for the first time.

"Honestly, it's news to me," he said, as quoted on MMAFighting. "I haven't heard anything about it. I reached out to Georges and he said he hasn't heard anything officially either, and I still haven't heard anything from the UFC or Dana White. I know that a lot of people are complaining about this potential delay with Georges, so we'll see what happens."

"I haven't heard anything and Georges is still hoping for it, I'm still hoping for it. I'll say this, I was offered the fight twice. I was offered the fight in October and it never materialized. I was offered the fight in January or February and it did materialize and we had a press conference and we shook hands and we stood there in Las Vegas and we talked a bit of s**t.

"So okay, I haven't had a bout agreement but that is the plan. That was the offer and I accepted and I kind of feel that once a deal is made, we should stick to it."

St-Pierre reacted to White's comments, claiming he did not know what to say but remaining adamant that he wanted to fight Bisping. The Canadian also suspected that it was a tactic by the UFC president to put pressure on him to fight earlier.

While the Briton agrees that there is a good likelihood of that being the case, he feels the UFC are really just in need of an active champion to fill the pay-per-view slots.

"Maybe they need an active champion to fight sooner," Bisping added. "I think that's probably the top of it. I honestly don't think they're trying to put pressure on Georges. I think they need title fights on the pay-per-views, which I understand. I understand the frustrations from their side, just like a lot of the middleweight division are kind of frustrated."

"They need good title fights on their pay-per-views and waiting until November is a significant delay so I understand that. But like I said, we did have a deal so I'd like to speak with the UFC and find out what's happening."