DESPITE ANNOUNCING HIS departure from the organisation last year, Georges St-Pierre (25-2) is on course to fight for the UFC again in 2017.

According to a report from the reliable Ariel Helwani of MMAFighting.com, the former welterweight champion has agreed terms on a new deal, with a return to the octagon in the third quarter of this year being targeted.

St-Pierre, who has been linked to a potential bout with current middleweight champion Michael Bisping since last year, hasn’t fought since he relinquished the welterweight belt after his UFC 167 win against Johny Hendricks in November 2013.

Widely regarded as one of the greatest fighters ever to compete in the UFC, issues with the organisation’s anti-doping policy and its uniform deal with Reebok (St-Pierre is sponsored by Under Armour) are understood to have been among the main stumbling blocks preventing the 35-year-old Canadian from making a return.

Last October, St-Pierre said he’s now a free agent after his lawyer terminated his UFC contract — a claim which was promptly dismissed by the organisation.

Nevertheless, GSP now looks set to end his absence from the octagon by returning to the UFC, for whom he debuted back in January 2004 at UFC 46 in Las Vegas.

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