UFC Fights 2017: Georges St-Pierre, Demetrious Johnson Highlight Year's Biggest Remaining Bouts

The first half of 2017 could be described as a letdown for the UFC, following the biggest year in the company’s history. Conor McGregor set pay-per-view records with three fights in 2016, and his only scheduled bout in 2017 is a boxing match with Floyd Mayweather.

The year’s final six months, however, should prove to be a significant improvement. It was kick started with the rematch between Jon Jones and Daniel Cormier at UFC 214, and some of the sport's best athletes will have championship fights before New Year’s Day.

READ: Floyd Mayweather Is Trying To Convince Everyone Conor McGregor Can Beat Him

Let’s take a look at the five biggest UFC fights that are likely to happen in the remainder of 2017.

Demetrious Johnson vs. Ray Borg

This fight is unlike any other one on the list in that it’s considered to be a lopsided matchup. Johnson opened as a -900 favorite, via OddsShark, for the main event of UFC 215 on Sept. 9 in Edmonton, Canada. If Johnson can retain his UFC flyweight championship, he’ll set a record with 11 straight successful title defenses. It would be the 13th consecutive win for Johnson overall and keep him in the conversation with Jon Jones for the greatest fighter of all time.

Michael Bisping vs. Georges St-Pierre

One of the greatest fighters in MMA history is finally set to make his return. It’ll be nearly four years since St-Pierre walked away from the sport when he steps inside the octagon for a shot at the UFC middleweight championship. Bisping and St-Pierre have officially agreed to meet at UFC 217 on Nov. 4 at Madison Square Garden, highlighting what should be the biggest UFC event of the year. Bisping is on a five-fight winning streak, but he hasn’t competed since he successfully defended his title against Dan Henderson on Oct. 8 of last year. GSP last fought at UFC 167, winning his 11th straight fight as a welterweight.

Cody Garbrandt vs. TJ Dillashaw

The UFC bantamweight championship bout was pulled from UFC 213 when Garbrandt suffered a back injury. The champ announced on social media Wednesday that he would indeed put his belt on the line at UFC 217. Having not fought since he won the title from Dominick Cruz in December, Garbrandt is undefeated in his professional MMA career at 11-0. Dillashaw lost the title to Cruz 19 months ago, but he’s earned a championship opportunity with consecutive impressive wins against Raphael Assuncao and John Lineker.

Khabib Nurmagomedov vs. Tony Ferguson

This is the fight that was supposed to happen at UFC 209 to determine the challenger to McGregor’s lightweight title. Nurmagomedov was pulled from the card after he got sick due to his weight cut, and neither fighter has been in the octagon since. The 155-pounders recently engaged in a Twitter war that ended with them asking the UFC for a fight at UFC 217, though there’s no guarantee the bout will be made. Last year, it was Ferguson that dropped out when the two lightweights were supposed to meet at UFC on FOX 19.

Max Holloway vs. Frankie Edgar

Here’s yet another fight that’s been rumored as a possible part of the UFC 217 card. UFC president Dana White told KHON-2 last month that Holloway’s first title defense as the undisputed UFC featherweight champion would “absolutely” come before the end of the year, with Edgar as his likely opponent. It would make sense to put the fight in New York City, considering Edgar is from New Jersey. Doing so could help the card rival that of UFC 205, which featured three championship bouts in the first-ever UFC event at MSG.