White says St-Pierre now expected to face welterweight champion
 
After declaring that the previously announced fight between Georges St-Pierre and middleweight champion Michael Bisping was no longer happening, UFC president Dana White shed some light on what’s next for the Canadian.
 
"[St-Pierre] says he will fight whoever the 170-pound champion is when he comes back," White told ESPN.
 
The next welterweight championship fight is expected to be between current holder Tyron Woodley and Demian Maia, who defeated Jorge Masvidal at UFC 211 and was told that he would be next in line.

There is currently no timetable for when that fight would happen, but Woodley has hinted that he would fight in July.
 
UFC athlete retreat features celebrities and an ugly incident
 
Every fighter on the UFC roster was invited to the 2017 UFC Athlete Retreat at the company’s newly built headquarters in Las Vegas this past weekend.
 
The retreat featured presentations and seminars hosted by athletes and celebrities, including the likes of Kobe Bryant and Michael Strahan.
 
Many fighters posted overwhelmingly positive experiences on social media, while others raised issues that they had with the event.
 
During a presentation by Reebok, the official outfitters of the UFC, Canadian lightweight Kajan Johnson expressed his disappointment with the fighters’ equity from the deal.

Johnson appeared on The MMA Hour with Ariel Helwani on Monday and discussed how his outspokenness ultimately resulted in a positive experience. After the incident, Johnson had good meetings with the UFC brass and some of his fellow fighters to discuss ways to make the deal with Reebok a more positive experience for fighters.
 
Another interesting exchange was between women’s bantamweight Leslie Smith and Bryant. Smith asked the former NBA star how important it is for athletes to have union representation. Bryant spoke very positively of the impact of union representation for NBA players and many lauded Smith for asking about it.
 
The weekend ended on a negative note when UFC women’s featherweight Cristiane “Cyborg” Santos punched women’s strawweight Angela Magana after taking exception to Magana bullying her on social media.

According to TMZ, the Las Vegas Police confirmed that Cyborg had been cited for misdemeanour battery and that Magana had a lacerated lip after the incident. If guilty, Cyborg could face a six-month jail sentence and $1,000 fine.

Canadian Cirkunov looks to remain undefeated in the UFC
 
The next UFC event takes place this Sunday in Stockholm, Sweden and features a light heavyweight main event between Alexander Gustafsson and Glover Teixeira. That fight could ultimately determine the top contender for the championship, which will be contested on July 29 between champion Daniel Cormier and former champion Jon Jones.
 
In the co-main event, seventh-ranked light heavyweight Misha Cirkunov, the highest-ranked Canadian in the UFC, faces fifth-ranked Volkan Oezdemir. With a win, Cirkunov would likely enter the top-5 in the division. Cirkunov is currently 4-0 in the UFC and has scored finishes in all of his fights. His four-fight winning streak is the second longest among active fighters in the division.

“For me, personally, it’s something that I’ve been working my whole entire life for,” Cirkunov told TSN. “I can’t wait to get [a title shot] one time. If it’s not in the near future, I’ll be working very hard to be there one day.”
 
The main card of UFC Fight Night: Gustafsson vs. Teixeira airs on TSN5 this Sunday at 1 p.m. ET.
 
MacDonald impressive in Bellator debut
 
Former UFC welterweight title challenger Rory MacDonald made his debut at Bellator 179 this past weekend in London, England and made his opponent Paul Daley, another former UFC fighter, look like he was out of his league.
 
After a dominant first round, MacDonald made easy work of Daley in the second to secure a submission victory.
 
MacDonald remains one of the top Canadian fighters in mixed martial arts and continues to train with St-Pierre at Tri-Star Gym in Montreal.
 
MacDonald will next face the winner of the Bellator welterweight championship fight between former UFC fighter Lorenz Larkin and current champion Douglas Lima.