GSP confirms dream Aussie fight despite injury

New UFC middleweight champion Georges St-Pierre has hesitantly confirmed he will face Australian Robert Whittaker in his next venture inside the Octagon.

Only problem for Whittaker though, it's going to take a while, meaning the dream bout will likely come after February's UFC 221 in Perth.

The confirmation from GSP means former middleweight interim champion Whittaker will almost certainly realise a childhood dream in fighting the Canadian MMA legend.

"We’ll see what I want to do and where my head is, St-Pierre said.

"I have no intention of holding on to the belt and freezing the division. That’s not what I want to do.

"Robert Whittaker is in my contract. If I want to fight again, it has to be against Robert Whittaker at 185 (pounds).

"That’s in my contract. I cannot, for example, go fight (welterweight champ) Tyron Woodley or go fight another guy.

"There’s going to be news about it in the next few weeks but I don’t plan to hold the title and not defend it."

However it won't be a straightforward process for UFC Dana White to set up the bout that will have Aussie fight fans salivating, as 36-year-old GSP revealed he suffered a neck injury during his famous UFC 217 victory over Michael Bisping.

At this stage, the middelweight champion has no idea when he will be ok to return to the Octagon, leaving Whittaker in limbo.

"It looked very insignificant when it happened," St-Pierre said.

"It wasn’t the strength of the hit. It was more the precision of it. It’s not his fault.

"We’re not allowed to hit there, but it was just in the heat of the fight, and it’s normal.

"My neck was so inflamed, when I was on the floor, I had a hard time posturing up because it was hurting very bad.

"It felt like I couldn’t contract my head to posture up. After the fight when I cooled down, it was terrible.

"It was like my neck couldn’t move. Now it’s still sore, but it got a lot better. I got treatment on it, so I’ll be back 100 per cent."

Whittaker himself has been out of action since defeating Yoel Romero for the interim middleweight title in July.

However the 26-year-old will have no issue with extending his break from the Octagon a little longer, considering a fight with GSP will be the realisation of a boyhood dream.

"I can’t even put it into words. I was a massive fan of him when I was younger — and when I was at welterweight, as well," Whittaker said at UFC 217.

"Every welterweight in the world aspired to become something like him. If I got the privilege of fighting him? Man, dream come true."

But it wasn't all high praise from the hard-hitting Aussie, who also took the opportunity to call out some of GSP's weaknesses.

"To be honest, he looked slower than he’s ever been," Whittaker said.

"He’s just as crafty. You can see the intelligence is still there. His fight IQ is still there.

"He obviously hits harder at middleweight. But I hit hard and I hit fast — and much harder and faster than Bisping. And I have much better defence than Bisping. So it looks good."