GSP has not fought in four years after taking an extended break from competition after falling out of love with the sport.
However, he announced his return earlier this year and will now contest the UFC Middleweight Championship.
Bisping is Britain’s only UFC champion and fights one weight class up from the welterweight division GSP ruled for years.
The pair have seen whatever relationship they had previously sour in the build-up with Bisping appearing to have achieved the impossible, getting under the Canadian fighter’s skin.
Express Sport brings you all the UFC 217 action leading up to and including the main event in New York.
UFC 217 LIVE: Latest updates from Madison Square Garden
2.50am: Thomspon scores another fine knockdown and he is throwing some awkward kicks from strange angles. Masvidal is landing shots too though – he seems to have something of a speed advantage and once again he finishes on the front foot, landing a fine left hook right on the jaw of Thompson.
2.45am: Hendricks may no longer be a welterweight but that’s what we have now. Stephen Thompson is the No 2 challenger for the title Conor McGregor still claims he holds while Jorge Masvidal is No 4.
Thompson drops Masvidal in the opening round with a sidekick but he bounces up again and they take the bell with Masvidal on the front foot again.
2.30am: Hendricks weathers a first-round storm but the sheer power of Costa tells just a minute into the second round and the older man is stopped.
An impressive win for Costa and that is probably the biggest victory of his career.
2.20am: There is some rather nice cyclical composition in play tonight. The last time GSP fought, he did so against Johny Hendricks and tonight, Bigg Rigg is back in action.
However, the American is a middleweight now and what a test this is for him. Paulo Costa told him he “made a mistake” in taking this fight. The Brazilian is 10-0 with a 90 per cent KO/TKO rate.
1.50am: You can have all the Irish support you want, it doesn’t stop you eating a massive upper-cut and Duffy is beaten by knockout for the first time in his career.
Vick is understandably delighted and is bouncing all over the cage trying to make his next fight! Great stuff. Main card coming up in just 10 minutes.
1.40am: After a bit of a pause due to the early finish between Harris and Godbeer, we have the final prelim fight.
James Vick and Joe Duffy in the 155lb division are up and the latter has plenty of Irish support in New York.
1.15am: There’s a real sense of anti-climax in our next bout. Walt Harris lands a fierce head kick well after the referee had called time and Mark Godbeer goes down.
The fight has been stopped after consultation with the doctor and Harris is claiming he didn’t hear the call.
Godbeer is awarded the win by disqualification in the first round. That’s a shame.
00.55am: Anderson is OUT! OSP produces that famous left kick to the head and Anderson is out before he hits the deck.
Great result for the Tennessee-based fighter who is now on a three-fight winning streak and celebrates up on the fence in front of light-heavyweight champion Daniel Cormier.
00.40am: Ovince Saint Preux and Corey Anderson are up next – it’s No 6 and No 7 in the light-heavyweight division.
Interestingly, both these guys have fought Jimi Manuwa and both lost.
00.30am: They go the distance! Brown definitely lost the second but the blood pouring from Gall’s face tells you all you need to know about the third and final round.
The judges agree and Brown takes a unanimous decision to hand Gall the first defeat of his professional career.
00.15am: Brown, the superior striker, definitely had the best of the first round but Gall is coming on strong in the ground game in the second round…
Midnight: Aleksei Oleynik is stopped by Curtis Blaydes which means that a short early prelim card is over and Randy Brown and Mickey Gall are on their way to the Octagon.
Gall is 4-0 of course, all by submission while 56 per cent of Brown’s wins have come by KO/TKO.
11.45pm: Good evening, sports fans! Busy night in New York tonight. Across the city in Brooklyn, Deontay Wilder will defend his WBC heavyweight title in a rematch against Bermane Stiverne.
But over at Madison Square Garden, it’s all mixed martial arts. The Octagon has already seen one brutal knockout tonight – Ricardo Ramos landed a brilliant spinning elbow on Aiemann Zahabi in the first early prelim fight of the night.
As we speak, Aleksei Oleynik and Curtis Blaydes are in action before the prelims start at midnight.