Perennial middleweight title contender Michael Bisping is less than thrilled to hear one of his old adversaries getting his third title shot in his past five fights.
“The Count” told ESPN UK about his displeasure over former opponent Chael Sonnen getting a title shot against UFC light heavyweight champion Jon Jones next spring.
“I can understand it from a business perspective because Chael sells,” Bisping told ESPN. “But it’s frustrating because I’ve been waiting my whole career for a title shot, and the guy’s had three out of his last five fights be title fights … “But I do understand and it’ll be a great season of The Ultimate Fighter.”
About three weeks ago, the LA Times broke the story that Sonnen would be coaching Season 17 of TUF opposite Jones, culminating in “The American Gangster” squaring off against the champ on April 27.
Sonnen was tabbed to fight “Bones” at UFC 151 when original title challenger Dan Henderson, a longtime friend and training partner of Sonnen, had to pull out of the fight due to a knee injury just eight days before the event.
However, Jones was not willing to fight Sonnen as a late replacement, and the Labor Day event was ultimately cancelled.
Bisping lost a close decision to former two-time collegiate All-American wrestler at UFC on FOX 2 in January, leading to Sonnen‘s second middleweight title bout with divisional champion Anderson Silva.
Sonnen lost the UFC 148 bout via Round 2 TKO, markedly different from his first bout with “The Spider” at UFC 117.
In their first matchup in Aug. 2010, “Uncle Chael” dominated Silva with takedowns and top control before being submitted in the middle of the fifth and final round.
One of the UFC’s biggest draw has now moved back up to light heavyweight, where he awaits his heavily anticipated fight with Jones, while Bisping hopes to get his first crack at UFC gold with a win over Vitor Belfort in January.
Should the UFC have a more structured system to rank fighters and determine who receives title shots, or should they simply continue to give the fans the fights they want to see the most?
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