Four Ways Michael Bisping Ducked Yoel Romero

Middleweight champion Michael Bisping continues to draw the collective ire of the MMA community by fighting former welterweight Georges St-Pierre and eschewing consensus top contender Yoel Romero. It probably shouldn’t be that much of a surprise that Bisping is becoming a highly controversial champion after shocking the world against Luke Rockhold at UFC 199, then

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Middleweight champion Michael Bisping continues to draw the collective ire of the MMA community by fighting former welterweight Georges St-Pierre and eschewing consensus top contender Yoel Romero.

It probably shouldn’t be that much of a surprise that Bisping is becoming a highly controversial champion after shocking the world against Luke Rockhold at UFC 199, then defending the title versus No. 14-ranked Dan Henderson, who was 46 years old and in his last professional bout, and now St-Pierre. His prior UFC run showed obvious signs that may be the case if he were to win the belt.

But regardless of the brash Brit’s outspoken style of fight promotion, all of this is just making it start to look like Bisping is ducking Romero, especially after he said he would immediately fight the Cuban wrestling powerhouse after his bout with St-Pierre. Let’s take a look at five ways “The Count” has already ducked Yoel Romero.

Photo by Joe Camporeale – USA TODAY Sports

4.) Fighting St-Pierre:

Let’s get the obvious one out of the way first and foremost: Bisping’s upcoming bout with the legendary former welterweight champion, while arguably the biggest spectacle fight the UFC has on the table right now, just doesn’t make sense for the UFC’s 185-pound title picture as a whole, and it’s become the center of a hotbed of controversy surrounding the always-popular division.

While it’s hard to blame the 37-year-old Bisping for taking a much-deserved huge money fight as one of the last few remaining bouts of his lengthy UFC tenure, it’s also hard not to blame him for taking on what many feel is an easier challenge against a much smaller man with less knockout power coming off of what will be a nearly four-year layoff from the octagon.

Bisping has made it clear he doesn’t care what the haters say, but the whole rivalry with GSP is making it look like he wants a big payday – and also no part of Romero.

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Michael Bisping Reacts To Tyron Woodley’s Latest Callout

Michael Bisping insists he’s ready to move on from his reported match-up with MMA great Georges St-Pierre – the biggest fight of his career – if GSP won’t fight in July. “The Count” insists he’ll battle number one contender Yoel Romero at UFC 213 during International Fight Week, but yesterday welterweight champion Tyron Woodley called

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Michael Bisping insists he’s ready to move on from his reported match-up with MMA great Georges St-Pierre – the biggest fight of his career – if GSP won’t fight in July.

“The Count” insists he’ll battle number one contender Yoel Romero at UFC 213 during International Fight Week, but yesterday welterweight champion Tyron Woodley called Bisping out yet again, offering to “put his foot in Bisping’s a**” on July 8.

But not surprisingly, Bisping isn’t too keen on The Chosen One” and his endless callouts for “money fights,” quickly shooting down the offer on Twitter because of his incredibly lackluster win over Stephen Thompson in his last fight:

Woodley then replied by insisting Bisping was ‘running’ even though he fights in a completely different weight class than him, to which “The Count” understandably scoffed at, noting Woodley was the one looking for a fight outside his normal division:

Ouch. A brutal reply, but not an unfounded one considering Woodley’s last fight was most definitely among the worst title fights in UFC history. As Dana White said afterward, “The Chosen One” is going to have to make fans want to see him in one of the big money fights he so covets, and he did just the opposite at UFC 209.

As for St-Pierre, well, Bisping then shifted from Twitter to Instagram to goad GSP, demanding they set a date for their awaited championship showdown:

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Tyron Woodley Offers To Put His Foot In Michael Bisping’s A** If GSP Won’t

UFC middleweight champ Michael Bisping recently said that if his returning opponent Georges St-Pierre isn’t ready by UFC 213 on July 8, then he’ll move on to face top contender Yoel Romero. Today, however, we’ve found out that Bisping has another suitor for that coveted main event spot of International Fight Week’s biggest show. After

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UFC middleweight champ Michael Bisping recently said that if his returning opponent Georges St-Pierre isn’t ready by UFC 213 on July 8, then he’ll move on to face top contender Yoel Romero.

Today, however, we’ve found out that Bisping has another suitor for that coveted main event spot of International Fight Week’s biggest show.

After recently teasing a catchweight bout with “The Count,” UFC welterweight champion Tyron Woodley spoke up earlier this morning on Twitter to offer his services should St-Pierre not be ready by the summer:

And he reiterated it as co-host on this evening’s ‘UFC Tonight,’ where he certainly didn’t take it easy on the returning legend:

“I think that if you make the fight, you say you’re going to fight this individual, July’s a great date, International Fight Week, you take the fight then. I think Georges St-Pierre’s playing games with us; you didn’t want to fight me, you went up to middleweight, talking about going down to lightweight, so Michael Bisping, I stand on that offer ten toes down. If you wanna get it on July 8, I will be there and I will be ready.”

 

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Video: Nick Diaz Rolls Corn Husk Joint Before Triathlon Training

If you’ve been wondering where fan favorite bad boy Nick Diaz has been, well, we just found out. The mixed martial arts (MMA) world is still waiting to see when the oldest Diaz brother will return to fighting after his suspension for testing positive for marijuana metabolites in his UFC 183 loss to Anderson Silva

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If you’ve been wondering where fan favorite bad boy Nick Diaz has been, well, we just found out.

The mixed martial arts (MMA) world is still waiting to see when the oldest Diaz brother will return to fighting after his suspension for testing positive for marijuana metabolites in his UFC 183 loss to Anderson Silva was up last August. Diaz wants only the biggest and best opponents, however, and has turned down several top bouts according to Dana White. Indeed, he waxed about how both Michael Bisping and Georges St-Pierre missed out on a bigger payday to fight him first before fighting each other as they are set to now.

As always, Diaz, who’s well-known for his extensive experience and knowledge of all things cannabis, doesn’t seem to mind waiting for only the biggest purse to return if he ever does. And in between, he’s going to enjoy his life. He proved that fact by recently posting a video of himself rolling a ‘corn husk’ joint (not how you would always see it in the movies, kids) before training for his famous triathlons with BJJ wiz Kron Gracie.

Just another day in the life of Nick Diaz. Check out the ‘unique’ video via Fancy Combat here:

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Luke Rockhold Blasts UFC’s Recent ‘WWE’ Booking

Former UFC champion Luke Rockhold isn’t really sure what his next move will be when he returns from a partially torn ACL sometime this year. The American Kickboxing Academy (AKA) standout has been out of action since he was shockingly knocked out by Michael Bisping at June 2016’s UFC 199, a bout that sent the

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Former UFC champion Luke Rockhold isn’t really sure what his next move will be when he returns from a partially torn ACL sometime this year.

The American Kickboxing Academy (AKA) standout has been out of action since he was shockingly knocked out by Michael Bisping at June 2016’s UFC 199, a bout that sent the UFC 185-pound division into all-out chaos.

“The Count” decided to defend his belt against No. 14-ranked Dan Henderson in his retirement fight at October’s UFC 204, and then eschewed a defense versus consensus number one contender Yoel Romero in favor of a much more lucrative bout against returning former welterweight king Georges St-Pierre.

That’s left the 185-pound fray, one of the few divisions in the UFC with a number of clear top contenders, in a state of disarray and uncertainty, and Rockhold addressed the chaotic state during an appearance on this week’s “UFC Tonight” (via MMA Junkie):

“It’s chaos, isn’t it? I think they’re running down a slippery slope. Things could easily get out of hand, you never know what these guys are going to do. Georges isn’t going to fight anybody in the top of our division if he wins this fight. Bisping could potentially be in the same boat.”

Rockhold said he’s saddened by the unexpected direction is division has gone in, as he believes it takes away from the true heart of mixed martial arts where the best fighters fight the best fighters:

“I’m bummed they took this route. It’s kind of taken away from the heart of the sport. It’s about the top guys fighting each other. This isn’t WWE. This is fighting. It’s what it’s all about. So when they make moves like this, it definitely makes you question a lot of things of what you’re doing and how you approach things.”

As for his return, Rockhold isn’t quite sure when and whom it will be against, as nothing in the UFC middleweight division seems to be for sure as of right now. Something that seems to be popular, however, is fighters like Romero and now Rockhold calling out for a title fight even though the belt will clearly be contested between Bisping and St-Pierre.

Still, Rockhold said he would be willing to fight Romero for the belt:

“There’s a lot of fights happening and everyone is kind of tied up, so it just kind of depends what their thoughts are,” Rockhold said. “I know Yoel’s out there waiting. I don’t know what his program is exactly, but if they want to put a real belt on the line I would gladly go fight Yoel for it.”

An admirable goal for sure, but like Romero’s prior request, it doesn’t seem likely in any sense that the UFC will decide to create another interim title for them to fight over when the real belt is being fought for just because they don’t like it. The situation is a sticky one indeed, and it doesn’t seem to be one that will have any immediate closure attached to it, especially if St-Pierre wins.

The longtime former welterweight ruler has said he’s looking for the biggest fights possible, and those perceivably don’t include bouts with top-ranked middleweight bruisers like Romero, Ronaldo “Jacare” Souza, and Rockhold.

Where is the middleweight division headed? Like Rockhold said, the only thing that is certain right now is that it’s simply chaotic.

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Poll: Who Wins Michael Bisping vs. Georges St-Pierre?

Following a rocky start to the year thanks in large to Conor McGregor and Ronda Rousey’s absences from MMA, undoubtedly the UFC’s biggest upcoming fight is the middleweight title fight between champion Michael Bisping and legendary returning former welterweight champion Georges St-Pierre, which is slated for later this year. The fight has received a ton

The post Poll: Who Wins Michael Bisping vs. Georges St-Pierre? appeared first on LowKickMMA.com.

Following a rocky start to the year thanks in large to Conor McGregor and Ronda Rousey’s absences from MMA, undoubtedly the UFC’s biggest upcoming fight is the middleweight title fight between champion Michael Bisping and legendary returning former welterweight champion Georges St-Pierre, which is slated for later this year.

The fight has received a ton of backlash and criticism with “The Count” having a perceived clear contender in the surging Yoel Romero, as St-Pierre is returning from what will be a nearly four-year absence from semi-retirement. He’s also never fought at 185 pounds before, raising doubt as to just how he’ll be able to contend with the much bigger Bisping.

But St-Pierre is doing his part to stay in shape, recently posting a training video of him doing gymnastics – a full-body exercise that few can do and one of the secrets to his unparalleled skill in the octagon during his historic run as champion during MMA’s rise to the current mainstream prominence it enjoys today.

Across the cage, Bisping will await. He’s received his own mob of critics after he fought No. 14-ranked Dan Henderson in his frist title defense at last October’s UFC 204, and has followed that up by refusing to fight the top-ranked contender in favor of the sure-to-be huge payday of a fight with “GSP,” yet there’s no denying “The Count” is on the hottest stretch of his long MMA career, with wins over former champs in Anderson Silva, Luke Rockhold, and Henderson; even if two of the victories were and are still followed by controversy. He’s still the bigger, more active fighter as compared to the better grappler St-Pierre, and he’s also probably a more polished striker.

All of that makes this fight a tough one to predict, and it should be a barnburner in a time where the UFC needs it to deliver. Who is your pick to win this pivotal bout?

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