Tag: Luke Rockhold

Pic: Georges St-Pierre Finally Signs To Face Michael Bisping At UFC 217

Georges St-Pierre has finally signed the bout agreement for his long-rumored UFC return against Michael Bisping. The longtime former welterweight champion, who has been out of action since his highly controversial split decision over Johny Hendricks at November 2013’s UFC 167, has been in talks to fight Michael Bisping for the 185-pound title since early […]

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Georges St-Pierre has finally signed the bout agreement for his long-rumored UFC return against Michael Bisping.

The longtime former welterweight champion, who has been out of action since his highly controversial split decision over Johny Hendricks at November 2013’s UFC 167, has been in talks to fight Michael Bisping for the 185-pound title since early 2017, with the two even meeting in a press conference this March.

But when St-Pierre continued to insist he couldn’t fight until sometime after October, UFC President Dana White called a hasty halt to the bout, saying the ‘ship had sailed’ and that Bisping would fight the winner of UFC 213’s Robert Whittaker vs. Yoel Romero interim title fight while giving St-Pierre a shot at the winner of UFC 214’s welterweight title bout between Tyron Woodley and Demain Maia. When that fight failed to deliver, however, that ship sailed back into port, with Bisping ‘announcing’ it for November 4’s UFC 214 from Madison Square Garden on last week’s UFC Tonight.

It wasn’t yet official, but apparently, it is now. St- Pierre posted this picture of him signing his bout agreement on Facebook page today:
St-Pierre’s return, while wholly an awaited one since he vacated the title following his win over Hendricks, has become a controversial topic in the sport of MMA, as a large majority of the fanbase have criticized Bisping for not taking on the top contenders at 185 pounds since winning the belt from Luke Rockhold in June 2016.

It may be true that he only holds one title defense over a then-No. 14-ranked and now retired Dan Henderson, but the middleweight arena is now lacking a clear contender thanks to Whittaker, who knocked out Ronaldo “Jacare” Souza and beat Romero while significantly injuring his knee to clear out of the top of the division for the time being.

That leaves “The Count” with no other contender than the fight that he’s wanted all along. But is it the one you want as a fan?

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Michael Bisping Blasts ‘F***ing Joke’ Luke Rockhold For Recent Comments

The hatred between current UFC middleweight champion Michael Bisping and former champ Luke Rockhold is still very much alive. The pair initially met back in November of 2014, where Rockhold won the fight via second-round submission, however, in their rematch last October, Bisping paid the Californian back with a first-round knockout win to take the […]

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The hatred between current UFC middleweight champion Michael Bisping and former champ Luke Rockhold is still very much alive.

The pair initially met back in November of 2014, where Rockhold won the fight via second-round submission, however, in their rematch last October, Bisping paid the Californian back with a first-round knockout win to take the UFC middleweight throne Rockhold had won from Chris Weidman at UFC 194 back in December of 2015.

Bisping has gone on to defend his title against a then-No. 14-ranked Dan Henderson (now retired) and is scheduled to make his second title defense against the returning Georges St-Pierre at UFC 217 from Madison Square Garden on November 4th. Recently in an interview with ESPN, Rockhold called for Bisping to be stripped of the 185-pound title due to his reluctance to defend against elite competition, and isn’t too pleased with “Rush’s” immediate title shot:

“Bisping has fought nobody in the top 10 for the last year-and-a-half and still isn’t going to fight anybody in the top 10. Where does that put him? I think they should pull the title from guys like that who don’t fight anybody at the top. They pulled the title from (Germaine de Randamie) because she wouldn’t fight the No. 1 contender. Why is this any (expletive) different?”

Bisping caught wind of these comments and took to his podcast, Believe You Me, to respond to Rockhold (quotes via MMA Junkie):

“Here’s a guy that’s out there campaigning for me to be stripped. Campaigning for the guy that knocked him out cold to be stripped, rather than saying, ‘Listen, let me fight him, let me get a rematch, let me beat him.’ He’s asking the UFC to strip me. First of all, they did an interim title fight, as we all know.

“Now Robert Whittaker is injured. I feel like I make this point all the time, but I accepted a fight against Yoel (Romer) or Whittaker, who are both the No. 1 and the No. 2 contenders. Whoever won that fight is supposed to fight me, Whittaker won and he’s injured, so shut the (expletive) up.”

(Photo by Josh Hedges/Zuffa LLC/Zuffa LLC via Getty Images)

“The Count” then laid out his future plans, vowing to defeat St-Pierre at UFC 217 before going on to defend his championship against interim middleweight title holder Robbert Whittaker. He then made little of Rockhold’s upcoming fight against former World Series Of Fighting (WSOF) light heavyweight and middleweight champ David Branch at UFC Fight Night 116:

“I’m going to fight Georges St-Pierre, it’s going to be great, everyone is going to love it. It’s going to be an awesome fight, and then I’m going to fight Robert Whittaker, who is the No. 1 contender. It’s not going to be you, Luke Rockhold, that got knocked the (expletive) out cold in three minutes. Your head was bouncing around like a (expletive) pinball machine. You’re fighting David Branch.

“I don’t know who David Branch is. By all accounts he’s a very tough guy, coming off another organization. … Shut the (expletive) up, go fight Billy No-name and win. Get yourself back in the title talk, buddy. Don’t talk (expletive) from the sidelines. … You are a joke. Luke Rockhold, you are a (expletive) joke, you are a vagina. You got a problem, come and see me.”

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Luke Rockhold Recounts Frustrations With UFC Comeback

Former middleweight champion Luke Rockhold has opened up on the extreme measures he went to in order to land a fight Rockhold returns from a yearlong layoff on Sept. 16 when he squares off against David Branch at UFC Fight Night 116. While the former champ had expected a big fight in his return to […]

Former middleweight champion Luke Rockhold has opened up on the extreme measures he went to in order to land a fight Rockhold returns from a yearlong layoff on Sept. 16 when he squares off against David Branch at UFC Fight Night 116. While the former champ had expected a big fight in his return to […]

Luke Rockhold: Yoel Romero Wanted To Delay It Into A Three-Round Fight

Former UFC middleweight champion Luke Rockhold hasn’t competed since last June, when he was shockingly knocked out by current titleholder Michael Bisping in the main event of UFC 199, but he’ll return to action in the main event of Sept. 16’s UFC Fight Night 116 against former WSOF (World Series of Fighting) champion David Branch. […]

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Former UFC middleweight champion Luke Rockhold hasn’t competed since last June, when he was shockingly knocked out by current titleholder Michael Bisping in the main event of UFC 199, but he’ll return to action in the main event of Sept. 16’s UFC Fight Night 116 against former WSOF (World Series of Fighting) champion David Branch.

Many were a bit surprised when Rockhold was booked against the No. 9-ranked Branch, but the ex-champion recently said that he had difficulty finding an opponent:

“Really what it comes down to is, I can’t wait anymore,” Rockhold said Monday on The MMA Hour. “I had the thought process of waiting for that fight. In June it was Anderson Silva in Rio, he wouldn’t take the fight. Then they moved onto Gegard Mousasi, couldn’t get him to sign the fight. I mean, I went to 205, to Shogun (Rua), to try to get (Fabricio) Werdum (at heavyweight). I’ve tried to get everybody I could possibly think about to get a fight that really got me up, but no one would take a fight, and now we’ve come down to David Branch was the only guy in the top-10 that would take a fight, from June to July to August to September, and it’s time.”

One opponent that seemed likely to be matched against Rockhold was fellow top contender Yoel Romero, who’s coming off of a loss to Robert Whittaker at UFC 213 last month. Rockhold, however, claimed that Romero tried to ‘delay’ the negotiations in order to land a three fight:

“I tried to get everything that made a bit of sense and no one would step up and fight,” Rockhold said. “Yoel wanted to delay and get a three-round fight as much as he could. We all know his issues with fighting a real fight.

“I wanted a fight, and like I said, the delays, I was ready to go. Yoel wanted to delay it into a three-round fight. I mean, let’s call it what it is. I was more than happy to fight Yoel. I would’ve loved the opportunity to end all the talk and shut his mouth. It’s a fight I’ll fight here shortly, I’m sure.”

What do you make of Rockhold’s comments, and how do you expect him to look when he takes on Branch next month?

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Luke Rockhold: Yoel Romero Wanted To Delay It Into A Three-Round Fight

Former UFC middleweight champion Luke Rockhold hasn’t competed since last June, when he was shockingly knocked out by current titleholder Michael Bisping in the main event of UFC 199, but he’ll return to action in the main event of Sept. 16’s UFC Fight Night 116 against former WSOF (World Series of Fighting) champion David Branch. […]

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Former UFC middleweight champion Luke Rockhold hasn’t competed since last June, when he was shockingly knocked out by current titleholder Michael Bisping in the main event of UFC 199, but he’ll return to action in the main event of Sept. 16’s UFC Fight Night 116 against former WSOF (World Series of Fighting) champion David Branch.

Many were a bit surprised when Rockhold was booked against the No. 9-ranked Branch, but the ex-champion recently said that he had difficulty finding an opponent:

“Really what it comes down to is, I can’t wait anymore,” Rockhold said Monday on The MMA Hour. “I had the thought process of waiting for that fight. In June it was Anderson Silva in Rio, he wouldn’t take the fight. Then they moved onto Gegard Mousasi, couldn’t get him to sign the fight. I mean, I went to 205, to Shogun (Rua), to try to get (Fabricio) Werdum (at heavyweight). I’ve tried to get everybody I could possibly think about to get a fight that really got me up, but no one would take a fight, and now we’ve come down to David Branch was the only guy in the top-10 that would take a fight, from June to July to August to September, and it’s time.”

One opponent that seemed likely to be matched against Rockhold was fellow top contender Yoel Romero, who’s coming off of a loss to Robert Whittaker at UFC 213 last month. Rockhold, however, claimed that Romero tried to ‘delay’ the negotiations in order to land a three fight:

“I tried to get everything that made a bit of sense and no one would step up and fight,” Rockhold said. “Yoel wanted to delay and get a three-round fight as much as he could. We all know his issues with fighting a real fight.

“I wanted a fight, and like I said, the delays, I was ready to go. Yoel wanted to delay it into a three-round fight. I mean, let’s call it what it is. I was more than happy to fight Yoel. I would’ve loved the opportunity to end all the talk and shut his mouth. It’s a fight I’ll fight here shortly, I’m sure.”

What do you make of Rockhold’s comments, and how do you expect him to look when he takes on Branch next month?

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Luke Rockhold Explains Why He Isn’t Fighting Yoel Romero

Former UFC middleweight champion Luke Rockhold hasn’t competed since surrendering his title in shocking fashion to Michael Bisping at UFC 199 last June, but he’s scheduled to make his return in the main event of UFC Fight Night 116 on Sept. 16, 2017 against former WSOF (World Series of Fighting) champion David Branch. Many, however, […]

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Former UFC middleweight champion Luke Rockhold hasn’t competed since surrendering his title in shocking fashion to Michael Bisping at UFC 199 last June, but he’s scheduled to make his return in the main event of UFC Fight Night 116 on Sept. 16, 2017 against former WSOF (World Series of Fighting) champion David Branch.

Many, however, were expecting Rockhold to be booked against fellow top contender Yoel Romero, who’s also coming off of a loss. Recently speaking with ESPN.com. Rockhold explained why he isn’t facing off with “The Solider of God”:

“I tried waiting for the right fight, but September is the most logical main event spot. I’m a five-round fighter. That’s what I fight,” Rockhold said. “That’s the true tell of a fighter. They wanted Yoel Romero, I said, ‘Yeah, let’s do Yoel Romero, September 16.’ His camp tried to delay, said they needed three more weeks for a three-round fight specifically.”

“I want to fight a five-round fight. That’s what it is. Everyone knows Yoel has problems going the five. I don’t. I’m not going to force a fight with a guy. I’m not going to leave it up to the judges. I’m going to be technical, I’m going to be solid and I’m going to fight a real man’s fight. There’s a reason championship fights are five rounds.”

As far as Bisping goes, “The Count” is expected to defend his title against the returning Georges St. Pierre this November at Madison Square Garden in New York City, but Rockhold feels as if should be stripped of his title due to the lack of top contender’s he’s faced:

“Bisping has fought nobody in the top 10 for the last year-and-a-half and still isn’t going to fight anybody in the top 10,” Rockhold told ESPN. “Where does that put him? I think they should pull the title from guys like that who don’t fight anybody at the top. They pulled the title from [Germaine de Randamie] because she wouldn’t fight the No. 1 contender. Why is this any f–king different?”

“We’ll see if Georges even makes it to the fight,” he continued. “The guy has been out for so long, who knows where his head or his body is at, or if he actually makes it to that date. I’m going to go out and do what I have to do and we’ll see where everything is at that moment in time.”

What do you make of Rockhold’s comments?

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