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Strikeforce, WEC, UFC and US Army veteran Tim Kennedy still has not fought in the octagon since his controversial loss to Yoel Romero in 2014. That was UFC 178, and now nearly two years later he still hasn’t indicated a firm date for a fighting comeback, if at all. His new show ‘Hunting Hitler’ for the History Channel, as well as other US Army obligations have kept Kennedy away from the UFC’s cameras, but there’s also been a number of issues that Kennedy has been very vocal about.

Of course the loss to ‘Soldier of God’ remains a sour point, and perhaps always will for ‘TK,’ but the Special Forces veteran also harbours bad feelings towards the UFC Reebok deal. He has previously said he has doubts about ever fighting again, but has been chirping a very different tune this week.

Now that Michael Bisping has taken charge of the UFC middleweight division, Tim Kenned has a thing or two to say about the British ‘Count’ being champion. Kennedy defeated Bisping in a one-sided decision in the Ultimate Fighter Nations finale, marking the last time that he tasted victory in MMA competition. Speaking during a Facebook live session, as transcribed by MMAFighting.com, the 36-year old American revealed he still has many doubts about Bisping’s calibre and also announces his return to the UFC:

“What do I think of Bisping winning the title? [Laughs]. Yeah, so Michael Bisping is the current champion in my weight class. You guys know I beat the brakes off him for 25 minutes, pretty much effortlessly.”

“It’s funny because he’s calling out very specific people and my name is not ever coming out of his mouth. For obvious reasons because I could do it again. I could do it tomorrow. I train all the time, but I could seriously destroy Michael Bisping in a matter of minutes if I wanted to.”

“The last time with fought I didn’t like him – I still don’t like him – and I really wanted to make a point to bloody him up. One of my coaches was like, ‘why didn’t you just finish him? Why didn’t you just choke him out? Why didn’t you make him tap?’ Because I didn’t want to. I wanted to put him on his back and punch him in the face for 25 minutes. So that’s what I think about Michael Bisping.”

Finally revealing when he intends to fight again in the UFC, Kennedy says his busy calendar won’t allow him to fight in the octagon until September, but that date is pretty much set:

“I don’t have a day off until November…I leave tomorrow. I’ll be gone for 10 days. I’ll be back for 6 hours to change out bags and then I go to South America for 80 days. Then I come back and the same day that I come back I grab different bags and I go to Albuquerque, New Mexico to start training for my fight camp for my next UFC fight. So then my next UFC fight happens and then I’ll have Thanksgiving.”

Could Kennedy be granted an immediate title shot upon his return? Given it’ll be his 24-month anniversary of absence in September, and also the fact he’s currently ranked 11th in a very busy division, the chances are the Albuquerque based fighter will have to get at least one win under his belt.

Who should Tim Kennedy face in his UFC return, or does his dominant win over Michael Bisping earn him a homecoming title fight? If there’s one thing we learned from UFC 199’s shocking headliner, it’s that Bisping has evolved a lot in a very short time.

The post Tim Kennedy Announces UFC Return Date, Blasts Michael Bisping appeared first on LowKick MMA.

Ten year UFC veteran Michael Bisping finally found his way to the championship belt on June 4 with a first round knockout against Luke Rockhold. After coming unstuck at all the major milestones before title fights in the past, ‘The Count’ ended up stepping in on short notice to replace former champ Chris Weidman at UFC 199. With just two weeks to prepare Bisping avenged his 2014 submission loss to ‘Rocky with a career making KO over the now fallen champ.

With victories over Rockhold and MMA legend Anderson Silva in his last two bouts, there’s been plenty of speculation as to who should be next in line for a title shot. With the scoreline at 1-1 with Rockhold, there’s the obvious possibility of a rubber match down the line, but Bisping recently said he thought Weidman and ‘Rocky’ should settle their business first. The Englishman recently called out former welterweight champion Georges St-Pierre and also gave Jacare Souza his props in terms of a potential fight in the near future. But let’s be honest, there’s one title tilt that everyone is clamouring for, but it doesn’t have much to do with rankings.

Of course we are talking about Dan Henderson, the famed mixed martial arts veteran who knocked Bisping out cold at UFC 100 in 2009. The two shared a bitter rivalry that was ended by one of the greatest knockouts of all time, and one that ‘The Count’ is desperate to avenge. Speaking with FOX Sports, the new middleweight champ finally put things in perspective, stating the top three contenders will have to wait, as he wants no. 13 ranked ‘Hendo’ next:

“He’s still knocking people out, he’s still looking good, but he’s going to retire soon,” Bisping said. “So I would love to get revenge on him before he retires. That is the only reason for wanting him next because soon he’ll be retired and then after that he can stop using that logo of me unconscious with him floating above me. I know people are going to criticize me and say that’s a cop out but for personal reasons, that one has haunted me for a long, long time.

“Then once I dispatch of the old man and I send him packing, then I can take care of “Jacare” and your Weidman’s and your Rockhold’s. They’ll still be there. They ain’t going nowhere. But Dan Henderson is on borrowed time as we speak.”

Although Jacare, Rockhold, Weidman and nearly everyone else is well ahead of Henderson in the official rankings, Bisping maintains his old rival is the only fight he wants next:

“The amount of messages I’ve gotten on Twitter from people, it’s crazy, they want to see it,” Bisping said. “Dan has had an amazing career. He’s one of the true pioneers and legends of this sport and he always will be and he owns an incredible knockout over me.”

“So for those reasons, I do want to get that back. On top of that, it’s a huge fight that would sell. People want to see that. He’s still got the knockout power, now I’m the champion so for all those reasons, I would love to get another crack at that son of a (expletive).”

Dan Henderson also fought at UFC 199, scoring a back elbow knockout against the much younger Hector Lombard. Could it be that the rematch is finally going to happen?

The post Michael Bisping Calls Out ‘Old Man’ Dan Henderson For Rematch appeared first on LowKick MMA.