The likes of Luke Rockhold, Yoel Romero, ‘Jacare’ Souza and Chris Weidman felt rather aggrieved after being passed over when Dan Henderson was handed a shot at the middleweight title.
Henderson’s recent record of 3-6 in the UFC was surprisingly rewarded with a crack at Michael Bisping’s belt due in no small part to the bad blood that has been brewing between the pair for the best part of eight years and how it would translate to interest and therefore pay-per-view buys.
And if Bisping manages to avenge his 2009 knockout defeat to ‘Hendo’ this weekend at UFC 204, he could well avoid the above names once more. That’s because he has offered to welcome welterweight legend Georges St-Pierre back to the Octagon.
Out of action since vacating his 170lbs title three years ago, St-Pierre’s comeback seems to be closer than ever now that he has officially entered the testing pool of the United States Anti-Doping Agency.
‘Rush’ has teased that a big announcement is coming up and Bisping would love the chance to take on another legend of the fight game, offering to take on St-Pierre in Toronto at UFC 206.
But the brash Brit has claimed the Canadian is pricing himself out of the potential super-fight by asking for a hefty $10m from the UFC, the same figure that he reportedly wanted to take on Conor McGregor.
We'd love to see this happen https://t.co/tBAeIFYOsb
— FootballJOE (@FootballJOE) September 30, 2016
“I’ve never turned down a fight in my life,” Bisping said after the open workouts ahead of UFC 204 in his native Manchester. “If GSP wants to do it, then just call Dana (White). I know he’s asking for $10m, so he’s pricing himself off. Don’t on one hand say, ‘I want to fight Bisping,’ and then price yourself out of the market.
“Which is it? Do you want to fight me or don’t you want to fight me? Nothing against GSP, nice guy, I know who his coach is. Good dude, but if he wants to fight, I never backed down from an opponent in my life and I sure as hell won’t start with a welterweight who’s been retired for three years.”
Bisping also hit back at those criticising the match-making at middleweight, explaining why the top contenders according to the rankings are not viable challengers right now.
“I know a lot of people are whining and complaining about the top-4,” Bisping continued . “But number one (Luke) Rockhold – I just knocked him out. Number two Chris Weidman just got spanked big time off Rockhold. Number three ‘Jacare’ just got beat by (Yoel) Romero, and Romero is suspended for steroids.
“When they get their act together and win a fight, then I’ll fight any of them.”
