Former middleweight champion Michael Bisping started talking retirement fights after he lost the middleweight title to Georges St-Pierre at UFC 217 in November. Several potential opponents throw their names, but arguably none came to fruition.
Fellow ex-champion Luke Rockhold and Michael Bisping each holds a win over the other. Rockhold submitted Bisping back in November 2014 at UFC Fight Night 55, but Bisping followed that up with one of the greatest upsets in MMA history when he knocked out Rockhold in the first round to become the middleweight champion at UFC 199.
Recently, both fighters open to the rubber match at either middleweight or light heavyweight. Luke Rockhold doesn’t believe any other showdown makes sense more than finally settling the score once and for all. Rockhold most recently lost an interim middleweight title fight against Yoel Romero last month and looking to bounce back.
“I’ll put it on this: If Bisping beats me in this fight, I’ll be the motherf—ker who retires. If Bisping beats me in this fight, this will be my retirement fight,” Rockhold said in an interview with FloCombat on Wednesday.
“This is your retirement fight, [so] let’s go out on the biggest stage possible. That’s Las Vegas,” Rockhold said. “That’s International Fight Week. Back it up. Put your money where your mouth is. Put your balls on the table, ‘cause I’m ready to go.”
“There’s a lot of things I want to do but the motherf—ker ran his mouth. He opened the door,” he added. “I’m not one to turn down opportunities. I back up everything I say and I put it on the line. I’m going to back up what I say and let’s see if Bisping can back up what he says. I’m ready to go. The UFC is ready to go. The fans are ready to go.”
”It all comes down to one boy. We’ll see if he’s a man or a boy. Men back up their words. Little boys run away.”
If this trilogy happens, who do you think will come out victorious?
