Michael Bisping being nice when talking about his rival Luke Rockhold? You’d have to see it to believe it.
The former UFC Middleweight king would be asked a couple of questions related to his storied counterpart among talks of Rockhold returning to the Octagon.
The Return Of The King
In a recent interview, Rockhold would express he wanted to reel in an exciting fight for comeback. One such name that caught his eye was British showman Darren Till. However, shortly after expressing interest, Till would be booked against Derek Brunson.
The UFC would also book a middleweight tournament of sorts with Paulo Costa vs Jared Cannonier and Uriah Hall vs Sean Strickland. Rockhold would be left without a dance partner.
Bisping’s Thoughts
And no… Bisping wouldn’t step in to entertain a trilogy but rather a quick chat on the former champ’s comeback and the current status of their relationship.
“We’re not friends.” Bisping confirmed to BT Sport. “He’s trying to get a fight with Darren Till, didn’t he? And that’d be a good fight.”
“Listen, of course I’m going to say this because I beat Rockhold. but the man is still a very, very good fighter. I think he did the right thing, he took some time away. Hopefully he can come back and do big things.”
Bisping had one of the greatest rivalries when he took on Rockhold. The two would go 1-1 in the series and the legendary trash-talk lines the two exchanged have been etched into the UFC history books. Despite what was once legitimate hate for one another (and an act for selling the fight), Bisping believes Rockhold can still hang with the best of the best.
But there’s a catch.
“I think he’d be a good matchup for [Israel] Adesanya stylistically.” said Bisping. “It all depends whether or not he can still take a punch.”
“Losing to Jan Blachowicz, losing to me and Yoel Romero. There is no shame in that. [Losing to] three legends, might I add.”
On paper, Rockhold’s skills can pay the bills. However, many are left to wonder what those skills can amount to after suffering back-to-back KO losses.
How will Luke Rockhold fare in today’s landscape of the stacked UFC middleweight division?
