Michael Bisping To Weidman: Go & Beat Luke, I’ll Be Waiting

2016 has been quite the year so far for UFC middleweight champion Michael Bisping, as the longtime veteran finally added his crowning achievement of UFC gold to his resume with a shocking first-round knockout of heavily favored Luke Rockhold at June 4’s UFC 199 from Los Angeles.

Since that day, the speculation has run wild about just whom Bisping would face next in the top-heavy middleweight landscape, with obvious bouts against top contenders Chris Weidman and Ronaldo ‘Jacare’ Souza lining up as the most glaring examples.

Weidman, who was scheduled to rematch Rockhold at UFC 199 before a neck injury forced him out, has been extremely vocal with the opinion that Bisping is “running,” but Souza has also stirred that stance up himself. But Bisping eschewed both top fighters for a bout against his 45-year-old arch rival Dan Henderson, who knocked out Hector Lombard at UFC 199, in the main event of October’s UFC 204 from Manchester, England.

Bisping had some forceful words for Weidman’s accusations in an interview with The Daily Star Report (via Bloody Elbow), stating that the logic of a match with Weidman doesn’t add up:

“The logic just doesn’t stack up because I just knocked out a guy in three minutes that beat the living daylights out of you. So why would I be running scared from him?

“The fact is you lost the fight. Ok, you were scheduled for a title fight against Luke because that was a rematch.”

“The Count” believes the former champion should go and win a big fight before he gets a shot at his title:

“But it’s not a rematch with me, we’ve never fought before. So you need to win a fight. You don’t get title shots coming off a loss unless your name is Chael Sonnen. So go and win a fight, Chris.”

Bisping then closed by turning the tables on Weidman, insinuating that it was actually he who was running scared:

“Who is really scared here? Are you worried you won’t win a fight? Is that why you want a title shot straight away? 

“Go and beat Luke like your were supposed to. If you beat Luke I’ll still be here. I plan on keeping this.”