Following Yoel Romero’s emphatic win over Chris Weidman at UFC 205 last weekend in Madison Square Garden, it now appears he’s set to clash with reigning UFC middleweight champion, Michael ‘The Count’ Bisping sometime next spring.
It took just one brutal flying knee from ‘The Solder of God’ to the head of Weidman, followed up with some ground ‘n’ pound, to leave the former middleweight champ in a bloody mess. Romero was declared the number one contender for Bisping’s 185lb strap in the Octagon and all that was left to decide was when and where this fight would take place.
Now, just days removed from that historical event in New York City, Bisping took to the airwaves on his podcast, ‘The Countdown’, to share his thoughts on Romero as well as providing a timeline on when the two will collide.
“I was hoping Weidman would win,” Bisping stated honestly. “More out of respect really. Even though we’ve went back and forth and talked s**t, I’ve never really had too much against him. It was more kind of a comedy thing where I was concerned.
“That said, Yoel did beat him fair enough. And the fact before, even though he tested positive, he beat Jacare [Souza], he beat Weidman and he beat of bunch of marks before that.”
Bisping added: “I always say I’ve never ducked anyone in my life and I never will. So a couple of days ago Dana calls me up and he’s like, ‘Mike, January 20th in Anaheim. You vs. Yoel Romero.’ I said, ‘Well, to be honest Dana, I’ve been getting injections on my knee. Now I’m not saying no to Yoel because, believe it or not, after beating Weidman like that, yeah I fancy [the fight].”
Having just come off a five-round battle with Dan Henderson at UFC 204, Bisping said he wants some downtime with his family before jumping back into a championship fight camp and the January date would be too early.
“I’ve had three fights this year, it was only four weeks ago I had a war with Dan Henderson. I want to enjoy Christmas with my family. So January 20th ain’t going to happen. I’m not ready physically or mentally to jump into a training camp right now,” sated ‘The Count’.
“That fight on that date is nine weeks away. I’d have to start training next week and I’d have to be in training camp all through Christmas. My family is coming out for Christmas. I was planning on having some downtime. I think I’ve earned that. I have some injuries I need to heal up.
“I’ll be 100% in the spring. So it’s looking like that will be the next fight. Unless something else transpires, it’s looking me vs. Yoel sometime in the spring.”
