Manager: Michael Bisping’s Days Are Numbered Because Of Yoel Romero
Will Yoel Romero finally get his shot at the UFC 185-pound title?
The Cuban powerhouse’s manager, Malki Kawa, believes the overall consensus within the UFC is that Romero is the rightful No. 1 contender for Michael Bisping‘s middleweight title, but the Brit is doing everything in his power to avoid defending his title against ‘The Soldier Of God.”
During a recent interview on The Luke Thomas Show (quotes via MMA Fighting) Kawa stated that Bisping knows his days as champion are numbered with a guy like Yoel Romero waiting in the shadows, and criticized his choosing of Dan Henderson for his first title defense when he was ranked No. 14 at the time:
“The reality of it is that Dana agrees and so does every single person that owns the UFC, has a piece of the UFC,” said Kawa. “From the celebrity owners to Ari Emanuel, Patrick Whitesell, every one of the employees at WME, every single person here at First Round Management, and probably the millions and millions of fans that watch the UFC agree that Yoel Romero deserves the next shot at Michael Bisping. I think the issue here is the following: Michael Bisping understands that his days are numbered when it comes to a guy like Yoel Romero. I think he understands the game very well from every opponent he’s picked.
“Obviously, you’ve seen what he’s done. He fought Dan Henderson. He wanted Dan Henderson in London. It made no sense whatsoever. The UFC didn’t want to do that fight. He kind of forced their hand because obviously he has the belt.”
With former welterweight kingpin Georges St-Pierre signing a multi-fight deal with the UFC to kick-off his return to the Octagon, rumors have begun to circulate that Bisping will be the one to welcome ‘GSP’ back into the cage. If Bisping decides to skip over a title defense against Romero and go right after St-Pierre, Kawa really can’t blame him:
“What I’ve seen from Mike is that he’s gonna call his shots and he’s gonna make smart moves, which I can’t blame him for. If you were managing Michael Bisping or you were Michael Bisping and you had your choice of waiting on a guy who’s been out for two and a half years, which might get you your largest payday, or fighting a guy who’s probably the scariest person in the UFC at this point. You’re talking about 10 fights, nine of them are knockouts? I don’t know that you’d want to fight this guy either.
“So I understand Michael Bisping but I also put this on Georges St-Pierre… Honestly, if he said, ‘I want to fight 170,’ he could easily come down and fight Tyron Woodley. But pick between Tyron Woodley and Michael Bisping. If you’re managing Michael Bisping, who do you choose and if you’re managing Georges St-Pierre, who do you choose? I think at the end of the day you stay clear of Yoel Romero and Tyron Woodley for as much as you can. And that’s the problem that we’re having right now.”
Kawa believes that all of Bisping’s actions indicate that he is ‘absolutely ducking Yoel Romero’ and will make a decision on whether or not to fight the Cuban after his possible match-up with ‘Rush’:
“I don’t care what anybody says, he is absolutely ducking Yoel Romero right now. It’s been confirmed to me by everybody at the UFC. Michael Bisping wants no part of Yoel Romero at this point. None whatsoever.
“I’m not telling you that he’s necessarily ducking him because he doesn’t want to ever fight him, I just think that right now, at this point he’s just trying to sidestep that fight, take this Georges St-Pierre fight, hope he wins, and if he wins, ‘I’ll fight Yoel Romero.’ If he doesn’t win, ‘I got my payday,’ and then Yoel can go and fight Georges.”
Who do you think Bisping will make his next title defense against? Will he welcome St-Pierre back to the Octagon after his long layoff? Or will he finally settle his differences with Romero once and for all?
