Michael Bisping Agrees To Fight Yoel Romero In 2017

Taking out Chris Weidman at UFC 205 was a huge moment for Yoel Romero. After coming unstuck with some USADA controversy, Romero was eventually sat for just six months. With that mess behind him, ‘Soldier of God’ entered the octagon in the Madison Square Garden on a mission. ”The All-American’ was put away with a trademark flying knee, and Romero instantly called out middleweight champion Michael Bisping. From the FOX commentating position, ‘The Count’ showed the top contender the middle fingers.

Having previously stated he would not fight Yoel Romero due to his drug test blunder, Michael Bisping was left with little choice now. The former Olympic wrestler had taken out Weidman in such brutal fashion that he was surely next in line. ‘The Count’ had voiced his support for ‘The All-American’ to beat ‘Soldier of God,’ so he could face another ‘clean fighter’ in his next bout. Given Bisping’s past of fighting steroid cheats, his comments were somewhat expected, if not understandable.

Change of Heart

Speaking with Sirius XM Rush, Michael Bisping is now changing his tune. The middleweight champion says he’s now willing to face Romero, and has agreed to take on the number one contender in Spring of 2017:

“Notice he doesn’t speak English, until I started talking sh*t, then all of a sudden he is recollecting stories from Germany. I don’t know what that’s about. I’ve always said this, I’ve never ducked anyone in my life. A couple of days Dana (White) called me up, he said ‘Mike, January 20, Aneheim you vs. Yoel Romero.’ To be honest, I said, ‘I’ve been getting some injections on my knee.’ I’m not saying no to Yoel, because believe it or not, I do fancy it. I was hoping Weidman would win, more out of respect really. That said, Yoel beat him. Although he failed the drug test before, he did beat Jacare, he beat Weidman.”

“I’ve had three fights this year, it was only four weeks ago I had a war with Dan Henderson. I want to spend Christmas with my family. I’d have to start training next week, and do training camp all the way through Christmas. I’m planning on having some down time, I’ve got some injuries too. I’m not physically or mentally ready to go in to camp right now. (Dana) said ‘OK, when can you fight?’ I told him Spring (2017). He said he’ll get some dates and venues, but that’s the next, me vs. Yoel in the spring.”

Mandatory Credit: Adam Hunger-USA TODAY Sports

Bisping vs. Romero!

There you have it, outside of some catastrophic injury or, dare we say it, some more USADA issues, Michael Bisping vs. Yoel Romero will go down in spring 2017. Just to point out, January 20 in Anaheim would have been UFC 208. Also for those interested, UFC 209 will not take place in Stockton, but rather in Brooklyn, New York. Here’s that interview with ‘The Countdown’ and Michael Bisping:

https://soundcloud.com/siriusxmrush/michael-bisping-says-hell-likely-take-on-yoel-romero-this-spring