Michael Bisping Reacts To Yoel Romero’s ‘Idiotic’ Manager

Michael Bisping is on the sidelines recovering from knee surgery with his return tentatively set for May.

When the middleweight champion returns, a plethora of potentially exciting and lucrative bouts await “The Count,” a fact that most certainly has not escaped him since he became the champion in shocking fashion by knocking out Luke Rockhold on short notice at last year’s UFC 199.

“””The Count” has been especially vocal about a big-money fight with returning MMA legend Georges St-Pierre, even though UFC President Dana White has said he’ll be facing consensus top contender Yoel Romero. Bisping’s bad blood with the dominant “Solder of God” is well documented, with the Cuban wrestling machine recently having set up a joke of a GoFundMe account for Bisping’s retirement expenses and calling into the champion’s radio show.

Romero’s manager Malki Kawa also said Bisping’s days as champion were numbered because of his fighter, but “The Count” recently appeared on The Luke Thomas Show (via MMA Fighting) to issue his reply to Kawa. According to the British star, Kawa is simply sturggling to make a buck, and is relying on Romero to talk his way into a title fight:

“I’m not scared of Yoel Romero, contrary to what his idiotic manager said yesterday. What I understand is his idiotic manager needs Yoel to be in a big fight because right now, who is Malki Kawa managing? Who is earning pay from? He makes his money off fighters, his cash cow is Jon Jones who’s out of the equation right now. He’s not earning money off of him so he needs Yoel Romero to be in a big fight because Yoel’s not a big earner, to my knowledge. Malki needs some cash. That’s why he’s out here, talking a little bit of smack about me trying to generate some interest because he needs his 20 percent of Yoel Romero, simple as that.”

Many MMA fans have been highly critical of Bisping’s insistence on calling out for “money” fights with opponents like Dan Henderson, Tyron Woodley, Nick Diaz, and especially St-Pierre, but the unlikely champ revealed he hasn’t even been offered a fight, declaring he would fight Romero if his employers so asked.

However, he also agreed with the beyond-blatantly obvious statement that he’d be a fool to turn down a megafight with “GSP,” and he stood fast in his stance that Romero’s issues with USADA certainly didn’t help negotiations:

“I haven’t been offered a fight. If they offer me Yoel Romero, I will take it. If they offer me GSP, I will take it. I’m not here for the good of the UFC. I’m here for the Bisping family, simple as that.

“I couldn’t care less about Yoel Romero. I couldn’t care less about his rights or his this or his that or whatever. His scumbag manager can cover it up but the guy tested positive for steroids. There’s no smoke without fire… I’ve got my questions about USADA confirming it was a tainted supplement. There’s no smoke without fire. But that’s old news. That’s old history. Again, I’m not here for the benefit of Yoel Romero. I’ve already said if the UFC offers me a fight with Yoel Romero, and I can take the fight and it’s in the timeline, I will take the fight. But I’m not here sitting at night worrying about what’s best for Yoel Romero.”

“”The count” then laid out the allure of his desired fight with St-Pierre, noting that they were tied for the most victories in the octagon, and the longtime welterweight titleholder returning to fight for another belt is a unique scene rarely witnessed in MMA:

“There is a certain stimuli to it. Georges St-Pierre and I were tied for most victories in the UFC. I’ve been around the UFC forever, he’s been around the UFC forever. I’m the middleweight champion, he was the one-time welterweight champ. Him coming back, after a long layoff, trying to become the middleweight champ; there’s a good storyline there and like I said, we’re both long-time fighters for the UFC so there is a storyline there.

“There’s also a storyline of me taking on the number one contender and beating that guy which I want to do. And as I’ve said, if the UFC offer me Yoel Romero, I will take it. If the UFC offer me GSP, I will be happy man because it will be a bigger pay day. I’ll take either fight but I will say this: if it is Georges St-Pierre, it will be a quick turnaround and I will fight Yoel Romero either way.

“If it is Georges St-Pierre, if I win the GSP raffle so to speak, I will fight Yoel Romero in a quick turnaround – six weeks, seven weeks, something like that. I’ve said it before, Georges St-Pierre isn’t the type of guy, I don’t think, where I’m gonna come out of there black and blue. He’s not a big power puncher. If I lose that fight, I’d just get taken down and controlled on the ground for a bit. As I’ve said, that’s not gonna happen. I’ll do a quick turnaround, and I’ll happily face Yoel Romero. So we’re only talking six-eight weeks tops, and he’ll get the fight anyway. I’m just trying to get a payday in between.”

From that certain view, he has an easy path to both a big payday versus St-Pierre and a title defense many feel he owes to the sport. But that is only a highly hypothetical timeline, as the champ still is not recovered from his recent surgery and may or may not emerge from any potential bout with St-Pierre unscathed.

With it plain to see Bisping is just trying to cash in one or two massive paydays before his long combat sports career is up, “The Count” is simply looking for a “money fight” like so many other combatants are these days. But is it coming at the expense of legitimacy in MMA?