Michael Bisping Talks About Yoel Romero’s Splendid Physique

You got USADA’d! ‘The Count’ blasts Yoel Romero and Lyoto Machida, and also reveals his title shot hopes after UFC 199…

UFC middleweight contender Michael Bisping has hovered around the top of the 185-pound division for years now. The brash British banger has fought the truly elite of the division, including five former or future UFC or Pride FC champions during his 10-year tenure for the promotion, but has never quite been able to break in to the much coveted title fight. In terms of fighting fighters with chequered pasts in relation to performance enhancing drugs, Bisping has been there and got the t-shirt too.

Wanderlei Silva (alleged, fled a NSAC drug test), Vitor Belfort, Chael Sonnen, Anderson Silva, Chris Leben and Cung Le (later cleared) are all fighters with failed steroid tests (aside from the otherwise stated) that have fought Bisping over the years. When talking about his losses to Belfort and Sonnen, these were truly costly in his chances of a title fight at the time, making his run of victories in the UFC recently all the more impressive.

For the first time in five years, Bisping has strung together consecutive wins, racking up three straight including the biggest victory of his entire career. Facing former UFC middleweight champion Anderson Silva in a thrilling February encounter, ‘The Count’ claimed the former pound-for-pound king’s scalp with the unanimous decision in London. Since then, with wins over Thales Leites and CB Dolloway in mind too, the talk has once again turned to the championship picture for Bisping.

With USADA (United States Anti Doping Agency) now keeping a close eye on the state of play in MMA and the UFC, we are seeing fighters finally breaking through in multiple divisions. Is this just a case of co-incidence? Perhaps, or maybe with less enhancements for certain fighters in training we are just seeing the true cream starting to rise to the top.

Which brings us to the subject of Yoel Romero and Lyoto Machida…

continue to see bisping’s latest rant…

Speaking with Mike Bohn of MMAJunkie.com, Bisping goes on record about Yoel Romero and Lyoto Machida’s failed drug tests, as well as his place in the current middleweight rankings:

“Two days after my fight with Anderson, me and (UFC President) Dana White had a lengthy discussion on the phone,” Bisping said. “Obviously, I told him I would love a title shot. I pitched my case and told him I deserve it. He said, ‘Let’s see how it all plays out.’ By that, he means, let’s see what happens with this title fight that’s coming up with Weidman and Rockhold and see if the landscape makes sense, I guess. I think it does; I think I deserve a shot.

“I’ve been around the UFC – this is actually my 11th year in the organization. I’ve been a perennial contender; I’ve won four of my last five, and I hold a number of records in the UFC as a recognizable face. I’ll beat either of those guys on my night. It’s not just that I’ll sell the fight. I will get people interest in this, and I feel like I deserve it. Dana didn’t disagree with anything I said. We’ll see. A number of months have passed since that fight, and the UFC haven’t been in touch with a different fight. I’m hoping that is going to be my next fight. I really am.”

“I know Yoel Romero was probably due to be next in line, but shame on him; he failed a steroid test, and he’s serving a suspension right now,” Bisping said. “That takes him out of the running. Well, I just beat Anderson Silva. I know that, had Anderson beaten me, he would have gotten the next title shot. I think it’s only fair that I get the same prize. So, that’s what I’m hoping for. Hopefully, I’ll hear something soon from the UFC. Right now, I’m just trying to stay in shape, work on my strength, keep my weight down and nail my role in xXx.”

“Yoel Romero failed a drug test, and now he is serving an agreed suspension. That means he admitted to taking performance enhancing drugs, so he can say whatever he likes, but the facts state that he has been using drugs. I don’t want to fight him in his first fight back, I mean look at his splendid physique, it’s going to take time for those drugs to get out of his system. It’s going to take time for the effects of that unnatural muscle growth to come out of his system.”