This weekend, on the main card of UFC 205, middleweight contender Yoel Romero will look to extend his win-streak to a whopping 8 by defeating former champ Chris Weidman. If he’s able to do so impressively, it’ll be difficult to deny him a title shot against reigning middleweight champion Michael Bisping.
Unfortunately for Romero, Bisping does not seem to be interested in this fight. On a recent episode of his podcast The Countdown with Michael Bisping & Luis J Gomez, Bisping asserted that he’d be hesitant to fight Romero, even if he defeats Weidman at UFC 205. The champ’s reluctance is based on Romero’s recent brush with USADA, which was ultimately deemed to be the result of his consumption of a tainted supplement.
Bisping’s words:
“If Yoel beats Chris, I honestly don’t think I’ll fight Yoel, because he tested positive for steroids,” he said. “I read an article recently that said that it takes years for the advantages of taking steroids to get out of your system. Just because you don’t test positive anymore doesn’t mean you’ll lose all the extra muscle and stuff like that that you were able to achieve. So I think he needs longer, I really do, and I don’t see why he should be rewarded. If Weidman wins, that’s the fight I want. Me and Weidman, for a little while now, I’d say probably the last year, have gone back and forth, back and forth, talking sh*t, and yeah, it’s a fight that interests me, 100%.”
advertisement – continue reading below
Unsurprisingly, these comments from Bisping did not go over well with Romero. The streaking contender offered a response to the champ’s reluctance in a recent interview with MMAFighting.com.
“Brother, what do I have to possibly think about what Bisping says?” Romero said. “He has his own way of thinking and nobody is here to question other’s peoples thinking or desires. That’s what he desires, that’s what he wants, but now, is Michael Bisping the owner or the big boss of the UFC? He can wish and want things, but another thing is that I win, and the UFC sees that I’m truly the one that should be fighting for the title, he’s not going to be able to fight against that. So I don’t worry about, I don’t lose sleep or appetite over what Michael Bisping thinks or says. I’m going to do my job in New York, and we’ll see what happens.”
Clearly, Romero is not especially perturbed about Bisping’s attempted shot-calling. Do you think he gets the next shot at the title with a win over Weidman this weekend? Sound off, PENN Nation!