UFC middleweight champion Michael Bisping is currently gearing up for his 2017 showdown with UFC icon Georges St-Pierre. That scrap, which has yet to receive an official date, will see Bisping look to defend his middleweight strap for the second time as he faces the returning Georges St-Pierre.

While fight fans are certainly ecstatic for the fight, middleweight #1 contender Yoel Romero isn’t too happy about being passed up for the title shot UFC President Dana White promised him. With Bisping currently set to fight GSP, Romero called for an interim middleweight title.

That didn’t sit too well with the champ, who took aim at the #1 contender on his podcast, Believe You Me, saying:

“You’ve got Yoel Romero calling for an interim title shot, which is just desperate. It’s laughable. It’s desperate.

“Interim titles are for if the champion is hurt or injured or taking time out. None of that’s happening. GSP’s fighting for the belt. So shut up, fight someone else in the meantime or sit on the side. One or the other.”

The champ then shifted his attention to #2 ranked Jacare Souza, who recently stated that he hoped Bisping and GSP knock each other out in their scrap.

“Well first and foremost, ‘Jacare’ come on, my friend, that’s a very, very nasty thing to say. I thought you were all about love and God and this and niceness and spreading the beauty of jiu-jitsu and all this [expletive] but yet you call for us both to get knocked out? That’s not very Christian is it?”

“Listen, I understand his frustration, of course. But the fact of the matter is he did lose to Yoel Romero. So he’s only won two fights since then. So he’s really got no one to be mad at but himself. He lost around a year ago so it is what it is. Yoel’s ahead of him when this fight happens.”

This article first appeared on BJPenn.com on 3/25/2017.