When Yoel Romero knocked out former middleweight champ Chris Weidman with a flying knee at UFC 205, he seemed to have guaranteed himself a shot at reigning middleweight king Michael Bisping.
Though UFC President Dana White has assured Romero would get the next crack at middleweight gold on several occasions, Bisping himself has wavered on this fight, explaining that he’d rather take a more lucrative fight, and that he doesn’t want to fight Romero based on his 2016 brush with USADA.
In the face of Bisping’s reluctance, Romero has amped up the trash talk, repeatedly lashing out at the champ on Twitter, and even starting a GoFundMe page to cover his medical bills.
Tune into @MMAonSiriusXM at 3pm for the #countdown. We have @madflavor joining us, plus I'll be setting the midget @YoelRomeroMMA straight
advertisement – continue reading below— michael (@bisping) February 9, 2017
Let me guess "steroids" blah blah blah "I'm hurt" blah blah "I can't see" blah blah and I won't be a midget when I'm standing over you #ko https://t.co/9iOF6mlCNv
— Peoples Champ (@YoelRomeroMMA) February 9, 2017
advertisement – continue reading below
@MMAonSiriusXM hey Yoel, I'm not gonna argue with your social media intern.But if you wanna talk call in 8447967874 #fake
— michael (@bisping) February 9, 2017
This trash talk reached a crescendo on Thursday when Romero called into Bisping’s SiriusXM show The Countdown, and the pair engaged in a heated exchange on the air. Listen to this exchange, which included such vile obscenities as “poopy-pants,” below.
https://soundcloud.com/siriusxmrush/yoel-romero-calls-in-to-confront-michael-bisping-after-twitter-battle
With his incredible knockout defeat of Weidman, which went down as one of the best finishes of 2016, Romero extended his current win-streak to a whopping eight. This streak is highlighted by victories over fighters like Clifford Starks, Derek Brunson, Brad Tavares, and most recently, top-level foes in Tim Kennedy, Lyoto Machida, Ronaldo “Jacare” Souza and Weidman. Romero, who is a former Olympic wrestler, owns an overall MMA record of 12-1. At a 39 years old, it’s understandable why he is eager to make his shot at UFC gold happen.
Bisping, meanwhile, is currently on a five-fight streak. In his most recent fight, he defended the middleweight title against an old rival in Dan Henderson with a controversial decision win. Prior to that, he won the UFC middleweight title by knocking out Luke Rockhold in one of the year’s biggest upsets. This title-winning mauling of Rockhold was proceeded by defeats of Anderson Silva, Thales Leites and CB Dollaway.
Who do you think wins a Michael Bisping vs. Yoel Romero fight? Sound off, PENN Nation!
This article first appeared on BJPenn.com on 2/10/2017.