When it was announced earlier this year that the next shot at Michael Bisping’s middleweight title would go to former welterweight champion Georges St-Pierre \u2013 a man riding a multi-year layoff with no experience in the division \u2013 there was widespread backlash. While much of this backlash came from the fans, the most visible responses to the news came from Bisping and St-Pierre’s fellow fighters. And of all the fighters to sound off against this strange title fight, it’s possible that none were as vocal as former champ Luke Rockhold.<\/p>\n
\u201cOur division is hot right now, they\u2019ve got good matchups, but they\u2019re just not putting the champion to work,\u201d Rockhold said<\/a> on a recent episode of The MMA Hour. \u201cIt\u2019s ridiculous. Are they really going to wait until October to make the Georges St-Pierre fight?\u201d\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n
\u201cThe company is kind of losing it these days,\u201d he continued. \u201cI don\u2019t know what happened to the old company where the best fought the best. That\u2019s what built this company, now it\u2019s just a spectator sport. They\u2019re just putting freak shows together.\u201d\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n
\u201cAt least put an interim title on the line if [the champion\u2019s] not gonna fight. He\u2019s going to be inactive\u00a0and not fight one contender in two years? What\u2019s the point in being the champion?\u201d\u00a0<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n
Though we’ve since learned that the next middleweight title shot will in fact go to the far more deserving Yoel Romero<\/a>, these criticisms from Rockhold generated a response from UFC President Dana White, who spoke to Fox Sports<\/a> at the UFC 211 post-fight press conference.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere\u2019s a lot of guys talking about \u2018deserve\u2019 \u2014 nobody deserves anything. You\u2019ve got to earn it here. You\u2019ve got [Luke] Rockhold screaming right now \u2018I deserve this\u2019. You just got knocked out in the first round. You\u2019ve got to come back and earn it.”<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n
These comments from White provoked yet another response from the frustrated Rockhold, who told white to think before he speaks.<\/p>\n
\n@danawhite<\/a> "You have to earn your way in this company"? Tell me how did GSP earn a middleweight title shot? Think before you run your mouth<\/p>\n
— Luke Rockhold (@LukeRockhold) May 16, 2017<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n