While Michael bisping’s hopes of fighting Georges St-Pierre at UFC 206 in Canada on December 10th appear to be dead in the water, the middleweight champion has now turned his attention to a possible fight with Nick Diaz.
“I’m down to fight ASAP because Dana and the UFC put this in my mind, fighting at 206,” Bisping explained on his SirusXM radio show this week. “So now in my mind I want to fight at 206. I was ready to take the rest of the year off and do nothing and enjoy being the champion and have some time with my kids and go away for Thanksgiving. But then this was put in my mind again and now I want to fight in Toronto.
“So yeah, if it’s not gonna be GSP, I don’t mind being on the card against somebody else and Nick Diaz is somebody else that moves the needle… His last fight was against Anderson Silva so he’s fought at 185, and if Nick Diaz wants to do it, I’ll fight Nick Diaz. If anybody wants to do it, I’ll do it.”
Bisping appears to be well aware of the fact that some will think he’s just trying to pick easier opponents since Diaz is coming off almost two years out due to a suspension, but in fairness to him the other top four contenders are already slated to fight each other in the next month, with Chris Weidman Vs Yoel Romero featuring on the main card of UFC 205 in NYC on November 12th, while Luke Rockhold Vs Ronaldo ‘Jacare’ Souza is scheduled for UFC Fight Night 101 on November 27th.
“All the other middleweights [are] basically saying I’m looking for easy fights, which is pissing me off because of course Henderson wasn’t the rightful No. 1 contender, the UFC offered me that fight. And Georges St-Pierre isn’t the rightful No. 1 contender but he was the one talking to me for the fight. I’m not out here looking for easy pickings…
“I’ll fight anybody as long as it makes sense business-wise. I’m not gonna risk my reputation and my title against some chump, but if there’s a lot of money on the line, then I’ll do it. And if Nick Diaz wants to go at UFC 206, formally, officially, I invite you to sign the bout agreement. Let’s do it. And then after that, whoever wins more impressively of the top four middleweights- Rockhold, Weidman, Yoel, and Souza, I’ll fight after this. That will happen. 100%.”
