After Robert Whittaker’s impressive win over Ronaldo ‘Jacare’ Souza on Saturday night, middleweight champion Michael Bisping is now campaigning to fight him instead of Yoel Romero following his currently booked fight with Georges St-Pierre.
“Robert Whittaker looked great,” Bisping said of Whittaker’s second round TKO stoppage. “The kid is on fire. The kid’s doing well. Nothing but praise for Robert Whittaker.
“Seven wins in a row and he’s doing good and he’s knocking out some people as well and he looked great against Jacare. Listen, I never really thought Jacare was that good to be honest. If Jacare can’t take you down, he’s f***ed. His stand up is terrible. His stand up is terrible. He’s so stiff and herky jerky. He throws single shots. So Robert looked great and he called me out on the microphone immediately after. . . And fair play to him. Listen, I’ve got no qualms fighting Robert Whittaker. Let’s just make that abundantly clear right now.”
Not only does he have “no qualms” about fighting Whittaker, it appears that Bisping likes that fight a lot better than the prospect of facing up to current No.1 contender Yoel Romero.
“Yoel Romero is a dirty, lying, cheating scumbag. If you want to do Whittaker after I’ve beaten GSP, we can. If not, I’ll do Romero. But I see Robert as a more worthy contender. He stopped Jacare, Romero didn’t stop Jacare. And Robert hasn’t tested positive for steroids so really I think it should be Robert next.”
“Let’s officially now start the campaign that after I beat GSP, it should be Robert Whittaker. Robert Whittaker vs. Michael Bisping because – okay, maybe there’s a case that he’s the most worthy contender – but more importantly, just to f*** with Yoel Romero. He is the only fight I will take after Georges St-Pierre.”
Whittaker is certainly now pushing towards title contention after compiling seven wins in a row, but Romero has gone one better with eight, and the list of names he’s taken out along the way is more impressive, including the likes of Tim Kennedy, Lyoto Machida, ‘Jacare’ Souza and former champ Chris Weidman.
So, Romero still seems like the man most worthy of the title shot next, but it seems Bisping is well aware of how tough that match-up could be for him, hence the reason he’s now pushing so hard for the Whittaker fight.
“I just think, all those things together, Robert Whittaker – okay, admittedly, way better matchup for me stylistically – but, facts are facts and I think he should be the No. 1 contender.”.
All this discussion may be academic, however, as Bisping still has to successfully defend his title first against UFC legend Georges St-Pierre before a fight with either Romero or Whittaker could become a reality, and that’s going to be much easier said than done.
