One of the worst kept secrets in the UFC has been uncorked.
UFC president Dana White revealed on the “UFC Unfiltered” podcast, middleweight champion Michael Bisping will make his next title defense against top-ranked Yoel Romero.
“Yoel Romero’s been floating out there a long time waiting for a title shot,” White said on the podcast. “Bisping wanted to do that grudge match with Dan Henderson. It was going to be Dan Henderson’s last fight. I’ve always shown Henderson the respect I felt he deserved. He’s a guy who’s fought everybody out there. So we did that fight and he’s got to defend his title now against the No. 1 contender.
“If you look at what Romero did to Chris Weidman (at UFC 205), he absolutely deserves the shot.”
Bisping and Romero exchanged words during the Cuban’s post-fight interview which planted the seeds of a probable showdown.
Romero’s won eight consecutive fights including knocking out Weidman at UFC 205 while Bisping’s won five consecutive fights including his UFC 199 title win over Luke Rockhold.
No date has been announced for the fight as Bisping is recovering from knee surgery.
