UFC Middleweight Champion Michael Bisping says his fight with former champion Georges St-Pierre still may be happening.
UFC President Dana White recently announced the fight would not happen because St-Pierre would not be able to fight until the end of the year. White said top contender Yoel Romero will get the next middleweight title shot instead.
On a recent episode of his podcast, Bisping discussed what he knows about his next fight.
“Honestly, it’s news to me. I haven’t heard anything about it. I reached out to Georges and he said he hasn’t heard anything officially either, and I still haven’t heard anything from the UFC or Dana White. I know that a lot of people are complaining about this potential delay with Georges, so we’ll see what happens.
“So yeah, to clarify, as of right now, no official word from the UFC. I haven’t heard anything and Georges is still hoping for it, I’m still hoping for it. I’ll say this, I was offered the fight twice. I was offered the fight in October and it never materialized. I was offered the fight in January or February and it did materialize and we had a press conference and we shook hands and we stood there in Las Vegas and we talked a bit of shit. So okay, I haven’t had a bout agreement but that is the plan. That was the offer and I accepted and I kind of feel that once a deal is made, we should stick to it.”
Bisping went on to say he understands why the UFC would cancel his fight with St-Pierre, but since the two had agreed to fight, he would like to honor his word.
“Maybe they need an active champion to fight sooner. I think that’s probably the top of it. I honestly don’t think they’re trying to put pressure on Georges. I think they need title fights on the pay-per-views, which I understand. I understand the frustrations from their side, just like a lot of the middleweight division are kind of frustrated. They need good title fights on their pay-per-views and waiting until November is a significant delay so I understand that. But like I said, we did have a deal so I’d like to speak with the UFC and find out what’s happening.”
