Former UFC middleweight champion Michael Bisping made a quick turnaround after losing his title to Georges St-Pierre at UFC 217. Just three weeks removed from the fight, Bisping stepped up on short notice to face Kelvin Gastelum at UFC Fight Night 122 on Saturday, Nov. 25, in Shanghai, China. However, things did not go Bisping’s way.
Gastelum took out “The Count” in the first round with a stunning knockout victory over the former champion. Now longtime UFC commentating veteran Joe Rogan has come forward with his thoughts on the matter. For Rogan, three weeks may have been too soon for Bisping.
Speaking on his new JRE MMA Show podcast, Rogan said:
“I don’t think you should be allowed to fight three weeks after you have a brutal fight like Michael Bisping did with GSP. He got rocked, he got choked unconscious, and then three weeks later he’s fighting a really dangerous up-and-coming Kelvin Gastelum? Kelvin is a beast. He’s got nasty boxing and that’s what he showed in that fight. He hit him with a beautiful straight jab and a right hand behind it. That kid is just on fire. He’s on another level right now.”
“You really have to protect the fighter from themselves.” Joe Rogan continued. “You really can’t be letting a guy fight three weeks after a brutal fight like that. It just does not make sense. I don’t think it’s smart. I understand the UFC needed someone to fill in on short notice because Anderson Silva tested positive for performance-enhancing drugs and they did not want to lose the Shanghai main event. It turns into an even bigger fight when you’ve got the former middleweight champion right off his loss.
“Three weeks later fight again? It’s just not smart. I know Bisping wanted to do it, I know Bisping would probably do it again. If you asked Bisping to fight in a few weeks he would probably do it again. Someone was talking about him fighting in England, probably in March. Boy, that’s less crazy, but still, crazy. We’re basically into December.”
