No one is safe from Michael Bisping’s verbal assault, especially not Luke Rockhold.
The reigning Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) middleweight title holder is currently on the sidelines recovering from a knee surgery. He is expected to be back inside the Octagon anywhere between May and July. That certainly hasn’t stopped “The Count” from trashing his fellow 185-pounders.
Rockhold appeared on an episode of “The MMA Hour” and labeled Bisping a “coward” for “running” from number one contenders. Bisping defeated Rockhold to capture the middleweight gold back at UFC 199.
Bisping caught wind of Rockhold’s comments and didn’t hesitate to respond. He told MMAFighting.com‘s Ariel Helwani that he believes he finished Rockhold mentally:
“What is Luke Rockhold doing? When did he say he’s going to fight again? What are his plans? I do believe we are now almost in March. That fight was in June. I don’t know what happened there, but I think I took his soul. I don’t think we’ll ever see Luke Rockhold again. I beat the sh*t out of him. I don’t know, I think he’s done. The way he went down, I think so. Why hasn’t he fought again? A lot of time has passed. If that were me, I would’ve been right back in there.”
Not only did Bisping take a dig at Rockhold for falling to him back in June 2016, but he also questioned why it has taken Rockhold over eight months to make his return to the Octagon. “The Count” feels the former 185-pound champion is too busy focused on other ventures over fighting.
“So it’s not bad enough that he needs surgery, but he needs, what, he needs nine months to go travel the world and be a playboy? That doesn’t sound like a man who wants to be champion again to me.”