Former UFC middleweight champion Michael Bisping suffered another gruesome loss this past weekend in China. Kelvin Gastelum knocked out ‘The Count’ in one round and now Joe Rogan raises some interesting points…
Riding five straight wins leading up to UFC 217, then-middleweight champion Michael Bisping was experiencing a career-defining streak. It was the first time since 2007 that Bisping had won that many consecutive fights.
Including victories over Luke Rockhold and Anderson Silva, ‘The Count’ had finally put together a title-winning run. After his first defense against Dan Henderson, Bisping held the most victories in UFC history at 20.
Then came the date with destiny, a UFC 217 title defense against former welterweight kingpin Georges St-Pierre. Inevitably, it was to be St-Pierre who would make history in New York, becoming the first 170-pound fighter to win gold also at 185 pounds.
Ironically, GSP would tie Bisping for the most victories held in the UFC octagon after November 4.
Just Three Weeks Later, Bisping Fought Again
Getting rocked and choked out by St-Pierre was no walk in the park. After Anderson Silva got popped by USADA and pulled from the Shanghai main event, the brave ‘Count’ offered to step in.
Taking place 21 days after his loss to ‘Rush,’ Bisping somehow got cleared to fight Kelvin Gastelum at UFC Fight Night 122. Those involved in the decision making behind that fight should really have known better.
Joe Rogan Not Impressed
Speaking during the Joe Rogan Experience, as per MMAFighting.com, UFC color commentator Joe Rogan doesn’t feel Bisping should have fought so soon:
“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 young and up-and-coming Kelvin Gastelum. Kelvin is a beast. . .
“Would he have been able to do that if he fought the Bisping who was training for Georges St-Pierre? If Bisping did not have the Georges St-Pierre fight and just went right into the Kelvin Gastelum fight, would the same result have happened?”
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You really have to protect the fighter from themselves. You really can’t be letting a guy fight three weeks after an absolutely brutal fight like that. It just does not make sense. It 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, so it turns into an even bigger fight when you’ve got the former middleweight champion right off his loss, three weeks later fighting again, but it’s just not smart. I know Bisping wanted to do it, and I know Bisping would probably do it again if you asked him to do it. If you asked Bisping to fight in a few weeks, he would probably do it again.”