UFC Middleweight Champion Michael Bisping is out of action until later this year as🅠 he deals ๊with a knee injury.
Robert Whittaker an🍒d Yoel Romero will battle for the interim middleweight title at UFC 213, a tit🅘le that Bisping refers to as a participation award.
“That doesn’t mean they’re fighting for my title,” Bisping said on UFC Tonight. “Nobody’s fighting for my title right now. Let’s just make this clear: Romero and Whittaker are fighting, and one of them gets a participation award. That’s all it is.”
Bisping was set to defend his title against former UFC Welterweight Champion Georges St. Pierre, but UFC President Dana White recently ♔canceled the fight.
The British import does understand why the UFC is creating the inte🏅rim belt, but he still doesn’t think it’s the right move.
“I’m not necessarily sure it was the right move, or even the essential move to make. … But the UFC has to do what they have to do. I understand that,” Bisping said. “There are a lot of people in the middleweight division that are complaining, especially when I was supposed to fight GSP, that the division wasn’t moving along. Now I’ve got an injury; it’s taken longer than expected for my return. Yes, I think it’s a little premature. But as I said, the UFC has got to do what they’ve got to do. And in my mind this just certainly (will define) the next No. 1 contender.”
When Bisping does eventually return to the Octagon, its going to be his first fight since defeating Dan Henderson at UFC 204.
