Michael Bisping on title hopes: ‘I deserve the next shot’

Michael Bisping has always come up short when he’s been in a position to earn a title shot. Well, he always had before his huge win over Anderson Silva last month. Despite the bizarre circumstances surrounding the fight, he did indeed win a decision and feels that he’s in a good position for his elusive chance at 185-pound gold. As a recent guest on The MMA Hour, Bisping detailed a conversation with Dana White about a possible shot at the belt (via MMA Fighting):

“He said ‘what’s next?’ I said ‘you know I want that title shot, Dana.’ He said ‘let’s see how things play out.’ I said ‘Dana, I think I deserve that shot.’ Of course he said ‘let’s see how these things play out.’ I said ‘you son of a b***h‘ But, I’m happy to wait, I deserve the next shot.”

The belt is currently held by Luke Rockhold, who is the only man to defeat Bisping in his last five fights. With Yoel Romero on the sidelines due to a complicated USADA situation, Bisping rightfully points out that everyone in the current mix for a shot has fought Rockhold before:

“I think I deserve it,” Bisping said. “I think the middleweight division is a complicated landscape at the moment. I don’t see who there is next. I see Jacare [Souza] beating Vitor [Belfort]. But no matter who wins, they’d all be rematches. Mine would be a rematch, Jacare would be a rematch, Vitor would be a rematch, Weidman is a rematch. I think mine is a compelling case, and we’ll see what the UFC wants to do, but I deserve it.”

He also believes that his win over Silva is the thing that should decide it in his favor:

“I just beat Anderson Silva, I think that sells it in itself,” Bisping said. “I’ve won 4 out of 5, I’ve fought nothing but the best fighters in the world –Nate Diaz may be getting a title shot at Robbie Lawler at welterweight for beating a 145er, okay? Now he gets a welterweight title shot? C’mon I just beat Anderson Silva.”

For now, Rockhold will rematch Chris Weidman in the main event of UFC 199 in June. Could Bisping get the winner of that bout? It’s certainly a possibility.