UFC middleweight champion Michael Bisping was able to pick his own fight and will face off with Dan Henderson at UFC 204. There are many middleweight contenders though, including two former champions, that are itching to get another shot at the title. Because of the Henderson booking, four of those guys — Chris Weidman, Yoel Romero, Ronaldo Souza, and Luke Rockhold – have been paired off against each other to establish a true next contender.
Of those four, one guy stands out as undeserving to Bisping – Romero. As a recent guest on The MMA Hour, the champ made it clear that Romero’s USADA issues should exclude him from a title shot (via MMA Fighting):
“I’ll tell you who I don’t think deserves it — Yoel Romero. I don’t think he deserves it. There’s no smoke without fire. He got a reduced sentence, but the fact is, he still got a sentence. Even if you take performance enhancing drugs, the benefits of those stay in your system for a long, long time. So I don’t think Yoel Romero deserves it.”
Romero was flagged by USADA in January for a positive test for an illegal substance. After proving it came from a tainted supplement, he was handed a reduced six-month suspension. He has now been booked against Weidman at UFC 205, while Jacare and Rockhold will rematch in Brazil.
Bisping ran down the list of the four men, and gave his predictions for their respective bouts:
“I beat Luke Rockhold, I knocked him out. Yoel Romero I have no interest. Jacare is another guy, he’s nice as well. They’re all worthy, they’re all very very good, but of course Yoel is coming off a ban for performance enhancing drugs. But other than that, you know who I think wins? I think Weidman beats Romero and I think Jacare beats Rockhold.”
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