UFC champ Bisping sidelined, interim title fight between Romero and Whittaker likely
There may be yet another interm title on the line in the UFC.
With the current 185 lb champ Michael "The Count" Bisping missing in action, UFC President Dana White claims the promotion could add another interim title fight soon.
The fight is most likely going to involve Yoel Romero and Robert Whittaker.
“We’re trying to put together that Bisping-Romero fight,” White mentioned to ESPN.com. “If (Bisping) can’t fight this summer, we’ll probably create an interim title between Romero and Robert Whittaker.”
"The Count", who’s currently at the top of the UFC middleweight division, was set to faceoff against former Welterweight Champion Georges St-Pierre, who recently came out of retirement and last entered the UFC Octagon in 2013.
That fight was supposed to take place at UFC 213 as part of International Fight Week, but GSP later announced that he wouldn't be ready to fight until November. That brought up previous calls for a fight with Romero; White said the rising competitor, who was slated to get a shot at Bisping after recently dispatching of Chris Weidman, would make the most sense. But then earlier this week Bisping claimed a knee injury could sideline him for a while.
That may just see Romero, who’s currently ranked the No. 2 UFC welterweight, land himself an interm title fight. Romero has been on an absolute tear as of late, winning his last 8 fights, and over some notable competition, such as Chris Weidman, Ronaldo Souza, Lyoto Machida and Tim Kennedy. The fight would happen against Whittaker, an up and coming Australian who’s had his fair share of success recently, boasting a 7-fight win streak. One can't help but think that Whittaker's last TKO win over Ronaldo Souza was the main contributing factor for his title contention, though.
No specifics were mentioned by White regarding the potential Romero vs. Whittaker bout.
Furthermore, though White claimed St-Pierre’s comeback will most likely take place at welterweight, GSP vs. Bisping is still not entirely off the table.
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