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Michael Bisping was forced to unleash a verbal attack on Luke Rockhold only to make an interview entertaining. The pair competed in a short-notice title fight at UFC 199 after Rockhold's original opponent Chris Weidman pulled out of the fight due to injury. Predictably, Bisping did most of the talking to sell the fight and get the fans interested.
Speaking to BT Sport during UFC 262 Ceremonial Weigh-Ins, Michael Bisping detailed an incident where he and Luke Rockhold were being interviewed over the phone with other fighters. Agitated at the boring questions, Michael Bisping took it upon himself to spice up the interaction. Bisping started talking trash and hurling abuses at Rockhold but made sure to inform Luke Rockhold beforehand via a text message.
For UFC 199, we spoke to some journalist. Me, Dominick Cruz, Urijah Faber and Luke Rockhold all on the call. And it was boring! It was so boring, the questions were vanilla, the answers were vanilla and I'm like I gotta kick this up a notch, yeah! So I text him. I said, 'Luke, brace yourself mate. Coz I'm coming in hard.' And I did. I did F* this, S**ew this. Swearing him, calling him every name," Michael Bisping said.
Luke Rockhold and Michael Bisping's rivalry is an incomplete chapter in modern UFC history. Rockhold defeated Bisping via second-round submission in their first fight in 2014. The former Strikeforce middleweight champion then went on to become the UFC middleweight champion in 2015. 'The Count' stepped in to fight the newly crowned champ on short notice at UFC 199 and avenged the loss by a first-round knockout. Rockhold pursued the trilogy fight for the remainder of both fighters' UFC careers, but the bout never materialized due to their different career trajectories in subsequent years.
Luke Rockhold and Michael Bisping have buried the hatchet
Luke Rockhold hinted at retirement from MMA following back-to-back losses to Yoel Romero and Jan Blachowicz in 2019. But in August 2020, the former champ announced his decision to make a comeback. To the surprise of many, Rockhold started training with Jason Parillo, Michael Bisping's longtime coach who also trained 'The Count' for UFC 199.
However, a video uploaded to Coach Parillo's Instagram account showed Luke Rockhold and Michael Bisping making courteous small talk before going about their usual business in the gym. The video put the speculations about Bisping and Rockhold's eternal hatred for each other to rest and hinted that the former champs had moved on from the competitive rivalry.
