“I Did Kind of Start That”: UFC Legend Recalls the Beginning of the Bad Blood Between Him and Luke Rockhold

UFC Hall of Famer Michael Bisping was arguably one of the gutsiest fighters to have stepped foot inside the octagon. He won the UFC middleweight championship after losing the vision in his right eye in an earlier bout against Vitor Belfort. However, ‘The Count’ had a legendary rivalry with former UFC fighter, Luke Rockhold. He recently recalled his beef with the former middleweight champion.

Bisping and Rockhold fought each other two times under the UFC banner. Although ‘The Count’ didn’t win emerge victorious in the first encounter, in their second, he defeated and earned the middleweight championship for the first and only time in his career. But their heated rivalry was one of the biggest highlights in the UFC.

Michael Bisping reveals his beef with Luke Rockhold began

‘The Count’ was discussing Rockhold’s upcoming fight at BKFC 41 and then went on to talk about how things became sour between the two legends. He said, “We sparred with each other. And I got the better of him.” He added, “I wasn’t tapping and telling. I wasn’t training and explaining or whatever you wanna call it.” 

“I was in New York on a TV show [that had something] to do with MMA… They asked me and said, ‘Hey, we saw recently that you were sparring with Luke Rockhold. Do you mind telling us how that sparring session went?” said Michael Bisping. He added, “So, I said, ‘You shouldn’t talk about training but let’s put it like this – I am now the unofficial Strikeforce champion of the world.”

The Hall of Famer mentioned that it was just a joke and that he didn’t mean anything personal. But it did not sit well with Luke Rockhold. Bisping said, “It was a tasteless joke… and Luke Rockhold didn’t take too kindly to it and he started talking trash.” He mentions that’s when all the beef started taking shape. “That’s how I started talking trash. We went back and forth,” said Bisping.

UFC legend admits his mistake

Michael Bisping claims that all the heat was gone. There is no more animosity between them and everything is in the rearview. But ‘The Count’ understands and admits that it was his fault because of what transpired later. “I knock him out, I become champion of the world and now we’re all friends. It all done and dusted,” said the Hall of Famer. He added, “But I did kind of start that even if it was a joke or not.”

The story of this beef is similar to what happened between Khamzat Chimaev and Jiri Prochazka. Chimaev publicly spoke out about defeating ‘The Czech Samurai’ in sparring quite a few years ago when the former light heavyweight champion came to Sweden’s Allstars Training Center. Prochazka later sent a warning to the Swedish fighter and felt enraged for spilling inside information regarding training.

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Fighters are used to taking shots at their opponents now and then. But they also understand that they cannot cross certain lines. However, things seemed to have cooled down after all the back and forth between both fighters.

What are your thoughts on Michael Bisping’s rivalry with Luke Rockhold? Drop your comments below.

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