UFC News: Michael Bisping Says He is the Unofficial Strikeforce Middleweight Champion

By John Heinis on November 30, 2012

UFC middleweight champion Anderson Silva has drawn the ire of Michael Bisping recently, but “The Count” set his sights on another target Thursday night: Strikeforce title holder Luke Rockhold.

The 185-pound perennial UFC contender went off on Rockhold on the latest edition of Spikes TV’s MMA Uncensored Live (transcription via MMA Mania).

“You're in Strikeforce, come over to the UFC and earn your place. Let me put it like this: I've sparred with Luke Rockhold recently and let's just say I'm the unofficial Strikeforce champion. Sorry Luke, but these are the facts."

Rockhold recently was at the center of a ton of controversy for pulling out of a January title defense against Lorenz Larking, the second time he did so. Larking questioned the American Kickboxing Academy product’s toughness and proceeded to blast the champ on Twitter.

In any case, Bisping feels that neither fighter will be a middleweight contender in the UFC: implying there is a reason they have been fighting in Strikeforce, and not the UFC, for the past few years.

"Luke Rockhold? By all accounts he and Lorenz Larkin should fight and the winner of that fight -- if not both of them -- go over to the UFC. Are they gonna come over and be number one contenders? I don't think so.”

Bisping next battles Vitor Belfort and UFC on FX 7 on Jan. 19, where a win could very well equal a long-awaited showdown with Silva.

With a loss though, could the Brit be the one to welcome Rockhold to the Octagon?