Michael Bisping hits out at UFC 'super fights' - "I'm sick of all this talk"
Ever since giving Conor McGregor the opportunity to become a double-champ at Madison Square Garden in 2016, UFC has been obsessed with the idea of "super fights". While the concept wasn't new, UFC fully capitalized on it the following few years, with Daniel Cormier, Amanda Nunes, and Henry Cejudo all getting "Super Fights" and becoming UFC Double Champions.
While it had a lot of aura and specialty when Conor McGregor did it, many feel that the idea of Super Fights and Double Champions have become oversaturated - as well as the fact that they stall the weight classes of defending Champions.
On three of the four occasions, the Champion was either stripped of their previously held title or they chose to formally vacate it before the UFC did it by force.
One man who isn't pleased with all the talk of "Super fights" is the former Middleweight Champion, Michael Bisping. On his Believe You Me podcast (H/T BJPenn.com), the Britishman said:
“I’m sick of all this talk of super fights, if I’m honest,” Bisping said. “I want to see the champions defending the belts. All of this jumping around… I think last year and the year before, it all got a little silly.”
He feels that the UFC isn't going to rush to make super fights as they did for the past two years. He explained why Amanda Nunes is the only real double-champ left in the company.
“Going forward, I feel like the UFC aren’t going to be too quick to make those super fights anymore,” Bisping said. “Cause whilst they do capture the imagination of the public, [the UFC is] just stripping Henry Cejudo of the 125 [pound belt]. It’s going to be Joseph Benavidez taking on [Deiveson] Figueiredo for the vacant flyweight title. That’s what they’ve got to do. The only real double-champ that’s left now is Amanda Nunes, and even her, she’s having trouble finding challenges at at 145 [pounds]. I feel the only reason she hasn’t been stripped [of that belt] yet is there isn’t anyone at ’45 to take her place.
The UFC is justified in not stripping Nunes because she has essentially cleared the Bantamweight division while nobody has stepped up at 145. It's gone to such an extent that top Boxing Champion Claressa Shields is considering having two fights with Nunes - one in MMA and one in Boxing.
As for the talk of Super Fights, we agree with Bisping. There has been too much stalling of divisions because of it. Joseph Benavidez, Tony Ferguson, Francis Ngannou. are some of the names who have been negatively affected by the entire "Double Champion" ordeal.