Michael Bisping willing to face Daniel Cormier at UFC 200
Michael Bisping was willing to step up on two weeks' notice to fight Luke Rockhold for the UFC middleweight title, and now he's ready to face light heavyweight champion Daniel Cormier on two days' notice.
Cormier was supposed to face Jon Jones at UFC 200 on Saturday night, but the interim light heavyweight champion was flagged for a potential anti-doping policy violation from a drug test administered by USADA (United States Anti-Doping Agency) on June 16.
Jones was pulled from the fight, but Cormier stated he was still willing to fight at UFC 200 if the promotion could secure him a new opponent.
It didn't take Bisping long to offer to accept the fight and save the day once again.
Ok for the record. I WILL fight DC. I love him, but if the @ufc need me, I'm in! @danawhite @lorenzofertitta
— michael (@bisping) July 7, 2016
Bisping is in Las Vegas as part of the FOX broadcast team covering UFC 200, but the new middleweight champion appears ready to put down the microphone in favor of another huge fight instead.
At UFC 199 in early June, Bisping shocked the world with a first-round knockout over Rockhold to win the middleweight title after replacing Chris Weidman on two weeks' notice after he suffered an injury.
UFC president Dana White said the only way he would rebook Cormier for the card would be with a fight and an opponent that made sense given the magnitude of the show on Saturday night.
"We'll have to see who wants the fight, who steps forward and realistically, how good of a fight we'd think it would be," White said on Wednesday night. "This is the best card ever. Rather than having Cormier fight someone that absolutely, positively should not be fighting him, I'd rather have him not fight."
Bisping moving back up to light heavyweight, where he started his career in the UFC, would certainly seem to qualify as a big enough fight, but there's no word if the promotion would accept his offer at this late stage.
Bisping has at least made the offer, and now it's up to the UFC and Cormier to accept.
