Michael Bisping has expressed willingness to come out of retirement for a trilogy fight with Luke Rockhold in Karate Combat, following Rockhold’s recent knockout victory at Karate Combat 45.
Michael Bisping’s considering stepping out of retirement. Why? To complete his trilogy with Luke Rockhold.
Rockhold recently floored Joe Schilling in the third round at Karate Combat 45. Bisping was livestreaming the event on his YouTube channel. A few days later, he found himself addressing fans’ queries about a third fight with Rockhold. They want to know who the better man is, once and for all.
“Luke Rockhold, I was doing a live to [his fight], and everyone was like, ‘You’ve got to do the trilogy,’” Bisping shared on Believe You Me. “I’ll do Karate Combat against Luke Rockhold. I’ll do it.”
“I’ll do it. I will have a trilogy with Luke Rockhold in Karate Combat. I would love to.”
Their first encounter? Rockhold stopped Bisping with a guillotine choke in just under six minutes. That was at UFC Fight Night 55 in November 2014. Less than two years later, they were back at it. Rockhold was defending the UFC middleweight title against Bisping. Bisping had stepped in on short notice as an injury replacement for Chris Weidman. This was the main event of UFC 199.
After a week full of trash talk, Bisping delivered the performance of a lifetime. He shocked Rockhold and the MMA community. He was a massive underdog and captured the title via first-round TKO.
The personal rivalry between Bisping and Rockhold has certainly evolved over the years. But the competitive rivalry? It still seems to be there for Bisping. As his co-host Anthony Smith continued to push for the idea of the fight coming to fruition, the now UFC color commentator doubled down on making it happen.
“This has gotten momentum a bit too quickly, let me just see my hip doctor first,” Bisping said. “I’m joking, [but] I’d do it. 100 percent, I would. … “Yeah, well done to Luke [against Schilling]. Fair play, man, fair play.”