Bisping: Officials Should Have Stopped Romantic Romero-Rockhold Moment
Michael Bisping wasn’t a fan of the kissy kissy inside the cage at UFC 221.
There’s no love lost between Michael Bisping and Luke Rockhold, but that didn’t stop Bisping from sympathizing with Rockhold over the way Yoel Romero got in Rockhold’s face after their UFC 221 fight, kicking off a million memes by kissing his defeated foe.
“I don’t take pleasure from seeing somebody knocked out like that, I really don’t,” Bisping said on his latest Believe You Me podcast. “He got knocked out and he just looked so devastated, absolutely crushed. Then to make matters worse, Romero — the guy that just knocked him out — gets in his face, pins him up against the fence, has his arms over his shoulders like that so Rockhold literally can’t go anywhere and he’s professing his undying love for him, ‘I love you Luke, I love you.’”
“There’s nothing wrong with kissing a man on the cheek,” he said. “But I just think after you’ve knocked them out cold, after you’ve taken away their dreams of being world champion, after you’ve literally inflicted a lot of violence, the marks are visible, there’s blood on his face, he’s maybe lost some brain cells and he doesn’t know what the f**k is going on — pinning the guy up against the Octagon and trying to make out with him is a little bit much.”
As far as Bisping was concerned, it was a moment that never should have happened. More experienced fight commissions wisely keep fighters apart after a fight, but the Combat Sports Commission of Western Australia didn’t step in when Romero approached Rockhold and then looked as confused as the rest of us as to what was unfolding.
”I’ve got to say, in that circumstance, and I’m not trying to knock any of the officials, but really happy Valentines Day, it’s really quite the couple they make there, I’ve got to say, they shouldn’t allow that to happen in future because you got to remember, think about it. I know when I’ve been knocked out you haven’t got a clue what’s going on. You haven’t got a jar of f**king clues where your head is at and you have to piece it back together.
”And then all of a sudden you have the guy who has just knocked you out with his arms around you, up against the Octagon sexually assaulting you, #MeToo. There’s nothing to stop Rockhold elbowing him in the face, punching him, because he might still feel the fight is going on. Who knows? I just don’t think they should allow, certainly not Romero, I mean come on, it was a little bit much.”
This is all some pretty considerate conversation considering the hate we typically hear coming from Bisping and Rockhold. But with Bisping preparing to retire and starting to worry about what his legacy looks like, we’re starting to see the softer, less competitive non-jackass Bisping more and more.
