Efter Lyoto Machidas vinst mot Eryk Anders under helgens UFC: Belem, utmanade han den före detta mästaren i mellanvikt Michael Bisping, som planerar dra sig tillbaka från MMA efter sin nästa match. Nu svarar Bisping på brasilianarens utmaning.
Lyoto Machida vann sin första match efter 3 raka förluster under helgens UFC: Belem. Han mötte amerikanen Eryk Anders och lyckades ta hem matchen via delat domslut.
Under presskonferensen efter galan talade Machida om en potentiell match mot Michael Bisping:
That’s a fight that should’ve happened a couple times and it didn’t. I think we both matured together in this sport, so I think fight between Michael Bisping and myself would mean a lot.
He might retire sometime soon, I could retire sometime soon, and people asked for that fight, so it’s a fight that interests me.
Nu har den före detta mellanviktsmästaren replikerat och säger att matchen vore ett rimligt steg att ta:
He just said we were supposed to fight a couple of times over the years and that it hadn’t happened and that basically he had a lot of respect for me. I’ve got a lot of respect for Machida, I really do. As I said on Saturday, he’s one of the true martial arts specialist and one of the true martial artists that competes in the Octagon, so I have respect for him. Of course, there was the whole steroid issue, so I don’t want to rehash Saturday’s show, but there’s always going to be an asterisk over him.
The Rashad [Evans] fight we spoke about [for my retirement fight] and it didn’t materialize. The Machida fight as well is something that could serve as my last bout. [It’s] very similar to Rashad in many ways, he’s a former champion, had a long career and getting to the final stages of his career. He’s someone I haven’t fought and have a lot of respect for.
He’s had a great career and it ticks all the boxes from that standpoint. That’s about it. As of right now I’ve got to speak to the UFC and find out what’s going on for myself. I’m not considering opponents or who they are. I’ve got to speak to Dana and the UFC guys and figure out what’s going on next and in life.
Michael Bisping förväntades gå sin sista match i hemstaden London i mars, men dementerade påståendena.
