Bisping: “A fight with Gegard Mousasi would be astronomically bad business right now.”

Both Michael Bisping and Gegard Mousasi earned huge wins over the weekend, with Mousasi finishing Vitor Belfort with strikes in round two and Bisping going the distance in a close but entertaining five round decision.

Mousasi’s name was conspicuously absent in the middleweight champions post-fight call out speech, and Bisping revealed why he didn’t include Mousasi in his list of contenders on Monday’s edition of The MMA Hour.

“Mousasi is an incredible fighter, he really is, but it would be astronomically bad business to fight him right now,” Bisping said. “He needs another win or two to get people’s attention. Unfortunately it wasn’t that long ago that that idiot Uriah Hall got a fluke knockout against him, and that hurt his stock.”

“He’s one of the best underrated fighters in the world. He best Vitor easily and impressively. I think another win or two of some big-name opponents and he will become a household name (himself).”

“I’ll be happy to face him when the time comes. But I think he needs another tune-up fight.”

The two men that Bisping did specifically call out after beating Dan Henderson and retaining his middleweight belt were Luke Rockhold and Chris Weidman. However, Bisping just knocked out Rockhold in June, and Weidman will be looking to get back in the win column against Yoel Romero in November.

“We’ll see how the chips fall,” Bisping said of Weidman and Rockhold. “I prefer Weidman to be honest, and if Weidman can get past Rockhold that’s a fight that interests me. Seeing how Weidman and I have some sort of rivalry going now.”

“Business-wise nobody cares about Luke Rockhold. No one cares about Chris Weidman either. Unfortunately they’re the two best middleweights in the division besides me and nobody gives a s*** about them. That’s why Chris Weidman couldn’t sell any PPVs, even as a co-main event.”

But Bisping ultimately concluded that a fight between either man would suit him just fine, provided they are coming off of a win.

“I’ll happily fight the number one contender.”

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