Michael Bisping is happy to KO “mentally challenged” Luke Rockhold again, but only if the deal is right

Former Strikeforce and UFC middleweight champion Luke Rockhold recently expressed interest in a trilogy fight with fellow former UFC middleweight champ Michael Bisping – perhaps even in the 205-pound light heavyweight division. Unfortunately for Rockhold, it sounds like it’s going to take a solid offer to convince Bisping to accept this fight.

“I respect everybody, but he sounds mentally challenged while talking,” Bisping said on a recent edition of his podcast Believe You Me (h/t MMAJunkie). “He doesn’t scare me one little bit. He never has. He didn’t the first time [we fought], he didn’t the second time, and he absolutely wouldn’t a third time. So I’m definitely willing to take a fight with Luke Rockhold if the UFC gives me the right deal.”

Bisping then elaborated that he doesn’t want to subject Rockhold – who has been knocked out several times over the last few years – to any further punishment. Though he would if the money was right…

“I feel sorry for him,” Bisping said of Rockhold. “Listen, I don’t dislike Luke Rockhold. I pity the guy. Of course he doesn’t want my pity, but when I look at him, when you hear him talk … he has a problem. I don’t think I deserve or I want to remove any more of his brain cells. Because he looks good. He’s a model for Ralph Lauren, God bless him. But I knocked him out. David Branch nearly knocked him out. Yoel Romero knocked him out. You would think he wouldn’t want to get knocked out again. But I’ll tell you this – I will officially say this: If the deal is correct, then yeah, I’ll knock him out again.”

Does a trilogy fight between Luke Rockhold and Michael Bisping interest you? Join the conversation in the comments section.

This article first appeared on BJPenn.com on 3/7/2018.