Michael Bisping on Jessica Andrade slam KO: ‘It was kind of a fluke’

Former UFC middleweight champion Michael Bisping means no disrespect to new UFC strawweight champ Jessica Andrade, but feels the Brazilian’s slam knockout of Rose Namajunas was a bit of a fluke.

Michael Bisping dished on the topic on a recent episode of his Believe You Me podcast, pointing to the fact that Andrade has landed this maneuver many times with less definitive results, and sharing his confidence in Namajunas should the pair rematch.

https://youtu.be/W0WmTmu_OLE

Michael Bisping comments on Jessica Andrade’s title win

“Listen, Jessica Andrade is now the champ,” Bisping said (transcript via MMA News). “I didn’t see it happening to be honest. Do you know what? I think, and I shouldn’t say this cuz it’s doing a disservice to Jessica Andrade and maybe even being disrespectful, which I’m not trying to do. It was kind of a fluke. Do you know what I mean? That doesn’t happen. She’s done that move a lot, generally people don’t land on the head and get knocked out. That’s not to say in a rematch she couldn’t win, but I’d definitely favor Rose in the rematch after what I saw in that first round and a half. That said, as I said that does come off a little bit disrespectful. That’s not my intention.”

Given the somewhat controversial nature of Andrade’s knockout of Namajunas, an immediate rematch between the two fighters certainly seems possible.

That being said, Namajunas has since expressed uncertainty about her future in the sport. 

“Going into this one I was like, ‘this might be the last time I ever do this.’ But we’ll see. We’ll take it one day at a time. Like, this is a lot. But it was super fun. I had a great time.” Rose Namajunas told ESPN following UFC 237. “I kind of always think that. But this time was pretty heavy. It’s a lot on Pat and I’s relationship and everything. But like, there’s so much good that comes out of it. You’ve gotta see the bright side of everything. It’s easy to dwell on the negative. But, you kinda have to not give yourself grey hairs either.”

So, while many members of the MMA community — including Michael Bisping — would give Namajunas a good chance of reclaiming the title, it’s not clear if she’s interested in attempting to do so.

This article first appeared on BJPENN.COM on 5/15/2019.