Former UFC Middleweight Champion Luke Rockhold returned to action at UFC Fight Night Pittsburgh and soundly defeated David Branch.
According to the former champion, no matter who win the UFC 217 main event between UFC Middleweight Champion Michael Bisping and Georges St. Pierre, that neither will face UFC Interim Middleweight Champion Robert Whittaker next.
?I don?t believe Bisping will, either (fight Whittaker),? Rockhold said on The MMA Hour. ?He?s ran this far. He?s finally gonna come up and get a payday. Either way, I don?t think either one fights any of us.?
Rockhold has split his two fight series with Bisping, but the former middleweight champion has never fought GSP.
The former champion says that Bisping doesn?t deserve such an important fight and that GSP is overstepping his boundaries by coming to middleweight.
?He (Bisping)doesn?t deserve it,? Rockhold said. ?GSP, he?s overstepping his boundaries. He?s jumping into a world that he?s not ready for. I mean, even if he were to win this fight, he?s unprepared to fight any of us. That?s not gonna happen. It just doesn?t make any sense. And it?s annoying. It?s what we all worked for, is to get to that title. To have that thing held hostage is frustrating. The direction this company is going, just feeding the people this bullshit. I fight to get the title, I fight to be the best. There?s two of them out there and I?m trying to hunt one down. So, obviously Bisping is my first priority. If not, Whittaker is there.?
UFC 217 takes place on Saturday, November 4 from Madison Square Garden in New York, New York with Michael Bisping and Georges St. Pierre headlining. Fightful is providing live coverage of the event, with a post-show podcast to follow.