With a memorable 2016 in the rearview mirror, fans of the UFC might be wondering which superfights the promotion have on tap for the new year.
If it were up to middleweight champion Michael Bisping and welterweight titleholder Tyron Woodley, the next big fight would be against each other.
Bisping (30-7), fresh off a resurgent year in which he won his first UFC title at 37, posted a video to his Instagram account on Sunday of a backstage conversation between himself and Woodley (16-3-1) that was captured over the weekend at UFC 207 in Las Vegas. In the caption, he stated his intentions for a fight between them, and tagged both the UFC and president Dana White.
The video featured both champions having a friendly debate about the stipulations of a potential fight. Woodley, the 170-pound champion, told Bisping he walks around at 200 pounds. Bisping, the champion at 185 pounds, responded that he was about 210 and would be willing to a catchweight bout at 185 “in April or May, or something like that.”
Bisping, with a smile on his face, later turned to Woodley and said, “Put your big boy pants on, step up in weight class. Fight at your real weight. Whatever you want, f--- it!”
At one point in the video, former title contender and current UFC analyst Kenny Florian interrupted the two fighters to ask if they were serious, to which Woodley replied, “I’m 100 percent serious.”
Woodley, who captured Robbie Lawler’s title by first-round knockout in July, turned to the camera and said, “Alright, you heard it. In May, 180 [pounds], he agreed.” Bisping, who mentioned the fight, would have to be a non-title affair, responded by saying, “I agree. I’m in.”
But Woodley, 34, has changed his mind in the aftermath regarding Bisping’s belt. In a tweet sent to White early Monday morning, Woodley wrote, “Can we get this signed already!?” and requested a shot at the UFC middleweight title.
Neither White nor the UFC has responded publicly to the video.
