Anderson Silva wants Michael Bisping rematch, but not in England

In early 2016, former UFC middleweight kingpin Anderson Silva stepped into the Octagon to fight UFC veteran Michael Bisping in a highly anticipated middleweight clash in London, England. The fight, while certainly a thrilling one, came with quite a bit of controversy. At the end of the third round, Bisping had lost his mouthguard; when he motioned for referee Herb Dean to give it to him, Silva landed a flying knee that dropped ‘The Count’ to the canvas as the round ended. Despite Silva celebrating as if he had won the fight, the commission regained control of the situation and the fight continued at the start of the fourth round. After five hard fought rounds, Bisping was awarded the unanimous decision win, despite many fans scoring the fight in Silva’s favor. This led to speculation that the judging in the fight was biased due to the fact that it took place in England.

Ahead of Silva’s UFC 208 scrap against Derek Brunson on February 11th, ‘The Spider’ spoke Thursday afternoon during a media day in Rio De Janeiro to discuss why he wants a Michael Bisping rematch:

“I’m ready to fight, regardless of whom,” Silva said. “It’d be perfect to fight Bisping because something was left in the air. Not only with me, but with Dan Henderson too. I think if it were in a neutral place, I’d take it for sure. Regardless of a belt or anything, fighting Bisping would be interesting.”

While Silva of course wants the Bisping rematch, when asked about the possibility of the rematch being in London, ‘The Spider’ said:

“Of course not. No doubt, no.”

Silva of course has to get past Derek Brunson in February, while Bisping could be moving towards a fight with Yoel Romero, who was crowned the middleweight #1 contender after knocking out Chris Weidman at UFC 205.