Michael Bisping responds to ‘little scumbag’ Jorge Masvidal: ‘Get a life’

Michael Bisping is just about sick of hearing his name associated with Jorge Masvidal in the headlines.

On Monday’s edition of The MMA Hour, Masvidal, a former bareknuckle street fighter, told Ariel Helwani that he had to be held back by UFC employees after Bisping flipped him off backstage at UFC Shanghai.

“Like always, he cowered out, just like he did in New York, got inside the elevator talking numerous sh*t,” Masvidal said of his altercations with Bisping at UFC 217 and UFC Fight Night 122.

Bisping, the former UFC middleweight champion, responded to Masvidal on a recent podcast and said ‘Gamebred’ wildly exaggerated his claims about what transpired in New York and Shanghai.

“He’s a f**king idiot,” Bisping said on his Believe You Me podcast, per MMA Fighting’s Jed Meshew. “I don’t even know where to begin. First of all, at Madison Square Garden when I fought GSP at UFC 217 last year, we didn’t nearly come to blows. He was talking s**t, I was walking through the lobby, and I talked a bit of s**t back. That was it. I had no intentions of getting into a fight with a little scumbag like that. I’m not gonna lower myself – I’ve got a huge fight with Georges St-Pierre, why am I gonna start rolling around in a hotel lobby two days before that fight with somebody that honestly isn’t on my radar. I don’t know who he is, I don’t know anything about him.

“Here’s what happened in Shanghai. He’s always there, he’s always talking s**t. He’s a little a**hole, whatever. As I’m walking through the lobby, I see him and just give him the middle finger. I walk past and I go “f**k you” just as I’m walking by. I just lost a fight, I wasn’t in the best mood and that’s all it was. I wasn’t trying to get at anybody. I don’t go around trying to attack people in hotel lobbies.”

Masvidal has had a bone to pick with Bisping ever since ‘The Count’ ripped up a Cuban flag duringYoel Romero’s interim middleweight title bout with Robert Whittaker at UFC 213. Masvidal, who is of Cuban and Peruvian descent, took serious offence to Bisping’s actions and has been calling for a grudge match with the Brit for the better half of a year.

Bisping, however, has no interest in any kind of grudge match with Masvidal and told the 33-year-old to stop mentioning his name in the media.

“I find the guy pathetic, I really do,” Bisping continued. “Get a life, get a grip. I honestly don’t even want to give him this much time but Ariel has a big show, a lot of people watch The MMA Hour so I kind of feel like I have to put my side out there. Anyway, Jorge, forget I exist. Keep my name out of your mouth, and I’ll do the same. I’m not lowering myself to your level.

“I’m 39 years old with three kids, you think I’m interested in trying to fight with somebody that honestly I don’t even know. Do I care for him? No, I don’t. Do I respect him? Obviously not. He handles himself like a piece of s**t but I’m not interested in trying to fight Jorge Masvidal, whether it’s in the UFC, in a parking lot, whatever it is. Just move on with your life, focus on your UFC career – you’re dwindling UFC career. He’s lost fights at lightweight for crying out loud. I used to fight at light heavyweight, I’m a middleweight, I certainly don’t go looking for fights against lightweights. So get a grip, Jorge Masvidal.”

Not only does Bisping have no intention of fighting Masvidal, but, as of right now, The Ultimate Fighter 3 winner has no intention of returning to the UFC anytime soon, if at all. The British fan favorite claims to be unofficially retired.

“[Luke Rockhold] is a fight that does make sense but I’m retired,” he said. “Everyone is calling me out . . . but I have no intention of fighting, let’s be honest. I’m retired. I haven’t made it official yet but I’m probably retired. Of course, when I say probably, that still gives me a window to come back but I’m probably retired.”