Bisping needs to shut up and fight Romero, manager says

Michael Bisping has brought Yoel Romero's manager to his wit's end.

The middleweight champion recently said he preferred a megafight opposite the returning Georges St-Pierre over a title defense against Romero, with the Cuban's manager Malki Kawa accusing Bisping of ducking him in retort. After "The Count" responded by not only reiterating his designs, but questioning Kawa's motives for lobbying for the bout, the manager called into Luke Thomas' SiriusXM show on Wednesday to declare it was time Bisping walked the walk.

"This is the bottom line. I was just calling in to let him know, to just shut the fuck up and fight Yoel," Kawa said.

Bisping claimed the crown by knocking out Luke Rockhold on short notice at UFC 199, while Romero - then riding a seven-fight win streak - was serving the last of a six-month, USADA-sanctioned suspension after failing a drug test due to a tainted supplement. In a lengthy rant, Kawa pointedly reminded Thomas and Bisping that had things gone just a little bit differently, Romero's and Bisping's roles may very well have been reversed.

"If that (USADA-sanctioned) suspension is a month shorter, we might be sitting here on the phone talking about Michael Bisping calling in looking for a Yoel Romero fight, because Yoel Romero would've been the one to step in and fight Luke (Rockhold). Yoel Romero would've been the one scheduled to fight him from the get-go. He was the No. 1 contender back then.

"When he got busted, he had just finished beating (Lyoto) Machida, he had beaten 'Jacare' (Souza) and the winner of that fight was told by Dana (White) they would get the next shot. Yoel Romero could very possibly have been the current middleweight champion, and we could've literally been looking at Michael Bisping trying to find a way to get a shot at that belt."

Romero himself had previously claimed the UFC had been eyeing a May date for his long-awaited shot at Bisping's strap, only for the champ to undergo knee surgery, then claim the bout had yet to be offered. Kawa repeatedly refuted the claim and promised to call in to Bisping's own radio show on Thursday to set the record straight.

Stay tuned.