Morning Report: Michael Bisping goes off on Vitor Belfort for wanting to fight C.M. Punk for his farewell bout

After getting stopped in the first round by Kelvin Gastelum two weeks ago, Belfort announced his intention to retire from MMA upon the completion of his contract with the UFC. With only one fight left on that contract, Belfort said he wants the opportunity to retire in front of his hometown crowd when the UFC heads to Rio de Janeiro in June for UFC 212. Then, last week, Belfort raised a few eyebrows by putting a possible opponent out there for his retirement, former WWE superstar and 0-1 MMA welterweight C.M. Punk.

And while there is almost no chance this bout will actually happen, the idea that Belfort would want to fight an MMA neophyte for his farewell bout appears to have a struck a nerve with current UFC middleweight champion Michael Bisping. On the most recent episode of his podcast Believe You Me, Bisping went in on Belfort for calling out Punk, calling him a coward and saying this is a sign of the low character one should expect from a “steroid abuser.”

“This is a sign of the p**sy that Vitor Belfort is. This is the sign of a p**sy that takes f**king steroids his entire career. If you take steroids, you are a f**king p**sy because you’re so mentally weak that you feel that you can’t go out there and fight these people on a level playing field because you’re gonna get your ass kicked. So you worry, and you look, and you look for shortcuts, and you look how you can cheat, and you think, ‘Oh I’m gonna take these steroids and they’re gonna build my muscle and make me recover better’ and all this type of stuff.

“And they do give you advantages. They give you physical and psychological advantages. But if you need those advantages then you are a coward, you’re a f**king p**sy, and you are a cheat, and the very fact that somebody would take steroids their entire career, then get their ass kicked, then call out CM Punk, I’m not surprised motherf**kers. It’s a simple as that and that just speaks volumes to the character and the level of a man that Vitor Belfort is. I wouldn’t f**king p*** on him if he was on fire.”

Bisping and Belfort have history dating back to when Belfort knocked out Bisping with a head kick in January of 2013. At the time, Belfort was taking TRT, a substance which was later disallowed for competitors and one which Bisping considers cheating. Belfort also has a history of failing drug tests dating back to his Pride days where he once tested positive for elevated testosterone after facing Dan Henderson at Pride 32.

Bisping, on the other hand, has never once failed a drug test and has been one of MMA’s most vocal advocates against the use of performance enhancers in the sport. Even so though, Bisping said he didn’t intend to rail on Belfort because he has done so so many times before in the past, but when his co-host brought the subject of Belfort up, he couldn’t help but speak his mind.

“If you put me in this environment and you tell me that former light heavyweight champion - former heavyweight champion - middleweight contender, longtime steroid abuser, cheat, fraud, wants to fight a one and fighter in the UFC that lost in the worst way possible, who is a 170 [pound] guy that’s never really done any kind of MMA training, you tell me that’s who Vitor wants to fight, of course you’re gonna get a strong reaction.”

I think it’s safe to say Michael Bisping won’t be sending Belfort any well wishes when he retires.

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VIDEO STEW

Bas Rutten is doing this thing now.

TTTHS.

Promoter Dana.

Your next UFC main event isn’t for awhile but here’s a throwback to Cormier wrestling arguably the greatest American wrestler of all time for a national title.

And since I went down this rabbit hole, here’s Sanderson wrestling Yoel Romero for a spot in the Olympic finals.

And since I made you watch all that non-MMA content, here’s the best of McGregor’s appearances on The MMA Hour. The dude really has been the same since day one.

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LISTEN UP

Jordan Breen Show.

TFATK.

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SOCIAL MEDIA BOUILLABAISSE

Staying mad.

Wonderboy’s surgery statement.

#wouldwatch.

Diakiese is flying up the charts of favorite fighters.

And getting into some beef.

Lotta anger on Twitter yesterday.

Iconic.

Big Pigmy.

Bobby Law sparring at Hooft’s place.

Three back-elbows landed. Unreal.

Cejudo doing technique.

Groovy Lando wrote you a novel.

Respect.

Just move it up a week and boom. Call me Sean Shelby.

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FIGHT ANNOUNCEMENTS

N/A.

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TODAY IN MMA HISTORY

2002: Josh Barnett defeated Randy Couture to become the UFC heavyweight champion at UFC 36. Also at this event, Matt Hughes successfully defended his welterweight title, stopping Hayato Sakurai in the fourth round.

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FINAL THOUGHTS

After getting sucked into a YouTube vortex of wrestling videos, I now want Yoel to get the next light heavyweight title shot against Cormier. They never competed in wrestling so let them fight. It would be awesome.

Take it easy everybody and see y’all tomorrow.

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If you find something you'd like to see in the Morning Report, just hit me up on Twitter @JedKMeshew and let me know about it. Also follow MMAFighting on Instagram and add us on Snapchat at MMA-Fighting because we post dope things and you should enjoy them.