UFC 217 Fallout: What's next for Michael Bisping:

Can we expect to see Bisping in the octagon anytime soon?

To round off the incredible UFC 217 card, British Middleweight veteran Michael 'The Count' Bisping was put to sleep by the returning Georges St-Pierre in the third round of their main event clash. After 4 years away from the fight game, the majority in the MMA community expected the larger, more active Bisping to score a quite dominant victory over 'Rush', but the Middleweight debutante looked arguably sharper than ever against the Manchester trash talker. Cracking Bisping with a left hook and sending him to the canvas after being on the receiving end of some elbows, GSP followed him to the ground and after some ground and pound still couldn't put him away, St-Pierre took the back of Bisping and choked out the champ with a slick rear-naked choke. So with the title reign of Michael Bisiping now at it's conclusion, what is left in the career of the 38 year-old Bisping?

Yoel Romero matchup: A hugely dangerous but perfectly logical matchup for Bisping looking to bounce back from his defeat to GSP, would see the Cyprus born striker face Cuban wrestling superstar Yoel 'Soldier of God' Romero. With incredible animosity between the pair since Yoel's flying knee smashing of former Middleweight champ Chris Weidman at UFC 205, Romero was widely expected to face Bisping for the 185lbs crown, before Robert Whittaker was drafted in to face the Olympic silver medallist in an Interim title bout after starching Brazil's Jacaré Souza. Despite a decision defeat to Whittaker, the ridiculously explosive Romero still remains firmly in the Middleweight title picture, and a match up with Bisping could certainly determine the next Middleweight contender, if the supposed match up between GSP and Whittaker takes place.

Luke Rockhold trilogy: Is there a better time to make the Michael Bisping versus Luke Rockhold rubber match than right now? Rockhold recently dismantled former WSOF kingpin David Branch in his first fight since the infamous loss to Bisping in June 2016, and still occupies the #2 rank in the Middleweight division. With the rivalry current 1-1, Rockhold drew first blood back at UFC Fight Night Syndey with a mounted one arm guillotine, while Bisping snuck a left hand on the chin of the former Strikeforce Middleweight champ to upset the odds and claim the crown at UFC 199. Perfect timing in my opinion, winner gets the next title shot.

Jacaré Souza meeting: Comparable to maybe only Demian Maia as the greatest Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu player in mixed martial arts history, Ronaldo 'Jacaré' Souza was in touching distance of a first UFC title shot before his head kick loss to Robert Whittaker, accumulating an incredible 7-2 record since his Ultimate Fighting Championship bow. Many argued Souza's willingness to face competitors without question and remain admirably active had ultimately ruined his chance at UFC gold. For instance, 'Jacaré' was highly fancied to compete for the title before he was surprisingly matched against Tim Boetsch, and despite submitting 'The Barbarian' with a vicious Kimura, Souza had already established himself as a ''anytime-anywhere'' type of fighter. One thing is for certain, Souza would outmatch anybody at Middleweight in terms of grappling including Bisping, so a win against 'The Count' may finally see him earn a well deserved title shot.

Anderson Silva rematch: If former Middleweight champion Anderson 'The Spider' Silva can overcome the exciting Kelvin Gastelum in spectacular fashion in the upcoming UFC Fight Night Singapore main event, it would be difficult to deny someone with Silva's stature and history in the sport a rematch after their debatable premier bout. Currently sitting at #7 in his former ruled division, Silva went the distance against Bisping back in 2016, but dropped the Briton with an exceptionally timed jumping knee right at the end of the round seemingly stopping Bisping. Climbing atop the octagon fence, Silva was ushered down by Herb Dean with Bisping recovering to pick up a controversial decision victory.

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