Ex-champ Luke Rockhold: UFC going down 'slippery slope' with fights like Michael Bisping vs. Georges St-Pierre

Add Luke Rockhold to the list of frustrated UFC middleweights.

The former UFC and Strikeforce champion is unhappy with the state of the weight class – particularly the next scheduled title fight, which will see reigning 185-pound champ Michael Bisping (30-7 MMA, 20-7 UFC) face Georges St-Pierre (25-2 MMA, 19-2 UFC) later this year.

Rockhold (15-3 MMA, 5-2 UFC) understands Bisping vs. St-Pierre is a big-name fight the UFC can sell to mainstream sports fans, but that doesn’t mean he agrees with it. In fact, Rockhold said putting together such matchups is a sign the UFC could be entering dangerous territory with its matchmaking.

“It’s chaos, isn’t it? I think they’re running down a slippery slope,” Rockhold told “UFC Tonight” on FS1 earlier this week. “Things could easily get out of hand, you never know what these guys are going to do. Georges isn’t going to fight anybody in the top of our division if he wins this fight. Bisping could potentially be in the same boat.

“I’m bummed they took this route. It’s kind of taken away from the heart of the sport. It’s about the top guys fighting each other. This isn’t WWE. This is fighting. It’s what it’s all about. So when they make moves like this, it definitely makes you question a lot of things of what you’re doing and how you approach things.”

Rockhold hasn’t competed since he dropped the UFC strap to Bisping in a stunning upset loss at UFC 199 this past June. He was supposed to rematch Ronaldo Souza in the main event of UFC Fight Night 101 in November, but was forced to withdraw from the matchup due to a knee injury.

With his health returning to 100 percent, Rockhold will be looking to get back in the octagon in the coming months. However, with the title picture muddied he’s not sure exactly what makes sense for him, which is one of the reasons he pitched a move up to heavyweight for a grudge match with longtime rival Fabricio Werdum.

It remains to be seen if the UFC will consider the matchup, but considering the weight class discrepancy between the two it seems unlikely. That means Rockhold will have to stick to fights in his own division going forward.

There are only so many sensible opponents for Rockhold, and if he’s going to accept one of them he wants to be rewarded for it, he said. Rockhold would be open to fighting fellow top contender Yoel Romero (12-1 MMAS, 8-0 UFC), but said he would need some assurances to participate in such a bout.

One of those assurances, he said, would be an interim belt, which would mean the winner would be guaranteed a fight against the Bisping vs. St-Pierre winner.

“There’s a lot of fights happening and everyone is kind of tied up, so it just kind of depends what their thoughts are,” Rockhold said. “I know Yoel’s out there waiting. I don’t know what his program is exactly, but if they want to put a real belt on the line I would gladly go fight Yoel for it.

“But I want security. If I’m going to go fight a top guy, I want to know what my next fight is to unify the title and get that thing going. I’m not here to dance around. I’m here to fight for titles and fight for championship money.”

The future of the middleweight division will be greatly impacted by the result of Bisping vs. St-Pierre, which is expected to happen sometime in the fall. If Bisping retains, he has promised to fight Romero within six weeks of St-Pierre, but it’s possible that could be a bluff and “The Count” could take time off or possibly even retire. For St-Pierre, he could drop the title or seek fight options which make better use of his star power.

Either way, a fighter like Rockhold is in a difficult position and without a clear path to the top.

“I think Bisping wins the fight,” Rockhold said. “It’s a bigger guy, and stylistically he’s not going to be able to take him down and run around him like he has with other guys in the past. (St-Pierre has) been out for a long time. (Bisping is) a bigger guy who can scramble and probably out-box him. I see Bisping winning the fight. Then we’ll see if Bisping is a man of his word. He obviously hasn’t been so far to this date. If he’s going to fight a true contender, we’ll see what he’s going to do or run off into the sunset.”

For more on the UFC schedule, check out the UFC Rumors section of the site.

For more on the UFC’s upcoming schedule, stay tuned to the UFC Rumors section of the site.