Michael Bisping was brutally honest while looking back on Anthony Smith’s decision to accept a short-notice scrap with rising contender Khalil Rountree.

Smith, who regularly appears alongside the former middleweight world champion on the Believe You Me podcast, stepped up on two weeks’ notice to face Rountree as part of a UFC Fight Night event in December. ‘Lionheart’ was stopped in the third round via TKO.

‘The Count’ couldn’t help but question why Smith would have accepted the bout considering the high risk and low reward.

“I’m happy to hear that you still want to fight, but if you want to fight, you’ve got to be a little more meticulous about it, if you don’t mind me saying,” Bisping said on the latest episode of the podcast. “I’ll be honest: I said it when we watched the fight on the live (broadcast), and I didn’t want to go into it because it’s like I was betraying you or whatever. I hated it. I was on a walk – I think it was Thanksgiving day when I got the message – and I found out you were fighting. I hated it.

“I f*cking hated it. I didn’t understand it. You’re a fighter, 100 percent, and you’ve got balls of steel. You’re like, ‘F*ck it, let’s go. I can do this.’ I think with the trend lately of people stepping up on short notice, Tom Aspinall going out there and doing it, and Volkanovski stepping up. All right, he lost. But it’s been kind of a thing, people stepping up on short notice. You only really do that when there’s something worth risking it for. I did it, but that was a title fight. I didn’t understand it because you gained nothing from that” (h/t MMA Junkie).

Michael Bisping Refuses to take anything away from khalil rountree’s performance

Anthony Smith admitted that his pride is what ultimately pushed him into accepting the fight against one of the division’s most destructive knockout artists.

With the loss, ‘Lionheart’ has now dropped three of his last four contests, including back-to-back defeats against Magomed Ankalaev and Johnny Walker. He got back into the win column in August by way of a split decision over Ryan Spann, but the setback against Rountree dropped him to the No. 10 spot in the light heavyweight rankings.

“You’ve just got to be more professional with it, as you say, in between camps with your weight and stuff like that leading up to fights and just making the correct choices,” Bisping added. “I would love to see you fight on a full camp against Khalil – and we can’t take away from Khalil’s performance. He did tremendous. But the purpose of a fight camp is not only to get you in shape, it’s to get you mentally ready, as well.”

Do you agree with Michael Bisping’s assessment?

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MMA: Mixed Martial Arts

Conor McGregor announced his octagon return against Michael Chandler, but according to the former two-division world champ, it will not be happening at UFC 300 as many were predicting. With the UFC’s 2024 calendar filling up rapidly, what fight will headline one of the promotion’s biggest and monumental events?

On an all-new edition of Heck of a Morning, MMA Fighting’s Mike Heck reacts to the McGregor vs. Chandler announcement for June 29, if it is a mistake by the UFC to not have the fight headline UFC 300, and what the UFC could do in order to make that all-important main event spot pop. Additionally, listener topics include a potential Leon Edwards vs. Belal Muhammad fight, if Justin Gaethje or Charles Oliveira should get the shot at Islam Makhachev, the UFC’s future at the APEX, the promotion’s debut in Saudi Arabia still without a headliner, and much more.

You can listen live to Heck of a Morning Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Fridays at 10 a.m. ET on the MMA Fighting Twitter Spaces.

If you miss it live, audio-only versions of the podcast can be found below, on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Spotify, iHeartRadio, and wherever you find your favorite podcasts.

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MMA: Mixed Martial Arts

UFC featherweight Bryce Mitchell has called his own concussion protocol after a brutal knockout loss at UFC 296 and revealed more fallout from the fight.

“The worst part is dealing with everybody afterward, because they all thought I was dead,” Mitchell told ESPN.com. “Everybody that I knew was crying.

“On the bright side, that was the easiest fight for me. I’ve never had a fight where I’ve come out feeling so great. I just woke up in the ambulance and barely remembered what happened. There’s no pain, I’m telling you. But everybody was crying, and they thought I was dead; I’m not exaggerating.”

Mitchell crumpled to the canvas and began convulsing after taking a right hand from Josh Emmett, whom he later thanked for not throwing follow-up punches he believes “probably would have killed me.” Emmett told MMA Fighting he knew Mitchell was out and saw no need to issue further punishment.

The UFC Performance Institute in 2021 released a detailed return-to-sport protocol for fighters who’d suffered a concussion. The protocol advises the fighters take a concussion assessment test called SCAT5 to evaluate the severity of the injury. Then, it advises a slow return to activity that stays away from contact that could jar the brain. A physician is recommended to clear a fighter for full contact sparring.

Mitchell, however, said he’s taking matters into his own hands and staying away from sparring altogether for six months as a precautionary measure.

“I’m on my own concussion protocol,” Mitchell told ESPN.com. “I’ll consult with my coaches, too, and we’re basically just saying, ‘You know, don’t spar for six months.’ I’ve got to [build a new house] and [I’m expecting my first child], but then I’m right into my next training camp after that. The good thing is that I don’t have to rush into it.”

Mitchell’s twitching reaction to the knockout triggered a wave of concern over his safety, but he downplayed his response, saying “I do that in my sleep anyway. So, I’m not really worried about that part.”

What Mitchell was more concerned about in hindsight was the procedures of the Nevada Athletic Commission, which oversaw UFC 296. He argued the commission should have been more firm in making sure he didn’t hurt himself immediately afterward.

“When a fighter gets knocked out that bad – and I was watching the fight back for film study – when I saw how bad the knockout was, I watched the whole thing, and I watched what they did with me afterward, and I was talking afterward, I was shaking hands and stumbling around – dude, they need to immediately escort me out of there, and I really do think that needs to be protocol,” he said. “Because from my standpoint, I can’t remember nothing, and I would much rather – say I get knocked out again – I’d much rather them to just escort me out of there as soon as I’m up on my feet, and I mean up [pick me up] under the armpits, and not even talk to me or nothing. Just get me out of there as quickly as possible. But they still did good. …

“They did escort me out eventually, but I don’t even think they should even talk to me in that cage, because I was probably arguing with them, telling them, ‘Oh, I’m fine, I can walk’ – I don’t even know what I was saying. But yeah, they need to get me out of the cage, and I’m glad that they did, and that’s just how they need to do that, because as fighters, they could stumble around and fall and hurt their head even worse.”

A veteran of The Ultimate Fighter 27, Mitchell emerged from the show as a fierce submission threat, once pulling off the second-ever Twister submission in the octagon. He won six straight fights after appearing on the reality show before his first setback, a submission loss to current featherweight title challenger Ilia Topuria. He then outpointed Dan Ige before his loss to Emmett, a short-notice opportunity he took with the injury withdrawal of Giga Chikadze.

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Get ready
| BJPenn.com

UFC 300 is currently missing that marquee fight that will live up to the historic nature of the card. Fortunately, UFC CEO Dana White reportedly still has some magic he’s trying to weave.

UFC 300 is coming up in April and fans are waiting with bated breath for more fights to be announced. But with Conor McGregor’s return booked for June, is there a big enough fight out there that’s 300-worthy?

According to multi-time MMA reporter of the year Ariel Helwani, many of the rumored bouts for the historic card are not happening and the promotion is running low on ‘wow’ options.

“I don’t see the big fight out there,” Helwani said on the first MMA Hour of the year. “I asked around about Izzy, I don’t think he’ll be on there. There’s some talk about Izzy vs. Pereira, I don’t think that’ll happen. Maybe that changes. There’s some talk about Masvidal, he came out and said ‘Unretired.’ Masvidal’s not on that card. He’s not referring to 300, in case you’re wondering.”

“There was talk about Nate Diaz. Diaz isn’t on that card. His future plans don’t include the UFC and in particular, UFC 300. So you look around, I don’t know if there’s something that’s 300-worthy.”

That’s not to say we should all despair at the very real possibility of a Leon Edwards vs. Belal Muhammad main event for UFC 300.

“They have a rabbit in their hat that they’re working on,” Helwani revealed. “It’s not a main event. There is one, but it’s not a main event. Meaning: they’re trying to make this as special as can be, I know that. But to me there’s nothing more special than the return of Conor. It’ll be almost three years since his last fight. It was right there … it was ready, you had this build-up with Chandler. It’s right there.”

“There are some rabbits, I know there’s one in particular that they’re hoping — I don’t know if it’s going to come to fruition just yet. But I feel like … is there a crazy rabbit that is headline worthy? Fans ultimately are going to buy it. But there’s nothing that feels 300-worthy. We’ve been talking about 300 for so long. There’s nothing that feels 300-worthy. Am I missing something?”

With no Conor, no Izzy, no Masvidal, and no (Nate) Diaz, things are looking a little dire. What do you think, Maniacs? What match-up could Dana White pull out of a hat that would impress you for UFC 300?

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MMA: Mixed Martial Arts

Few fighters, if any, in combat sports had as great of a year in 2023 as Francis Ngannou.

No, Ngannou did not win a fight in 2023. He actually lost his lone combat sports appearance, which was his professional boxing debut. Tasked with one of the world’s best boxers in Tyson Fury, Ngannou found himself on the wrong end of a split decision in October but overperformed after joining the PFL roster — and office — earlier in the year. Overall, “The Predator’s” gamble paid off, to put things mildly.

To start the year, Ngannou was the UFC heavyweight champion, negotiating the possibility of a more flexible contract that would allow for such freedoms as boxing. Ultimately, Ngannou parted ways with the promotion and found what he was looking for with the PFL and his dream boxing match that paid him more than his entire UFC career, according to him.

“I had a lot of controversial opinions about my career decisions because most of those things was about my career this year,” Ngannou said on his YouTube channel. “Then negotiations with different organizations that were interested. A lot of them were just trying to navigate the narrative and potentially get some promotion. We have a lot of different people — some two faces.

“It’s part of the business and that’s something that I learned this year — how this business can be nasty. You have people who pretend to be something that they are not. But it’s a good part of the learning process. Becoming a fighter and stepping into that position is something you are not educated about. Most fighters never get educated, and that’s why for the most part, fighters keep getting screwed.”

Ngannou heavily weighed his options before settling on the PFL. Rumblings surfaced about a potential landing spot over in Asia with ONE Championship but turned out to be nothing more than smoke and mirrors, Ngannou said after concluding his free agency.

Future opponents of Ngannou in PFL are expected to receive million-dollar paydays just for competing against the elite heavyweight. Outside of his in-cage or ring fight career, Ngannou will also help develop African MMA for PFL as a part of its athlete advisory board. On top of it all, he’ll continue to seek potential massively lucrative boxing opportunities.

“I’m lucky I got into the position where I had to learn that, and then comes the PFL with a great offer, a great contract, and a great opportunity that I couldn’t turn down,” Ngannou said.

TOP STORIES

Divisions. Michael Bisping thinks extra weight will be issue for ‘thick’ Conor McGregor at 185 pounds

Whoops. KSW fighter who scored absurd knockout from bottom receives 4-year suspension for steroids

Aftermath. Anthony Smith was in ‘dark place’ after knockout loss to Khalil Rountree

Politics. Farid Basharat doubts UFC will OK carrying Afghanistan flag despite new rule from Dana White

Matchmaking. Corey Anderson targets Impa Kasanganay in PFL vs. Bellator card after he says Vadim Nemkov ran ‘scared’

VIDEO STEW

The MMA Hour.

UFC 2023 Year in Review Part 2.

Free fight.

Nothing like goodbodyworkk.

Jaw-dropping Invicta FC submissions.

Fancy armbar defense.

Mounted triangles.

MORNING MUSIC

SOCIAL MEDIA BOUILLABAISSE

Sigh.

Prospects arrive.

Irish.

Sweep the leg.

Gains.

Styles.

The callouts continue.

FIGHT ANNOUNCEMENTS

Tang Kai (17-2) vs. Thanh Le (14-3); ONE 166, March 1

Luis Pajuelo (8-1) vs. Fernando Padilla (15-5); UFC Vegas 88, March 23

Marvin Vettori (19-7-1) vs. Brendan Allen (23-5); UFC Vegas 87, April 6

FINAL THOUGHTS

Interesting matchmaking choice with Vettori vs. Allen but not the worst. Middleweight is a weird one these days… in a good way though. I think. Maybe.

Thanks for reading!

EXIT POLL

If you find something you’d like to see in the Morning Report, hit up @DrakeRiggs_ on Twitter and let him know about it. Also, follow MMAFighting on Instagram and like us on Facebook.

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