Michael Bisping uses famous Khabib phrase to respond to Jake Paul’s call-out

Jake Paul named former UFC champion Michael Bisping among his six-opponent shortlist for his return to the ring in August

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Michael Bisping has borrowed a phrase from Khabib Nurmagomedov in responding to Jake Paul’s fight call-out.

Paul is due to return to the ring in August in what will be his first fight since he knocked out Tyron Woodley in their rematch last December. He has yet to settle on an opponent but named Bisping among six potential foes in an interview this week.

Former UFC middleweight champion Bisping has not fought since he was KO’d by Kelvin Gastelum in 2017. He is unlikely to be licensed to compete in either boxing or mixed martial arts given the serious eye injury he suffered in his MMA career.

But that didn’t stop him from accepting Paul’s offer, tweeting: “Send location”, a phrase used by Nurmagomedov during his reign as UFC lightweight champion. Bisping followed up by sarcastically saying that he doesn’t fit the profile of Paul’s previous opponents – because he is the same weight. “Come on Jake Paul, you do know I’m about your size? Surely that excludes me from your hit list?” he added.

Paul also included boxing legend Floyd Mayweather and another former UFC champion in Anderson Silva among his potential opponents. Both men will feature in exhibition bouts in Dubai on May 14.

“Floyd Mayweather, Oscar De La Hoya, Anderson Silva, Michael Bisping, Tommy Fury, Sonny [Bill] Williams out of Australia,” Paul told THE FIGHT with Teddy Atlas about who his next opponent could be. “There’s a lot of people on the hitlist and some other names that we’re talking to. Just trying to pick the biggest opponent.

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“Everyone I’ve fought I’ve carried the promotion, nobody has matched my star power so I’m looking for someone who can match my star power – we might fight in Australia, America or the UAE. Oscar, if you’re watching this man get off the couch and start training because we can make this happen.”

Paul is currently focused on promotion stablemate Amanda Serrano’s undisputed fight with Katie Taylor which takes place in New York on April 30. But he has returned to his base in Puerto Rico base to re-start his training as he eyes a sixth professional victory later this year.