It’s gotten me in trouble, but there’s nothing I did better in life than fighting.
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Michael Bisping reacts after knocking out Santa Cruz’s Luke Rockhold during a UFC 199 at The Forum in Inglewood on Saturday. “Two weeks notice, as I said, two days, two hours, two minutes – I’ll fight anyone”, he added.
Michael Bisping waited 10 years and 26 fights for the chance to win a UFC title. He has doled out tons of punishment, taken tons of punishment and transcended countless hurdles over the last decade. Back in 2014, Rockhold submitted Bisping early in the second round. With another five years of growth by Cruz, Florian thinks it will take a stoppage for Faber to walk away with UFC gold for the first time.
Alas, that’s how things tend to go in this sport, where one well-timed punch can change the outlook of a division in an instant.
“People say I don’t deserve it. People say I’ve got no punching power”.
“He caught me. I didn’t see it happening”, said Rockhold, who had won the belt in December with a dominant fourth-round technical knockout of previously unbeaten champion Chris Weidman.
But despite coming in as a massive underdog, Bisping was confident he would make the most of his rare opportunity. He is 37 years old and may be past his prime on paper.
The fighters got into a heated argument after Rockhold refused to shake Bisping’s hand after Saturday night’s press conference. So I don’t know what the upside for him was in saying that.
The defeated champion started the press conference by explaining just how he had managed to lose to a fighter he perceives as being below him, shortly before Bisping entered the room, beer in hand.
For Bisping and Rockhold, it was kicked off by Bisping’s loose lips about a sparring session between them. That guy is a piece of s–, and I want to f– come kill him next time around. And that’s why I’m taking this fight.
“Apart from my children and my wife, this is the greatest day of my life”, Bisping stated.
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“A bit, yeah”, Rockhold said. As Faber tells it, Cruz signed his name over Faber’s face on a few promotional posters that were intended for charity giveaways, and the faux pas festered into a career-long rivalry. The bitter rivals fought for the third time, with the victory giving the younger man a 2-1 edge.
