Michael Bisping finally achieved greatness on Saturday when he defeated Luke Rockhold at UFC 199 to win the UFC middleweight championship. “People hate people that tell them what they’re gonna do. It’s definitely fun. I respect him as a fighter and that’s about as far as it goes”.
Advertisement
The value of perspective and the proper frame of mind will be fully on display Saturday when UFC bantamweight champion Dominick Cruz puts his gold on the line against Urijah Faber, in the co-main event of UFC 199.
Faber, who is now 0-4 in UFC title fights, said afterwards that he was considering hanging up his gloves. The Brazilian was unable to compete however, due to injury woes of his own. “And then to perform up to that level, Dominick has done that”.
In the interim he saw both Renan Barao and T.J. Dillashaw, who he would eventually defeat to reclaim the belt, hold the title that he never lost in the Octagon. Thanking his mother and father, and his home country of England, Bisping continued, “I’m an average guy, more than average. I’ll fight anybody on a moment’s notice”. The bad blood spilled over at the end of the third round, with Cruz appearing to utter at taunt in Faber’s direction as the men returned to their corners.
In his first title fight, Bisping came out swinging early.
Since losing his debut fight in the UFC to Vitor Belfort, Luke Rockhold has won five straight fights and claimed the UFC Middleweight Championship. That guy’s a piece of s**t and I wanna come f**king kill him next time around. He dropped a clear decision to Cruz in their rematch in 2011, but a steady stream of victories has kept him in contention for each of his failed title shots.
Given Bisping’s long path to the top, Florian doesn’t believe the challenger was turned off by the short fight camp.
“Two weeks notice, two days, two hours, two minutes, I’ll fight anyone anywhere, it’s incredible”.
“But there is nothing better than I do in this life than fighting”. That prompted Rockhold to vow he’ll get a first-round knockout, using terms that were somehow even more profane.
Advertisement
After making the slur, Bisping quickly caught himself, saying “Oh, I shouldn’t have said that”. You have to know what you’re going to do. “I disagree – I think it’s better than sweet”.
