Michael Bisping has had a rough go of it, as of late. A bad loss to Vitor Belfort turned into a bad win over Alan Belcher (although a fight that Bisping had in hand before it’s eye poke inflicted ending). Bisping followed that up with a year long layoff due to a torn retina and the surgery required to repair it, only to come back and look completely flat in a one sided loss to Tim Kennedy. Now it sounds like he’s looking to bounce back from a rough return to the cage. He spoke to Ariel Helwani on Episode 231 of the MMA Hour about his recent wedding, his fight with Tim Kennedy, and his upcoming bout with Cung Le.
Bisping was a bit dismissive of Kennedy’s win, saying “He didn’t try for much else apart from holding me down for dear life.” And saw his upcoming fight in juxtaposition to what he felt was Kennedy’s performance (transcription via Luke Thomas):
“No, Cung Le isn’t taking me down and I won’t take him down. This fight has fireworks written all over it and that’s why I’m excited for the match up. It’ll be a great striking battle.
“I’m really looking forward to main eventing in China and I’m going to give people what they paid to see,” he went on. “I feel like I didn’t live up to my words last time.”
…
“I’ve got a point to prove: a point to prove to myself and the paying public, that you should still watch my fights, that I’m still a contender. But that all starts with Cung Le,” Bisping said. “Apologies for the last fight. I was trying my best, but only one of us wanted to fight and that was me. The other guy didn’t engage.”
Bisping went on to proclaim that “his back is against the wall,” and that he “doesn’t intend to make it two losses in a row.” Cung Le feels like the right fight for Bisping right now. Another long time vet who has quite a bit of name value remaining in the sport, but isn’t quite at his competitive peak anymore. Bisping still seems to be aiming for a title shot, but after trading wins and losses for the past couple of years it’s hard to think that anything other than a very long win streak sees him in contention again.
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