UFC middleweight contender Michael Bisping had almost sniped at everyone but his opponent in the pre-fight media obligations ahead of Saturday night’s showdown with C.B. Dollaway. ‘The Count’ has antagonized his former TUF rival Dan Henderson and took a jab at WWE-turned-UFC signee, CM Punk. The soft-spoken Dollaway almost managed to completely avoid Bisping’s verbal wrath in the lead-up to their scrap at UFC 186, but the Brit was lured into his trash-talking ways when ‘The Doberman’ alluded to Bisping’s future behind a commentary desk rather in the Octagon in a recent interview. The 32-fight veteran fired back to MMAJunkie:
“How dare he have the audacity to stand in the Octagon with me? He said he’s going to retire me, so I take that personally,” Bisping said today at a media day in Montreal. “I’m nowhere near the end of my career. But C.B. Dollaway has just spiced it up a little bit for me this week.”
The Manchester-bred Bisping also remained reserved in the lead-up to his UFC Fight Night 48 clash with Cung Le, however, The Count admits to scoping out any fragment of trash-talk from his opponents to fire himself up:
“He’s been very quiet, he hasn’t really said anything, but he said one thing and that kind of irked me a little bit. It’s pumped me up the wrong way, which is great, that’s what I need. I tend to, as the fight gets closer and closer, I’ll find whatever small fragment of disrespect that I can and I’ll cling on to that and build it up. I’ll make a mountain out of a molehill. As I said, I’ll make him pay the price,” Bisping told MMAJunkie.
The 32-fight veteran is looking to spring back into the winners column after being caught in a guillotine choke by surging contender Luke Rockhold at UFC Fight Night 55. His opponent – C.B. Dollaway – is also looking to revive his career after wilting to Machida’s unorthodox strikes at UFC Fight Night 58.
Although Dollaway is a legitimate talent in the UFC’s 185 lb. division, Bisping feels the outcome has already been determined and that the NCAA division I wrestler is ‘terrified’ of the Brit’s presence:
“He’s going to be terrified – he is terrified. He knows he’s lost this fight. He’s turning up for the paycheck. It’s done. It’s a formality. I’m just going to turn up and actually carry out the process of beating him.”
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