Michael Bisping has one of the biggest fights of his career coming up in October when he faces former NCAA champion wrestler Mark Munoz at UFC Fight Night 30.
Now only does Bisping face Munoz with a chance to solidify his standing in the rankings—moving him closer to a much desired title shot—but he fights in his home country of England for the first time in three years.
While he’s always been proficient in his wrestling, Bisping wanted to up the ante for his fight against Munoz, who is regarded as one of the top grapplers in the sport. Munoz is a former Oklahoma State wrestling standout and 2001 NCAA champion.
To help get ready for a wrestler of Munoz’s caliber, Bisping decided to incorporate a new head coach for this camp to make sure he’s as ready as ever when he travels to England for the fight.
“I’m here at CSW in Fullerton. Erik Paulson, he’s coaching me for this fight,” Bisping said. “Obviously, Mark’s a wrestling (guy) so I’m hoping Erik can help out in that department. Erik is a world-class coach and a lot of great guys here to help as well.”
Paulson is a mainstay of the MMA coaching community and has worked with numerous top-level fighters over the years including Brock Lesnar, Renato “Babalu” Sobral and Cub Swanson.
Most notably, Paulson is the longtime head coach of current UFC heavyweight contender Josh Barnett.
Now he will take over Bisping‘s camp for the next seven weeks as he gets ready to face Munoz with a chance to jump back into the conversation as a top contender for the UFC middleweight title.
Check out the video above to see Bisping‘s new training regimen and his thoughts on Munoz and the fight.
Read more MMA news on BleacherReport.com