Michael Bisping is sick and tired of waiting on Anderson Silva, but the famous Englishman can’t ignore the challenge of former champion Vitor Belfort.
Despite the threat that Belfort poses to “The Count” in the stand-up, Bisping insists that he’ll be the one dishing out most of the damage after his opponent tires himself out.
During a recent chat with MMA Fighting, Bisping insisted that his game plan simply relied on Belfort faltering after the first round:
It’s well documented, rightly or wrongly, that Vitor gasses quickly. He does slow down after the first round. Obviously, early for me is going to be the most dangerous. The longer the fight goes, he’ll start turning into a walking punching bag. At least that’s the plan.
It’s easier said than done. He’s going to come out hard and fast, and he will be dangerous. He’s a big middleweight. He’s been a heavyweight (tournament) champion, and was a light heavyweight champion back in the day. But these are the kind of fights I’m going to take if I want to back up my talking.
Bisping also reiterated that his UFC on FX 7 main event bout in January against Belfort should be for an interim middleweight championship, wanting to “keep the division moving” in Silva’s absence.
Although Bisping suffered a highlight reel worthy knockout against current light heavyweight contender Dan Henderson a few years ago at UFC 100, he hasn’t been stopped on strikes since then.
Out of the eight men that Bisping has battled since his loss to Henderson, the heaviest hitters were arguably Wanderlei Silva and Brian Stann, both of whom Bisping fought to judges’ decisions. Bisping is coming off a win on a 5-1 run, while Belfort has racked up four first-round stoppages with a 4-2 record in his own recent six fight stretch.
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