(“Hey pussy, are you still there?” via…who are we kidding, it’s already been taken down.)
The lead-up to Jon Jones‘ title tilt with Daniel Cormier at UFC 182 has been an unusually heated affair for the long-standing light heavyweight champion. While we’ve seen Jones irked in the past, we’ve never seen him break kayfabe in the form of a full-on fist fight at a press conference before, which usually marks the beginning of a new chapter in a person’s life. The beef between Bones and Cormier appears to be legitimate and has earned the matchup a ton of additional eyes, so it would be a huge mistake on the UFC’s part *not* to use this hate-filled storyline to market the fight, right? Especially while in the midst of a(nother) pay-per-view slump?
The Grudge Match™ has been one of the most reliable marketing gimmicks of the Zuffa era — second only to “If ___ beats ___, then pound-for-pound.” — and surely a scheme that will likely earn Jones a hefty bump in his cut of the PPV revenue. But according to the champ himself, all the money in the world isn’t worth everyone knowing that he is a two-faced, fakey fakerson. (Ed note: Sorry, my 7-year-old nephew is in town for the holidays and keeps jacking my laptop.)
As Bones recently told UFC Tonight (via MMAMania):
When I first saw [the now infamous ad for UFC 182] I was a little offended by it. That UFC — someone who is supposed to be backing my brand and making me look good — would put up something like that for the general public to see. I don’t think it’s really healthy for the world to see their champion — for the world to see UFC’s champion — saying I would kill someone. That really took me off guard. I didn’t really think it was in my best interest, but it was for UFC’s best interest, so I kind of had to swallow my pride. I said it.
(“Hey pussy, are you still there?” via…who are we kidding, it’s already been taken down.)
The lead-up to Jon Jones‘ title tilt with Daniel Cormier at UFC 182 has been an unusually heated affair for the long-standing light heavyweight champion. While we’ve seen Jones irked in the past, we’ve never seen him break kayfabe in the form of a full-on fist fight at a press conference before, which usually marks the beginning of a new chapter in a person’s life. The beef between Bones and Cormier appears to be legitimate and has earned the matchup a ton of additional eyes, so it would be a huge mistake on the UFC’s part *not* to use this hate-filled storyline to market the fight, right? Especially while in the midst of a(nother) pay-per-view slump?
The Grudge Match™ has been one of the most reliable marketing gimmicks of the Zuffa era — second only to “If ___ beats ___, then pound-for-pound.” — and surely a scheme that will likely earn Jones a hefty bump in his cut of the PPV revenue. But according to the champ himself, all the money in the world isn’t worth everyone knowing that he is a two-faced, fakey fakerson. (Ed note: Sorry, my 7-year-old nephew is in town for the holidays and keeps jacking my laptop.)
As Bones recently told UFC Tonight (via MMAMania):
When I first saw [the now infamous ad for UFC 182] I was a little offended by it. That UFC — someone who is supposed to be backing my brand and making me look good — would put up something like that for the general public to see. I don’t think it’s really healthy for the world to see their champion — for the world to see UFC’s champion — saying I would kill someone. That really took me off guard. I didn’t really think it was in my best interest, but it was for UFC’s best interest, so I kind of had to swallow my pride. I said it.
Oh, so you don’t wike it dat da UFC is makin’ you wook bad? WELL LOOK AT POWAH WITTLE JAWN. (Ed note: God dammit, Milo! You know that our WordPress can’t handle all these edits!!)
Knock Jones all you want, but you simply have to respect his consistency when it comes to shirking all responsibility for an incident he played a definitive role in and then martyring himself after the fact. For Christ’s sake, Jones said he was caught off guard…by the things he said! What a world!
“I, Jon Jones, am truly the victim here. Yeah, I might have threatened a man’s life on live television moments after starting a fight that I definitely wasn’t proud of, but for the UFC to promote my fight with those things I said and did? To make money? WON’T YOU THINK OF THE CHILDREN, DANA!!!!”
Who knows, maybe this interview was just the latest in what has been a series of blatantly trollish moves by the light heavyweight champion. But if Jones really is still banking on the idea that the masses will suddenly accept him as a genuine, down-to-earth guy at this point in his career, than maybe he’s not trolling us at all. Maybe Jon Jones is just f*cking crazy. And I honestly, I like crazy (minus that whole “defending Bill Cosby” thing).
I guess it isn’t really worth putting that much thought into. If Jones beats DC on January 4th, he’ll probably come out saying what a “really smart personal career decision” this whole thing was and everyone will somehow find it in them to hate him even more.
For Michael Bisping, every match is a grudge match. The TUF 3 winner never met a fellow fighter he couldn’t take the piss out of in his 21-fight (!) UFC career, and to be totally honest, I’m kind of starting to love the dude for it.
Truly the silver-tongued, tea-sipping Diaz brother is his highness Count Bisping, who has found himself in yet another war of words with former Strikeforce middleweight champion Luke Rockhold heading into their Fight Night 55 headliner on November 7th. Ben Fowlkes attempted to get to the bottom of Bisping’s seemingly endless dickishness in an interview published on MMAJunkie yesterday, and according to the Brit, pre-fight trash simply serves as his way of keeping the constant eat-train-sleep schedule from growing stale. According to Rockhold, however, Bisping is just “a prick that most people don’t like.” A regular Felix Unger and Oscar Madison these two are, I tells ya!
But as heated as Bisping vs. Rockhold has been thus far (see their “Counterpunch” segment above, their rooftop staredown, etc.), it doesn’t hold a candle to Bisping’s verbal sparring matches with Hollywood Henderson and that Bully Beatdown host guy whose life he destroyed. So it is through rage-filled, bloodshot eyes that we take a look back at Bisping’s most heated rivalries and rank them on a scale of Berk to Arselicking Plonker.
#9 — Charles McCarthy
So the saying goes, “Opinions are like assholes, and Michael Bisping is one opinionated asshole.” He’s also a guy who was never shy on confidence, which Charles “Chainsaw” McCarthy took issue with heading into their fight back at UFC 83. Oddly enough, it was actually McCarthy who attacked Bisping first through the media, telling CBS Sports:
(He’s) real arrogant, and, you know — not much else, really. He’s gonna get choked out April 19.
I have very little regard for that guy. I can’t wait to go in there and get my arm around his neck. It’s going to be a cool experience. I hope to put him to sleep before he decides to tap.
Bisping was quick to respond via his blog, The Countdown, with the following shot at McCarthy’s self-hyped BJJ credentials:
Next week’s Countdown will be filed after I’ve come face-to-face with the reigning BJJ uber-master of the galaxy. If anyone wants me to ask him for an autograph for you, please e-mail me, but keep your requests down to six per person.
When it came time to put words aside, Bisping was simply too much for his fellow TUF alum, overwhelming McCarthy with a barrage of knees (that in fact broke McCarthy’s arm) and forcing a stoppage inside of the first round. It was Bisping’s first true grudge match in the UFC, and one that would set the precedent for years to come.
For Michael Bisping, every match is a grudge match. The TUF 3 winner never met a fellow fighter he couldn’t take the piss out of in his 21-fight (!) UFC career, and to be totally honest, I’m kind of starting to love the dude for it.
Truly the silver-tongued, tea-sipping Diaz brother is his highness Count Bisping, who has found himself in yet another war of words with former Strikeforce middleweight champion Luke Rockhold heading into their Fight Night 55 headliner on November 7th. Ben Fowlkes attempted to get to the bottom of Bisping’s seemingly endless dickishness in an interview published on MMAJunkie yesterday, and according to the Brit, pre-fight trash simply serves as his way of keeping the constant eat-train-sleep schedule from growing stale. According to Rockhold, however, Bisping is just “a prick that most people don’t like.” A regular Felix Unger and Oscar Madison these two are, I tells ya!
But as heated as Bisping vs. Rockhold has been thus far (see their “Counterpunch” segment above, their rooftop staredown, etc.), it doesn’t hold a candle to Bisping’s verbal sparring matches with Hollywood Henderson and that Bully Beatdown host guy whose life he destroyed. So it is through rage-filled, bloodshot eyes that we take a look back at Bisping’s most heated rivalries and rank them on a scale of Berk to Arselicking Plonker.
#9 — Charles McCarthy
So the saying goes, “Opinions are like assholes, and Michael Bisping is one opinionated asshole.” He’s also a guy who was never shy on confidence, which Charles “Chainsaw” McCarthy took issue with heading into their fight back at UFC 83. Oddly enough, it was actually McCarthy who attacked Bisping first through the media, telling CBS Sports:
(He’s) real arrogant, and, you know — not much else, really. He’s gonna get choked out April 19.
I have very little regard for that guy. I can’t wait to go in there and get my arm around his neck. It’s going to be a cool experience. I hope to put him to sleep before he decides to tap.
Bisping was quick to respond via his blog, The Countdown, with the following shot at McCarthy’s self-hyped BJJ credentials:
Next week’s Countdown will be filed after I’ve come face-to-face with the reigning BJJ uber-master of the galaxy. If anyone wants me to ask him for an autograph for you, please e-mail me, but keep your requests down to six per person.
When it came time to put words aside, Bisping was simply too much for his fellow TUF alum, overwhelming McCarthy with a barrage of knees (that in fact broke McCarthy’s arm) and forcing a stoppage inside of the first round. It was Bisping’s first true grudge match in the UFC, and one that would set the precedent for years to come.
Bisping’s war of words with PRIDE legend Wanderlei Silva prior to UFC 110, if the Interwebs are to be believed, doesn’t seem like one that “The Count” actually started, hence its ranking on this list. By this point in his career, Bisping had already firmly established himself as one of the best trash-talkers in the business, whereas Silva was already being labeled by some people not named Michael Bisping as “a fading legend with a weird new face who is growing increasingly desperate for a win.” Still, Wanderlei struck first, stating how much he “didn’t like” Bisping (classic diss!) in several interviews during the lead-up, prompting Bisping to pretty much declare the same (albeit in slightly more comprehensible “English”). Words were shared between the two at the UFC 110 pre-fight press conference (see above), and a week later it was on, son.
The fight itself was a pretty back-and-forth affair, but thanks to a late knockdown at the end of the third and the most brutal guillotine attempt you will ever see in your life, “The Axe Murderer” had the last laugh, emerging victorious by unanimous decision.
Cung Le never had a bad word to say about nobody, and by all accounts appears to be an incredibly well-spoken, humble guy. Of course, this can only mean one thing (if you’re Michael Bisping): He’s a phony. A big, fat phony.
And because Le was/is such an obvious phony, Bisping felt obliged to tell every two-bit reporter in shouting distance how much of a phony Le was in the weeks before their Fight Night 48 scrap. Like during this fan Q&A, for instance:
I went to Macao for the launch press conference with Cung Le in June, and I was very polite, very professional. I exchanged all the pleasantries, gave him all the small talk as you are supposed to in these situations, and I even went as far as pretending to be absolutely blown away that he’s apparently friends with Channing Tatum. … Then I see him on UFC.com doing a Fight Club Q&A and he’s talking a load of bulls–t about me. Basically, he’s jumped on the same old, boring bandwagon everyone else who fights me does, which is to say what a smack-talker I am while, as always, they are the ones who talk crap first. What a phony. If he had a problem with me then he could have spared me all the boring anecdotes about Channing Tatum.
You see, in Michael Bisping’s mind, calling someone a phony who talks trash behind your back while simultaneously talking trash behind *their* back is in no way hypocritical. It makes total sense, actually, and somehow makes you appear as the victim in a situation that you are totally fueling. Have I mentioned how much I love this guy?
Anyways, the fight was nothing short of spectacular, and arguably Bisping’s best performance in the octagon to date. Both fighters trading heavy shots for four rounds and wobbled each other on multiple occasions, but it was Bisping’s renowned cardio and crisp boxing that ultimately sealed him the victory via TKO. Cung Le’s face has never recovered.
Perhaps the most fascinating thing about each of Michael Bisping’s rivalries (the most consistent, anyway) is how quickly they seem to spark from the smallest catalyst. Bisping’s ability to create something from nothing is second to none — like watching a small snowball roll down a mountainside, accumulating mass and gathering speed by the second, until it takes out a bus full of blind orphans who just happened to be taking that route for their yearly field trip. What Kseniya Simonova is to sand painting, Michael Bisping is to schoolyard displays of masculinity, and I say that not as a criticism, but as a compliment of his ability to sell a grudge match where none seemingly exists.
Take the genesis of his beef with Vitor Belfort, for instance. According to Bisping, the whole thing started when he heard through the grapevine that Belfort had called him “a hooligan.” Seems innocent enough, right? That word may have a bit more context behind it when applied to British folk, but being called a hooligan is way lighter than, say, being called an potato-faced little sh*teater with dicks for fingers, right?
Wrong. Bisping lashed out a Belfort almost immediately, telling him to stick the apologetic text messages he had been sent “up his ass” (Belfort’s ass, that is) and calling the Brazilian a “cheater” for hitting so many people in the back of the head over the years. Again, I should clarify that illegally kneeing an opponent while he’s down and spitting on his cornermen is one thing, but hitting people in the back of the head is entirely something else. To Michael Bisping.
In any case, pissing off “TRTor” turned out to be a huge mistake for The Count, and after a couple of intense staredowns, Belfort proceeded to channel his inner Major Payne and put his foot right upside Bisping’s head at UFC on FX 7. Surely this lesson in humility would mark the very last time Bisping engaged in pre-fight trash-talk…
JK, you guys! Bisping’s very next fight against Alan Belcher would be a particularly heated affair, rife with some of The Count’s most scathing insults to date. Hyeah!!!
Although Bisping originally dismissed Belcher’s callouts as yet another case of some a-hole trying to become famous off his good name, he simply couldn’t help himself after the two were paired together in the co-main event of UFC 159. Bisping first took to his blog to drop some sick burns about how Belcher had stunk up the joint against Yushin Okami at UFC 155 (a sentiment that Belcher would probably agree with) and how he had probably detached his retina due to watching too much Internet porn. He then dubbed Belcher “some retard from Mississippi” and threatened to “smack the stupid look” off his face during their pre-fight presser. While I don’t personally think that smacking a retard would be a great move from a publicity standpoint, such is Count Bisping.
While Belcher didn’t deliver much in terms of witty repartee, he did promise to knock Bisping out, which was something that fans has been praying to see ever since that time Bisping was knocked out in the fight before this one. But unfortunately, neither Bisping nor Belcher delivered on the hype, and the fight equated to little more than an above-average sparring session. Until Bisping rendered Belcher unable to continue due with a particularly vicious eye poke in the third round, that is, and secured a technical decision victory.
Accidental or otherwise, the eye poke earned Bisping even more heat than usual from irate fans, who could only take solace when the MMA Gods evened the scales a few months later.
So Michael Bisping and Luke Rockhold were in Sydney, Australia earlier today to for the Fight Night 55 press conference, and wouldn’t you know, they were barely able to keep things civil.
Submission Radio managed to catch the two mid-staredown on a balcony after the press conference, and as you might expect, it was Bisping who struck first.
“You get one step closer to me and I will f*cking knock you out,” threatened the Brit.
“Who have you ever knocked out?” replied Rockhold.
Point Rockhold.
“Your boy last weekend, you f*cking prick,” said Bisping.
Point Bisping.
Now suddenly finding himself on the defensive, Rockhold attempt to question the validity of Bisping’s win, asking “You call that a f*cking knockout?” It was here that the exchange began to slip away from the former Strikeforce champ.
So Michael Bisping and Luke Rockhold were in Sydney, Australia earlier today to for the Fight Night 55 press conference, and wouldn’t you know, they were barely able to keep things civil.
Submission Radio managed to catch the two mid-staredown on a balcony after the press conference, and as you might expect, it was Bisping who struck first.
“You get one step closer to me and I will f*cking knock you out,” threatened the Brit.
“Who have you ever knocked out?” replied Rockhold.
Point Rockhold.
“Your boy last weekend, you f*cking prick,” said Bisping.
Point Bisping.
Now suddenly finding himself on the defensive, Rockhold attempt to question the validity of Bisping’s win, asking “You call that a f*cking knockout?” It was here that the exchange began to slip away from the former Strikeforce champ.
Bisping responded by asking Rockhold who he had ever knocked out in his career to make him such an expert, to which Rockhold replied, “Costa Philippou.” Bisping rightfully pointed out that a body shot TKO isn’t really a KO, to which Rockhold responded that he had “knocked out plenty of people in Strikeforce.”
From there, Rockhold was in scramble mode, suddenly finding himself unable to name names, and countered by asking Bisping who he had ever “knocked to the floor.” Because you know an argument is going well when you start bringing semantics into the equation.
Bisping once again referred to his recent win over Rockhold’s “boyfriend”, Cung Le, to which Rockhold replied that he “wasn’t impressed” by it.
Just so we’re all clear on how Rockhold sees things:
(We now to go to our post-fight celebration expert, Michael Kelso, for analysis.)
Not since Nick Diaz invented the Stockton Heybuddy have we seen a fighter gain so much notoriety for a hand gesture, but that seems to be the case with one Bethe Correia. Whether us MMA fans will admit it or not, we all get a semi at the thought of an honest grudge match between MMA fighters, and when Correia silently dissed the “Four Horsewoman” following her victory over Jessamyn Duke at UFC 172, it was pretty much a done-deal that she would face one of the three remaining members in her next UFC contest.
But being that Marina Shafir just turned pro and that Ronda Rousey is Ronda Rousey, all roads lead to Shayna Baszler, the ten year veteran and final member of the ill-named MMA supergroup. As such, UFC officials announced last night that Correia and Baszler will in fact throw down at UFC 176: Aldo vs. Mendes 2 on August 2nd in what is sure to be billed as “an intense rivalry between a rising contender and a savvy veteran.”
More on this matchup, including Rousey’s thoughts on Correia as a potential opponent, are after the jump.
(We now to go to our post-fight celebration expert, Michael Kelso, for analysis.)
Not since Nick Diaz invented the Stockton Heybuddy have we seen a fighter gain so much notoriety for a hand gesture, but that seems to be the case with one Bethe Correia. Whether us MMA fans will admit it or not, we all get a semi at the thought of an honest grudge match between MMA fighters, and when Correia silently dissed the “Four Horsewoman” following her victory over Jessamyn Duke at UFC 172, it was pretty much a done-deal that she would face one of the three remaining members in her next UFC contest.
But being that Marina Shafir just turned pro and that Ronda Rousey is Ronda Rousey, all roads lead to Shayna Baszler, the ten year veteran and final member of the ill-named MMA supergroup. As such, UFC officials announced last night that Correia and Baszler will in fact throw down at UFC 176: Aldo vs. Mendes 2 on August 2nd in what is sure to be billed as “an intense rivalry between a rising contender and a savvy veteran.”
While the undefeated Correia has scored two straight victories in the UFC over Duke and the now-retired Julie “Cat Lady” Kedzie, Baszler has not actually competed since getting upset by eventual season winner Julianna Pena in the TUF 18 quarterfinals. Her last professional contest ended in equally disappointing fashion, as she was choked out by current title challenger Alexis Davis in the third round of their scrap at Invicta FC 4. Baszler was scheduled to face Sarah Kaufman at the TUF Nations Finale last month before being forced out of the contest with an injury.
Should Correia get past Baszler, it would all but guarantee a title shot against Rousey, if only for the “WWE-style narrative” that’s been established. That’s according to Rousey, anyway (via MMAJunkie):
This chick is undefeated. She’s fighting Shayna, so Shayna’s UFC debut is either going to be a huge win for Shayna or this girl is going to be still undefeated, and I’m going to have a huge title fight because this girl is going to have fought both of my girls and is coming after me.
I think Shayna can f—ing handle it and will shove this s–t in this girl’s face, but there’s no lose in this situation. It’s a huge win for Shayna, or it’s a huge setup for a fight.
If Miesha Tate can get a title shot and she hadn’t even won a single match in the UFC, this chick who’s undefeated and beat two of my friends could be a very interesting fight for me.
Ladies of the bantamweight division, take note: Win a couple fights and include some obscure gestures in your post-fight celebration and you too can earn the chance to be armbarred by Ronda Rousey. GINA CARANO WHO?
For what has felt like years now, middleweight contenders Michael Bisping and Tim Kennedy have been locked in a (revolutionary?) Twitter war, throwing petty and occasionally hilarious insults at one another like the sweet burn seen above. For a while, the dispute held about as much credibility as your average internet argument, as neither man seemed truly willing to sign on the dotted line. With Bisping out nursing an ironic eye injury and Kennedy busy picking off Brazilians like they were members of Al Qaeda, the digital back and forth quickly began to lose steam amongst MMA fans with Twitter accounts and unlimited free time.
Earlier this month, however, Bisping was cleared by his doctor to resume fighting and was immediately offered a bout with Kennedy. Yesterday morning, Fox Sports broke the news that Kennedy and Bisping have finally set a tentative date for their grudge match: April 16th, at the TUF Nations finale (no, I don’t know what the fuck a TUF Nations is either). Kennedy confirmed the matchup via his Twitter, and barring the results of Bisping’s upcoming tests with the UFC’s doctors, this fight is all but a lock. At the risk of sounding jingoistic…(*clears throat*)…USA! USA! USA!!
For what has felt like years now, middleweight contenders Michael Bisping and Tim Kennedy have been locked in a (revolutionary?) Twitter war, throwing petty and occasionally hilarious insults at one another like the sweet burn seen above. For a while, the dispute held about as much credibility as your average internet argument, as neither man seemed truly willing to sign on the dotted line. With Bisping out nursing an ironic eye injury and Kennedy busy picking off Brazilians like they were members of Al Qaeda, the digital back and forth quickly began to lose steam amongst MMA fans with Twitter accounts and unlimited free time.
Earlier this month, however, Bisping was cleared by his doctor to resume fighting and was immediately offered a bout with Kennedy. Yesterday morning, Fox Sports broke the news that Kennedy and Bisping have finally set a tentative date for their grudge match: April 16th, at the TUF Nations finale (no, I don’t know what the fuck a TUF Nations is either). Kennedy confirmed the matchup via his Twitter, and barring the results of Bisping’s upcoming tests with the UFC’s doctors, this fight is all but a lock. At the risk of sounding jingoistic…(*clears throat*)…USA! USA! USA!!
As previously mentioned, Bisping has been out of action since picking up a technical decision win over Alan Belcher in *their* grudge match at UFC 159. As is typically the case in a Bisping grudge match, the fight featured its fair share of eye pokes, taunts, and probably a loogie or two. Kennedy, on the other hand, recently scored a first round knockout over Rafael Natal at Fight for the Troops 3 back in November, improving his UFC record to 2-0. Natal has yet to confirm or deny whether loogies were hocked during the main event matchup.
Will this be a slugfest for the ages, Nation? Or will Kennedy vs. Bisping suffer the same fate as the last great supposed grudge match, MacDonald vs. Ellenberger, and suck beyond all belief?
