Here at CagePotato we don’t mind doing things by the book if we can still have a good time doing it. So, we didn’t mind enjoying a few modern classics when the UFC made them available through youtube.
These are all good’uns so if you’re in America, enjoy part of your day off by watching some of the world’s best fighters get after it. And if you don’t have the day off, get back at your employer passive aggressively by wasting a couple hours watching these on the job.
(Will it ever get old?)
Here at CagePotato we don’t mind doing things by the book if we can still have a good time doing them. So, we didn’t mind enjoying a few modern classics when the UFC made them available through youtube.
These are all good’uns so if you’re in America, enjoy part of your day off by watching some of the world’s best fighters get after it. And if you don’t have the day off, get back at your employer passive aggressively by wasting a couple hours watching these on the job.
Michael Bisping has been on the shelf since his contest against Chael Sonnen in January earlier this year. Bisping was originally scheduled to face Tim Boetsch but a knee injury forced the Englishman out of the fight. Now Bisping is set to face All-Ame…
Michael Bisping has been on the shelf since his contest against ChaelSonnen in January earlier this year. Bisping was originally scheduled to face Tim Boetsch but a knee injury forced the Englishman out of the fight.
Now Bisping is set to face All-American hero Brian Stann later this month at UFC 152 on Sept. 22. Bisping took some time to answer a few questions for BJPenn.com pertaining to that fight along with his opinion of how the Jon Jones fiasco went down.
Bisping shared his confidence in his training camp and specifically the health of his knee.
“It’s still a little sore, every now and then, but it’s not generally giving me any problems. Camp is going great. Everything’s fantastic. Weight’s good. I’m in great shape. I’m ready to do some damage on September 22nd,” he said.
It’s good that Bisping‘s knee is good because he will need to utilize his footwork to avoid the one-punch KO power of Stann—a fact not lost on the middleweight contender.
“Everyone knows he’s a big, powerful, striker, and that’s what I’ve got to look out for. I think, technically, I’ve got him beat. I’m better on the feet. I’m better on the ground. But, obviously, that one-punch knockout power is the thing I’ve got to look out for,” Bisping said.
Bisping had been critical of the light heavyweight champion Jones in the past week but was was complimentary of him at first when discussing the UFC 151 fallout.
“It’s hard for me to judge Jon Jones. He’s a hell of a fighter, and he’ll go down in history as the youngest champion ever. He’s incredible…”
That’s about as far as Bisping got to complimenting the champion. The Englishman had been outspoken about how he faced Sonnen on only eight days notice and said much of the same while discrediting Jones’ place as champion.
“Listen. When you’re the champion, when you’re the UFC Light Heavyweight Champion of the world, you gotta take fights.He was offered a fight against ChaelSonnen on eight days notice. I, personally, was offered a fight against ChaelSonnen on eight days notice. I chose to take that fight. I don’t know what that means. I don’t know what those facts say. Maybe it means I’m a badass. I took the fight. I’m just confused as to why Jon Jones didn’t. I think it’s a fight Jones would have won. Obviously, he would have been in better shape than Chael. He’s been preparing for that night, so it’s a little confusing.”
It sounds like Bisping is on the same train of thought as many MMA fans about Jones and his refusal to take the fight.
UFC 151, originally set to go down on September 1, has been canceled due to an injury suffered by Dan Henderson.The event could have been saved when Chael Sonnen accepted the offer to supplant Henderson as the opponent to Jon Jones, but Jones declined …
UFC 151, originally set to go down on September 1, has been canceled due to an injury suffered by Dan Henderson.
The event could have been saved when Chael Sonnen accepted the offer to supplant Henderson as the opponent to Jon Jones, but Jones declined that fight, citing the short-notice of opponent-change as his reasoning.
Someone who knows a thing or two about taking on Sonnen with a week-or-so’s notice is middleweight contender Michael Bisping.
Bisping had been tapped to take on jiu-jitsu star Demian Maia at UFC on FOX 2 earlier this year, but was asked to swap opponents when Mark Munoz went down with an injury. Chris Weidman stepped in for Bisping against Maia, and the Brit slid in to face Sonnen.
There’s a lot of stepping up to the plate in that scenario—all four guys had fights they didn’t know they would have until about two weeks before the fact, Weidman not even knowing he had a fight to begin with.
Unfortunately, Jones refused to follow in the footsteps of this quartet of middleweights, and Bisping for one, is not impressed.
The Count took to Twitter to remind fans that accepting such a fight would not have been all that crazy of an idea, referencing his own experience as precedent:
“Jones said he’s not fighting chael on 8 days notice. I did. …. Just sayin”
This isn’t the only backlash Jones has received for his decision, nor is it likely to be the end of it.
Fellow fighters, the UFC brass and fight fans have collectively expressed their disgust at Jones’ choice, and as Bisping points out, not without good reason.
(I don’t always accuse Hector Lombard of using steroids, but when I do, I make this face.)
Potato Nation, I feel like I should say something in regards to Michael Bisping, because it seems that every time we poke fun at the bloke, a few of you get all butt hurt and call us wankers or poofters before begging your mothers to kiss the wound and make it all better. You claim that we are biased against British people, and though we have every right to be, this is simply not the case.
So here’s the deal; I personally have nothing against you Brits. I find your accents to be glorious, dignified, and far more soothing on the ear to than the slack jawed “wickid aaawesomes” New England has to offer. I love the The Inbetweeners, Samuel Smith’s Nut Brown Ale, Ricky Gervais, and a platter of Bangers and Mash as much as the rest of you probably do, if not more. As a matter of fact, I don’t even hate Michael Bisping. Sure, the guy is a dick by all accounts, but I can’t really claim to hate someone that I’ve never met before. I’m simply not that cynical, and I’m sure the same goes for my fellow writers. But this is CagePotato. We make jokes here. And we just happen to enjoy targeting guys like Bisping, Josh Koscheck, fat BJ Penn, and Dana White, because we enjoy picking the lowest hanging fruit. We good now? Alright, let’s move on.
The reason I give this disclaimer is due to the fact that Bisping recently sat down with Mauro Ranallo for a lengthy interview a month out from his UFC 152 fight with “All American” Brian Stann. We know, you’re thinking we’re going to set him up for a punchline here, but that is not the case today. Everything from the current injury curse to Hector Lombard’s dud of a debut was discussed, but it was when they came to the issue of TRT that Bisping actually made an argument that we could get behind. Our buddies over at MiddleEasy shared our concern. Granted, Bisping had to reduce most of his argument to the crudest terms available, but that doesn’t make it wrong:
I think it’s absolute nonsense, rubbish, bullshit. Listen, we all get old, we all grow up, you know? At some point, as you start getting older, your balls don’t work as well and you don’t make as much testosterone, but, that’s life and you deal with it. A guy that is 40-years old doesn’t make as much testosterone as a 21-year old so he gets an exemption certificate to say, ‘So now we will give him as much testosterone as a 21-year old.’ Well, what about me, I’m 33 (years of age), I’m not making the same amount as a 21-year old, but I make more than a 40-year old.
Where do we draw the line? It’s nonsense.
After the jump: The full interview, wherein Bisping accuses Lombard of steroid use, calls Mark Munoz fat, and says he’s “gonna knock the fucker out” when discussing Stann. And the world returned to normal.
(I don’t always accuse Hector Lombard of using steroids, but when I do, I make this face.)
Potato Nation, I feel like I should say something in regards to Michael Bisping, because it seems that every time we poke fun at the bloke, a few of you get all butt hurt and call us wankers or poofters before begging your mothers to kiss the wound and make it all better. You claim that we are biased against British people, and though we have every right to be, this is simply not the case.
So here’s the deal; I personally have nothing against you Brits. I find your accents to be glorious, dignified, and far more soothing on the ear to than the slack jawed “wickid aaawesomes” New England has to offer. I love the The Inbetweeners, Samuel Smith’s Nut Brown Ale, Ricky Gervais, and a platter of Bangers and Mash as much as the rest of you probably do, if not more. As a matter of fact, I don’t even hate Michael Bisping. Sure, the guy is a dick by all accounts, but I can’t really claim to hate someone that I’ve never met before. I’m simply not that cynical, and I’m sure the same goes for my fellow writers. But this is CagePotato. We make jokes here. And we just happen to enjoy targeting guys like Bisping, Josh Koscheck, fat BJ Penn, and Dana White, because we enjoy picking the lowest hanging fruit. We good now? Alright, let’s move on.
The reason I give this disclaimer is due to the fact that Bisping recently sat down with Mauro Ranallo for a lengthy interview a month out from his UFC 152 fight with “All American” Brian Stann. We know, you’re thinking we’re going to set him up for a punchline here, but that is not the case today. Everything from the current injury curse to Hector Lombard’s dud of a debut was discussed, but it was when they came to the issue of TRT that Bisping actually made an argument that we could get behind. Our buddies over at MiddleEasy shared our concern. Granted, Bisping had to reduce most of his argument to the crudest terms available, but that doesn’t make it wrong:
I think it’s absolute nonsense, rubbish, bullshit. Listen, we all get old, we all grow up, you know? At some point, as you start getting older, your balls don’t work as well and you don’t make as much testosterone, but, that’s life and you deal with it. A guy that is 40-years old doesn’t make as much testosterone as a 21-year old so he gets an exemption certificate to say, ‘So now we will give him as much testosterone as a 21-year old.’ Well, what about me, I’m 33 (years of age), I’m not making the same amount as a 21-year old, but I make more than a 40-year old.
Where do we draw the line? It’s nonsense.
Bisping continued:
Listen, nature determines that and I don’t think we should interfere with that. I think it’s cheating very, very well, it’s dressed up. Its nonsense, its absolute bullshit and I, for one, am very, very against it. I would never ever do that. I am who I am and I’ve done well doing what I do.
We’re not going to ask you to delve any further into your opinions regarding TRT, because it somehow already feels like old news despite the relatively short period that mainstream society has been aware of it. But suffice it to say, Bisping is spot-on here, and I feel like I’m going to be sick for writing that. Like my world is tearing apart at the seems.
A few more highlights from the interview:
On Brian Stann: “He seems like a great guy. He does. From a personal level, I haven’t got anything against the guy.”
Mauro: “Does that bother you?”
“Yeah, it does a little bit. I’d prefer to give him some shit. I like it when I don’t like them…people say ‘Oh, you don’t want to get thrown off your game. Don’t let it get to you, because it gets you mad and it gets you angry and throws you off your game.’ For me, that’s the best thing you can do to me. I’m an emotional guy. When I’m mad and pissed off, I’m three times more of a handful…it’s like the woman lifting the car off the baby. Get me mad and I’m like that.”
On Training: “I love to fight. My favorite part of training is sparring, that’s all I do all day every day. I don’t wear a head guard. I don’t need to; I don’t get hit. Simple as that. Look at this face. Does it look like a man that’s taken many punches? Come on, sortyouselfoutmaro (one word). I don’t wear a head guard, ’cause I don’t fuckin’ need to! I shouldn’t swear so much, sorry.”
On his general dickishness and how it affects his marketability(Author’s note: See! We weren’t making it up!): “I’ve always been like that, to be honest. I’ve always had too much to say. I’m always trying to have a laugh and be funny and all the rest of it or maybe too opinionated…I make mistakes, I know I do, and I just try not to make the same mistakes twice.” (Note: Don’t worry, Michael, just look into your mirror each morning and say these inspirational words. That’s how we get by.)
