So apparently, UFC middleweight contenders Michael Bisping and Luke Rockhold are not the biggest fans of each other. Have you seen this? Have you heard about this? Turns out they have something of a long-running feud dating back to when Bisping broke gym code and declared himself the “unofficial Strikeforce champion” following a sparring session with Rockhold. And now the two will ehhhh…fight this weekend at Fight Night 55 in Sydney, Australia. You know what seems odd to me about all this? That Vitor Belfort hasn’t declared himself the “unofficial Strikeforce G.O.A.T” yet!
At the pre-fight press conference in Sydney yesterday afternoon, Bisping and Rockhold continued to trade barbs — Rockhold mocked the fresh cut above Bisping’s eye he recently suffered in training, while the Brit calmly reminded Rockhold that he had “no f*cking idea” what he was getting himself into. Even Chris Weidman, who was in attendance with his trusty sidekick Ray Longo, got in on the action when asked how he thought the fight would play out. Check out some highlights from the conference above, then make sure to catch the weigh-ins tonight starting at 9 p.m. EST.
So apparently, UFC middleweight contenders Michael Bisping and Luke Rockhold are not the biggest fans of each other. Have you seen this? Have you heard about this? Turns out they have something of a long-running feud dating back to when Bisping broke gym code and declared himself the “unofficial Strikeforce champion” following a sparring session with Rockhold. And now the two will ehhhh…fight this weekend at Fight Night 55 in Sydney, Australia. You know what seems odd to me about all this? That Vitor Belfort hasn’t declared himself the “unofficial Strikeforce G.O.A.T” yet!
At the pre-fight press conference in Sydney yesterday afternoon, Bisping and Rockhold continued to trade barbs — Rockhold mocked the fresh cut above Bisping’s eye he recently suffered in training, while the Brit calmly reminded Rockhold that he had “no f*cking idea” what he was getting himself into. Even Chris Weidman, who was in attendance with his trusty sidekick Ray Longo, got in on the action when asked how he thought the fight would play out. Check out some highlights from the conference above, then make sure to catch the weigh-ins tonight starting at 9 p.m. EST.
If there’s one thing that Michael Bisping knows how to do, it’s convincingly sell eachandevery one of his fights as a “grudge match.” If there’s a second thing Michael Bisping knows how to do, it’s make a bunch of promises about said fights that he has no intention of following through with. Set to face Alan Belcher at UFC 159 this weekend, Bisping has already made sure to check both of those items off his list. First, he promised fans that he will knock Belcher out in the first round — something he has promised ad nauseum over the years yet hasn’t actually done since 2008 — and at today’s UFC 159 presser, he successfully convinced us that his fight with Belcher really is a grudge match. Touche, Mee-kale.
Granted, Bisping is facing a guy who has been calling him out for years now, but it’s starting to seem like Bisping needs to hate the guy he’s fighting in order to get motivated — commonly known as The Diaz Initiative. There’s nothing wrong with that, but if Bisping was truly confident that he could finish Belcher so easily, wouldn’t it have been nice to see him actually take Belcher and Wallace Gilberry up on their bet? Knocking out Belcher would be impressive, sure, but knocking him out and costing his buddy a $300,000 Rolls Royce? That is walking away from an explosion in slow-mo and not looking back levels of cool.
In either case, Bisping and Belcher made sure to get the shit-talking started early at today’s presser, and we’ve thrown the video above for your enjoyment. So check it out, then let us know how many times you think Bisping will point at Belcher’s face and scream “You’re dead!” come weigh-in time. He seems to enjoy doing that.
If there’s one thing that Michael Bisping knows how to do, it’s convincingly sell eachandevery one of his fights as a “grudge match.” If there’s a second thing Michael Bisping knows how to do, it’s make a bunch of promises about said fights that he has no intention of following through with. Set to face Alan Belcher at UFC 159 this weekend, Bisping has already made sure to check both of those items off his list. First, he promised fans that he will knock Belcher out in the first round — something he has promised ad nauseum over the years yet hasn’t actually done since 2008 — and at today’s UFC 159 presser, he successfully convinced us that his fight with Belcher really is a grudge match. Touche, Mee-kale.
Granted, Bisping is facing a guy who has been calling him out for years now, but it’s starting to seem like Bisping needs to hate the guy he’s fighting in order to get motivated — commonly known as The Diaz Initiative. There’s nothing wrong with that, but if Bisping was truly confident that he could finish Belcher so easily, wouldn’t it have been nice to see him actually take Belcher and Wallace Gilberry up on their bet? Knocking out Belcher would be impressive, sure, but knocking him out and costing his buddy a $300,000 Rolls Royce? That is walking away from an explosion in slow-mo and not looking back levels of cool.
In either case, Bisping and Belcher made sure to get the shit-talking started early at today’s presser, and we’ve thrown the video above for your enjoyment. So check it out, then let us know how many times you think Bisping will point at Belcher’s face and scream “You’re dead!” come weigh-in time. He seems to enjoy doing that.
(Talk about mental warfare, Diaz has gotten so far inside GSP’s head that the champ has apparently forgotten how to hold his hands during a staredown. Look at him, he looks like he’s trying to restrain his excitement while watching a cheerleading competition.)
The Nick Diaz crazy train continues to roll on, Potato Nation, and was on full display during today’s UFC 158: St. Pierre vs. Diaz pre-fight presser. First, when addressing why he had missed the open workouts — something Nick originally attributed to the UFC’s…I don’t know, flight scheduling? — Diaz claimed that he needed his sleep and that “it was either I miss yesterday’s open workout or I miss this.” Then, when questioned on whether or not he would pass his drug test this time around, Diaz dropped this gem:
I think [at UFC 143] I tested for a metabolite or a nanogram, it was hardly [a trace] so I just did a little more than I did last time so, sorry if I don’t pass the test, but I think it should work out. I’ve passed plenty of them before, unless they just weren’t testing me. I wonder how much they test people around here (glancing at St. Pierre).
Check out the full video of the pre-fight presser after the jump for all of these highlights and more, and make sure to swing by our liveblog of UFC 158 on Saturday starting at 10 p.m. EST.
(Talk about mental warfare, Diaz has gotten so far inside GSP’s head that the champ has apparently forgotten how to hold his hands during a staredown. Look at him, he looks like he’s trying to restrain his excitement while watching a cheerleading competition.)
The Nick Diaz crazy train continues to roll on, Potato Nation, and was on full display during today’s UFC 158: St. Pierre vs. Diaz pre-fight presser. First, when addressing why he had missed the open workouts — something Nick originally attributed to the UFC’s…I don’t know, flight scheduling? — Diaz claimed that he needed his sleep and that “it was either I miss yesterday’s open workout or I miss this.” Then, when questioned on whether or not he would pass his drug test this time around, Diaz dropped this gem:
I think [at UFC 143] I tested for a metabolite or a nanogram, it was hardly [a trace] so I just did a little more than I did last time so, sorry if I don’t pass the test, but I think it should work out. I’ve passed plenty of them before, unless they just weren’t testing me. I wonder how much they test people around here (glancing at St. Pierre).
Check out the full video of the pre-fight presser after the jump for all of these highlights and more, and make sure to swing by our liveblog of UFC 158 on Saturday starting at 10 p.m. EST.
Here are the three most noteworthy pieces of information I learned at the UFC 154 pre-fight press conference:
1. Carlos Condit is very handsy when answering questions.
2. Whoever was in charge of controlling the levels on Jon Anik’s microphone needs to be fired ASAP, then shot, then dragged to a park to make it look like a suicide. Either that or Anik is suffering from the worst case of voice immodulation I have ever heard.
3. People are still up in arms about the Condit/Diaz decision, and based on the CagePotato “I Miss Old Dad” scale of emotional hoarding, they will continue to do so for…*enters figures into calculator*…ever. I guess the fact that Diaz’s win/title shot would’ve been revoked anyway makes little difference in this meaningless debate. I say this as a Diaz fan: Move along, folks. Nothing to see here.
No, I do not know if this information will heighten your viewing experience or not, but what I do know is that the flu medication I’ve been on for the past few days causes more violent hallucinations than that cup of punch I drank at a Phish concert last summer, so just applaud the fact that I was even able to bring you this video today. I SAID APPLAUD DAMMIT!
Now if you will excuse me, I have a date with the insides of my stomach, which should be arriving any moment now.
Here are the three most noteworthy pieces of information I learned at the UFC 154 pre-fight press conference:
1. Carlos Condit is very handsy when answering questions.
2. Whoever was in charge of controlling the levels on Jon Anik’s microphone needs to be fired ASAP, then shot, then dragged to a park to make it look like a suicide. Either that or Anik is suffering from the worst case of voice immodulation I have ever heard.
3. People are still up in arms about the Condit/Diaz decision, and based on the CagePotato “I Miss Old Dad” scale of emotional hoarding, they will continue to do so for…*enters figures into calculator*…ever. I guess the fact that Diaz’s win/title shot would’ve been revoked anyway makes little difference in this meaningless debate. I say this as a Diaz fan: Move along, folks. Nothing to see here.
No, I do not know if this information will heighten your viewing experience or not, but what I do know is that the flu medication I’ve been on for the past few days causes more violent hallucinations than that cup of punch I drank at a Phish concert last summer, so just applaud the fact that I was even able to bring you this video today. I SAID APPLAUD DAMMIT!
Now if you will excuse me, I have a date with the insides of my stomach, which should be arriving any moment now.
("Come at me, bro.")
Will Anderson try to answer questions in English?
Will Vitor talk about how training with Jesus has helped him prepare for this fight?
Will "Bones" Jones talk about how awesome he is?
Will Rich Franklin reveal …
("Come at me, bro.")
Will Anderson try to answer questions in English?
Will Vitor talk about how training with Jesus has helped him prepare for this fight?
Will "Bones" Jones talk about how awesome he is?
Will Rich Franklin reveal the tattoo he has chosen for Forrest to get if he beats him?
All of these questions and more will be answered at the UFC 126 press conference at 4:00 pm ET. As always, the UFC video player is after the jump.
