It’s clear that Michael Bisping doesn’t enjoy being around or talking to Jason Miller.
However, Bisping had to spend several weeks coaching opposite Miller while on the set of “The Ultimate Fighter” Season 14.
Needless to say, the top 10-ranked Bisping is pleased that filming is over and he can focus on their Dec. 3 matchup in Las Vegas.
“I find him very, very annoying and I know people on ‘The Ultimate Fighter’ did and I was no different,” Bisping said today during a media call to promote TUF 14. “During the show I hated him and the end of the show I hated him and on December 3, I’m going to kick his {expletive} so it’s all good.”
Miller’s approach when stirring up Bisping was much different than the one Jorge Rivera used prior to being knocked out by Bisping earlier this year at UFC 127.
Rivera and his team made videos mocking Bisping that lit up the web and “The Count” didn’t think very highly of them.
However, Bisping says that Miller’s much different and that he’s just “idiotic.”
“Well, it all depends,” Bisping said. “Miller’s annoying, but for a completely different reason just because he’s idiotic. He just comes up with stupid {expletive} constantly. Rivera was different because it wasn’t just him, it was his entire team and they were cool, calm, and collected about it. They made videos, they did all kinds of stuff, and they crossed the line. They talked about my family and stuff like that, stuff that I really don’t want to go into and drag up again and even give Rivera the press. It takes a pretty low individual to do things like that.
“Jason’s not like that he’s just a bit idiotic as I said and he tries to wind me up a few times on the show as you’ll see. They were all very, very, very feeble attempts, you know, his mouth is definitely bigger than his brain. He tried a few things, you’ll see, they were very childish, and easy to overcome and get one over on him. So, yeah he didn’t wind me up to that extent.”
While Bisping admits that Miller did get on his nerves during the filming of the show, he also says that he didn’t need to think twice when accepting the position as coach on TUF 14.
“There was never any hesitation in accepting the role of coach,” Bisping said. “In my opinion, to be offered the role of coach on ‘The Ultimate Fighter’ is very prestigious and I thank the UFC for the opportunity. So, I never contemplated whether I should take it, the reality is, is that there’s a downside. The downside is that it means almost 10 months out of the camp, which I like to stay active. It means taking the fight against Jason Miller, which with respect that probably doesn’t get me a title shot by beating him. So, those are the downsides.
“But obviously it’s a great opportunity and as I said it shows that the UFC holds me in high regards to be offered something like that. I never wondered for a second if I would take the job.”
With that being said, will a victory against Miller at the conclusion of the show place Bisping any closer toward a title shot?
Well, a win would place Bisping on a four-fight win streak and he feels that would place him at the top of the middleweight division.
“Well, maybe beating Miller is the guy because I’ve got a big (win) streak,” Bisping said. “I’ve only been beaten once at middleweight. I’ve been around the UFC for a long time, I’ve been beating tough guys consistently for a long time now. I feel like I’m going to get a title shot real, real soon. I’m still improving all the time, I’m dedicated, I work hard, and I feel that my time is now.
“I do get frustrated when I hear ‘Anderson Silva‘s wiped out the middleweight division’, he hasn’t wiped out the middleweight division, he’s got to fight me yet, and I feel like I match up very well with him. I’m not disrespecting Anderson, I think Anderson gladly so is regarded as the pound-for-pound best in the world and I’m a big fan of him. But I feel that I’ll give him a good fight and I feel I might show better against him than some of the other fighters he’s faced.
“So, yeah, hopefully I beat Miller and I do a good job, do it in style, who knows maybe that will get me the title shot. If not, I say definitely one more fight and I should get that shot pretty soon.”
In order to ensure that he’s fully prepared for Miller, Bisping is training in sunny California and while he’s not a hundred-percent sure if his entire camp will stay there, he won’t be taking “Mayhem” lightly in the lead-up to their December headliner.
“I think the plan is we’re going to do a month in California and a month somewhere else,” Bisping said. “A destination yet to be confirmed, but I’ve been taking the fight very seriously and I’ve had a very good fight camp. I’ve been bringing in some very good guys to help me prepare. The reality is, Jason is a tough fighter and I never, ever underestimate anybody and I’ll be training accordingly. The final pieces of the puzzle are just about to be getting put into place right now.
“I’ve been training out in California at the moment, but I’m still very, very much a part of the Wolfslair. The Wolfslair is kind of an international fighting gym now, obviously ‘Rampage’ is out of the States, Cheick Kongo is in the States, and we’re signing other guys that are from the States. Yeah, I’m based in California but who knows where the camps going to be right now.”
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