DUBAI // Michael Bisping, the UFC Middleweight champion, believes he still has a few fights left in him before he hangs up his boot – but the Briton insists he has no plans for a rematch with Dan Henderson.
A bloodied Bisping, 37, defeated Henderson by a unanimous decision at UFC 204 in Manchester on October 8 to defend the title he had first won in June, at UFC 199 in California, by knocking out champion Luke Rockhold in the first round.
Henderson, however, has been unable to “reconcile” with the decision of the judges in Manchester that night and believes he had won the bout. And, “for the right money”, the 46-year-old American is willing to come out of retirement for a third fight with Bisping – the first took place in 2009, at UFC 100, and Henderson won by KO.
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Bisping, however, is not interested and he said: “Henderson .. oh, that’s done. That’s done.
“If he is upset he should have tried actually fighting me more because from what I saw, apart from the two big punches that he landed – he landed a good one in the first round, he landed a good one in the second round – the other 23 and a half minutes, he was a human punchbag.
“So, if he is upset, he has got only himself to be upset at. He can go and stew on that in his retirement, can’t he?”
Bisping was in Dubai as a special guest for the grand opening of the UFC Gym, the first flagship facility to open doors in the Middle East, and between posing for selfies with his fans and signing autographs, he spoke to reporters about the challenges of being the first Englishman in the UFC, continued his war-of-words with Chris Weidman and spoke about world heavyweight boxing champion Tyson Fury’s self-inflicted woes.
Michael Bisping Q&A
q You were the first English fighter in the UFC main event and now you are the first British fighter to win a UFC championship. How do you look back at the journey?
a When I started doing this, nobody knew what the sport was. Now fortunately, the sport has come a long, long way. People know what it is and it gets the respect and the credit that it deserves. But when I first started, people thought I was a maniac. Now fortunately, things have changed. People know what we do, they know we are athletes, it's a real sport. So yeah, it was hard work at the start.
q You defended your title in Manchester. How was that experience of fighting for the title at home?
a Oh, it was unbelievable. My last fight, it was less than two weeks ago and the arena sold out in just six minutes. I think that's just unbelievable. It's one of the greatest experiences of my life. The crowds were absolutely deafening and yeah, it was just an amazing experience. The support that I've had from the UK is just mind-blowing, it really is.
q So you believe you have set down a legacy for more Brits to come through?
a I hope so. I don't see why not. I know I am the first, but I can't see why there wouldn't be a lot more. We have always done well in the combat sport field. Right now, the UK is dominating the heavyweight boxing scene. So I don't see why I am not going to be the first of many.
q Talking about the heavyweight boxing scene in the UK, what are your thoughts on Tyson Fury?
a Tyson Fury is a strange individual, so I think we will leave it at that. He says a lot of silly things. I think he is going through some tough things mentally right now. I saw what he said and I kind of understood him a little bit because it is hard in our position. We have to deal with a lot of criticism. So people deal with it a lot better than others. Obviously, he's struggling a little bit right now, but he doesn't help himself either. He says a lot of dumb things. But I wish him the best.
q Coming back to UFC, do you believe you could you have been a world champion earlier?
a Yeah, yeah. If they had started drug-testing people a lot earlier, I could have been, yeah. Now they drug test people randomly and all off a sudden, I am world champion. People are not taking steroids anymore. People are not cheating anymore. I haven't changed one bit, but a lot of people are changing. Their physiques are changing. They are losing muscle or they are getting caught, getting suspended.
q You have already defended your title once. What are your plans moving forward?
a In my division, there is no shortage of worthy contenders. So I certainly have my hands full. There's actually some developments in the air. While I was flying here, Dana White, the president [of UFC], was texting me. I can't say anything right now, but I think we are going to have some pretty big headlines very, very soon. I have some very interesting text messages on my phone.
q You have said in a perfect world you would have three more fights before retirement. In a perfect world, who would those three fights be against?
a Probably, Georges St-Pierre, Chris Weidman and Luke Rockhold.
q But Weidman has told Fox Sports, "I get Bisping, that's an easy day ... it might be one of my easiest fights I've had in years". Your thoughts?
a He said that about me? Yeah, yeah, it would be so easy to beat me, the guy that knocked out the person [Rockhold at UFC 194] that destroyed him. Luke Rockhold beat Chris Weidman pretty easy and I just knocked Rockhold out.
Look, Weidman is probably a decent guy. He seems like a nice enough guy. But he can keep telling himself that. I ain’t an easy fight for anybody. Do I look like an easy fight to you? You want to fight me? I ain’t an easy fight pal, not for anyone.
q How do you look back at your career? Happy the hard work has eventually paid off?
a Yeah – the hard work, determination a bit of good luck here and there. I have worked my [tail] off because I am just an average guy that is not athletically gifted. Far from it. I wasn't any kind of athlete when I was in school. I wasn't even on the football team; I had two left feet. But with a bit of hard work, determination and work ethic, you can make something of yourself and you can become something. Hopefully, that is the lesson I have shown people.
q Finally, do you believe this new UFC Gym in Dubai can produce UFC champions of the future?
a Oh, absolutely. If you saw the gym where I used to train in, in comparison to this, this is an amazing state-of-the-art facility. The gym where I used to train, there was a leak in the roof, there was ice on the mats in the winter, there was no shower. It was a very, very humble gym. I don't think gym is the correct word to describe it. But yes, facilities like this might work in creating champions.
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