By Gareth A Davies, Telegraph
Michael Bisping says he’s going “all in” on Cung Le this weekend in Macau, that the Vietnamese mixed martial arts star is “a phony” and that it is win or bust for his career.
Michael Bisping (L) with his opponent Cung Le (R) during the Macao UFC Fight Night Press Conference at the Four Season Hotel on June 24, 2014 in Hong Kong, Hong Kong. (Photo by Jayne Russell/Getty Images)
“This is a must-win fight for me. I have to prove to the UFC, I have to prove to the fans, and I have to prove to myself that I’m still an elite fighter who can go on, get some wins over contenders, and fight for the UFC title,” said Bisping.
“My last fight against Tim Kennedy sucked – it was the worst performance of my life. Kennedy had a gameplan to hold me down and he executed that gameplan well. In hindsight, I should never have accepted a fight just seven weeks after getting cleared to return to the gym after my eye injury.”
“Yes, I was anxious to get back in there and earn my first paycheck in over a year but, with hindsight, I needed several months in the gym getting rid of ringrust. Instead, I made a huge mistake in taking on a wrestler like Kennedy without putting the work in – and I paid for it.”
“But I’ve never lost two in a row in my life, and I don’t plan to. I’ve been fighting high-level competition for the last six, seven years. But I don’t want to be one of the guys in the top 10, who wins a few and loses a few, I want to be No.1 and I want to fight for the UFC title.”
“My back is against the wall in terms of making that happen. I need to win to prove that I’m not just some fighter with a name who is fighting here and there for paydays. My record over my last six fights is win one, lose one, win one, lose one, and that’s just not good enough for what I want to do in my career.”
Bisping assessed Le as a fighter. “He’s got good power, he’s a great striker if he can keep it long (at a distance) but he’s got nothing against the cage. He’s got no stamina, either. But he’s very dangerous if you let him do what he does best.”
But Bisping questioned Le’s motivation. “Listen, Cung Le is basically back in the UFC to boost his brand and remind everybody of his existence. He hasn’t fought in a couple of years, so I’m guessing his profile has dipped, he’s probably not getting too many embarrassing kung-fu movie offers right now and – probably worst of all for him – Channing Tatum has stopped retweeting him.
Read the full article by Gareth A Davies from Telegraph.
