EXCLUSIVE ChokeHimOut Interview: Michael Bisping
Interviews
Interviews
Recently ChokeHimOut.com caught up with UFC middleweight fighter and "Ultimate Fighter" season 3 winner, Michael "The Count" Bisping. We found Bisping to be a friendly, humble guy with a great passion for the sport of MMA. Read on to learn how he got his start fighting in bare knuckle matches as a teenager, his thoughts on his new found fame and his plans for the future.
C.H.O: Right now MMA is exploding on the scene and fast becoming a household name. How do you feel the sport has changed since you started fighting?
MB: Well I suppose, you know, it's changed in popularity. When I started to fight mixed martial arts, a lot of people didn't really know what it was. You know my first professional fight, I prepared so much for it you know. But these days now, more people know what the sport is and what it's about. I mean they watch the UFC in England, and around the world. It's still in it's infancy so to speak over here but it has come an extremely long way. I think now that fighters are regarded as athletes and fighters alongside boxers.
C.H.O: Lets back up a bit, as a kid you trained in jiu jitsu. What lead you to train in the martial arts and jiu jitsu specifically?
MB: Well, I always enjoyed physical sports. You know anything physical mainly to be honest. I always loved martial arts and anything physical. I was a big Jean Claude Van Damme fan as a kid. My brother started going along to a jiu jitsu class and I didn't even know there was one. So I tagged along with him as brothers tend to do and probably annoyed the hell out of him. But I fell in love with it. You know I just loved it and I stuck it out and after a while got a black belt and stuff and moved on to kick boxing.
C.H.O: As a child growing up, did you get into a lot of street fights?
MB: Well yeah, I had enough, unfortunately. I was never the type of guy you know who would back away from a fight. I didn't go out starting trouble, but I may have been in one or two too many fights. Sorry I'm just being honest.
C.H.O: Is it true that you fought your first MMA fight at age 15?
MB: In England we didn't really call it mixed martial arts back then, but we have a tournament in the east called "Knock-Down Sport". It's not big in the world of mixed martial arts, but it was bare knuckles as well. Yeah I did that 2 or 3 times a year the first few years. I was fighting in them obviously and most of the time I won them as well.
C.H.O: Now you've been fighting for the UFC since 2006. What would you consider your toughest fight since joining the UFC?
MB: Ah my last two fights I fought were very tough, you know Mat Hamill and Rashad Evans were both very tough. They were both very strong wrestlers and both very strong people. So I would suppose that those two were my toughest fights. I suppose wrestlers are kind of like kryptonite to English fighters because we don't have strong wrestling. You really have to work hard to find a good wrestling coach, because there really just isn't many around. So yeah I mean wrestling is not natural for me but hey, my record has really improved now. But obviously my last fight I lost, that was my first loss so I suppose I would have to go with that. They were both tough fighters.
C.H.O: What was the deciding factor for you in dropping down to middleweight?
MB: I wasn't small for the division but after starting professionally, a lot of people around me, you know the ultimate fighters from UFC and in the UK, said I should try it anyway cause I can make the weight. I was going to try my normal weight. People said I should drop to middleweight now because a lot of heavyweights are huge you know, which they are, to be honest. But you know I won my first fight. Then I won my second time and third time and I thought 'well I'll keep going until I lose one' and then I'll drop down because I had to finally drop down at some point and I thought it's not fair while I'm still winning the fight. I thought, "I can I beat Rashad." He's a top 5 guy undefeated fighter at light heavyweight. If I beat him, then what's point in dropping down? I needed to keep going and see how far I got. So I said to myself 'I'm going to keep going until lose one' and that Rashad fight was hard and I lost the fight. He got the win so I decided to move down. To be honest it's the best thing I have ever done. My performance is so much better. I'm eating a better diet, my body is performing better. I'm gaining less weight so I am faster and I just happen to be more disciplined, you know, and perhaps reap the benefits.
C.H.O: I'm sure you watched UFC 82 the other night. What were your thoughts on the Dan Henderson / Anderson Silva fight?
MB: Yeah, I saw most of it. Well I mean you know obviously Silva has peaked, he is without a doubt the best middle weight in the world you know. He was fantastic. The fight didn't end the way I thought it was going to go. I thought the whole fight was going to play out where Dan Henderson would take him down and control him in the clinch and get the decision. But you know Anderson Silva obviously was very frustrated at the end of the first round and came out fighting. He came out letting his hands and feet go and dropped him and got the submission. I think he's proved he's the best and he is going to be a hard one to beat.
C.H.O: Do you think that Silva is beatable?
MB: Everybody's beatable you know. You know you're a fighter so all fighters need to win, 'I've got the plan you know?' I just dropped to this weight class so it's probably too early to be talking anything like that, you know? Yeah, yeah everyone's beatable.
C.H.O: What are your feelings on your upcoming fight with Charles McCarthy?
MB: I want to fight. It kind of feels like it's been a while, although talking in UFC terms it's not that long. I'm looking forward to the fight. Like I said it's my first one in middleweight so it's a bit of a fresh challenge and the best scenario is that it works out for the best. I know Charles McCarthy trains at the American Top Team and they have a lot of black belts down there. He is a great jiu jitsu guy. You know, I train with a lot of black belts myself and I've rolled with black belts a long time and never had any trouble, so I'm not too upset about it really. I think I've got the edge in stand up so I don't know. I mean, I hope he's training hard and he comes fighting hard and we put a great fight on for the fans. I'm hoping to knock him out.
C.H.O: How are you training for the McCarthy fight? Are you training a lot of stand up, ground or both?
MB: I mean I always train the same way, you know, I just try to train every fight to improve my overall game. I train my jiu jitsu, striking and weight lifting a lot.
C.H.O: Can you walk me through your thoughts minutes before you fight and as you enter the octagon?
MB: I just try to think about why I'm doing this and, you know, I'm doing this to provide for my family. I've never been to college and such and I never really knew how I was going to give my family a good life, so that is why I do this. I remember my first ever pro-fight, I was backstage and I thought to myself, 'I've got to beat this guy, I will beat this guy'. This is, you know, my first pro-fight so I'm not really sure. I thought how the hell am I going to go on to get into the UFC?
When I got to the Ultimate Fighter finale, I thought 'well I've got to win this fight for my family because I need that contract', so I'd better win this fight if I want to get, you know, closer and closer. So I think about my family and the reason why I am doing this. I look at my opponent and think they are trying to take away from my family and you know, it sounds corny and a bit cheesy but that's just the way it works. I think, well I need to beat this guy, you know and my family is going to have a better life and this guy is trying to take it away so you know I just go at the guy.
C.H.O: Since the Ultimate Fighter, do you get recognized most everywhere you go?
MB: To be honest yea. I don't think I'm famous or anything, some people here think I'm famous but to be honest, I do get recognized a lot. I think it's a sign of a draw for the sport as opposed to me being particularly famous. It's just a sport I'm involved in that's getting bigger. But yeah, you know anywhere I go there are people who come up whether it's shopping or if I'm at the airport or just whatever, they come up to you and want an autograph and a picture. It seems nice. You know, I work hard so it's nice to get that recognition I suppose.
C.H.O: Do people on the street or at bars challenge you or try to get you to fight?
MB: No, I think, you know, I think it's completely the opposite. You know you get these so-called tough guys, you know. But a lot of these tough-guys know it's worse in the UFC, so I think they kind of know what I do when they come up to me. To be honest, I'd say it's a lot less, you know, they just want to come up and shake my hand and I think they know. They just want to come up and shake my hand and get a picture.
C.H.O: I read you have two children and you're married. Would you allow your children to participate in mixed martial arts?
MB: Well, I asked my son you know, what he wants to do when he gets older and he said "The same as you daddy, I want to be a fighter". So that's what he wants to do. You know, he loves it, I take him to Thai boxing and jiu jitsu on Friday night and he loves doing that. But I always say to him he'd better go to university and get an education. I mean yeah he wants to do it and I'm training him up now. I show him a couple of little things here and there nothing drastic and he enjoys it, you know, I'm just showing him a couple of little things that goes along. If that's what he wants to do when he gets older, well that's great, but he is going to have to go out and get an education and qualification to do something else. If he wants to do that, then unfortunately for him, I will train his little ass off so he's not going in there unprepared. So unfortunately he needs to be prepared for a long hard road.
C.H.O: Would you like to say anything to your fans about your upcoming fight or your website?
MB: Okay yea, I'd just like to say thanks to all the fight fans for their support, it's really overwhelming you know for a normal guy from a normal background. This sport and the fans really just blow me away, so thanks to them. I would like to thank all my sponsors at Tapout, Affliction and Premier Security. If you want to know more about what I've been up to you can check it out on my website and hopefully stop by and buy some official merchandise while you're there. www.bisping.tv
Article by Tuesday on Mar 08, 2008