The Ultimate Fighter: US vs UK Coach’s Blog – Michael Bisping

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By Michael ‘The Count’ Bisping

Week Three - After a few frustrating days waiting for my visa issue to be cleared up, I was anxious to get going as soon as I landed in Las Vegas.

I didn’t manage to sleep on the flight at all, but I couldn’t sleep when I got to Vegas either so I went to the TUF gym. My team was supposed to be there but had been held up in traffic so when I walked in, Team USA were all in the gym waiting for the van to take them back to the house.

I felt it wasn’t fair for me to wait in the gym while Team USA was there, so I just said hello and went to get a coffee in the kitchen. After a few minutes, two of the Team USA members, Jason and Damarques, came in to fix themselves something and all of a sudden they started talking about this awesome vibe they were getting from each other and how spectacular their training was going.

Fair play to them, they were trying to get inside my head a bit, which is exactly what I would have wanted my team to do if they were there with Henderson.

But, c’mon, it was pretty transparent wasn’t it?

I just said what I saw on the tin: all of that was for my benefit and it was pretty funny how obvious it all was. I laughed and said my Team were going to win and went outside to meet my guys.

Looking at the episode, it was clear I got to them by seeing through their little ruse and laughing.

I had my first training session with my team and, starting as I wanted to go along, we went at it hard. As I said last week, I was determined to have my team be as fit as they could be for every fight. I was also going to be a very ‘hands on’ coach, so I gloved up for some sparring with them.

If you listen closely, you will hear Wolfslair Thai coach Dave Jackson shouting “light and technical” before we started... and then James Wilkes whacked me with a big jab!

Just in case I hadn’t picked up on it before, that made sure I knew James has some serious boxing skills and power.

I remember thinking: “Alright, let’s do this!” and everyone had a great session of sparring. I couldn’t have been more pleased with our first session together. The team were already great friends and they were all gelling together.

The other big topic from this episode was Rob Browning and his antics. All I really heard was that he threw eggs and upset guys on both teams. I didn’t know until I watched the episode that him and Martin “Stapes” Stapleton nearly got into it by the pool table.

“Stapes” is not only a bigger and better fighter than Browning is, he is also a Royal Marine and would have given Browning a bit of a lesson had that situation got out of hand. But I thought Stapes handled himself very well. It had to be hard not to react when you’ve got someone in your face like that, especially on TV because you don’t want to look like you are scared, but Stapes did exactly the right thing. He didn’t back down or let Rob Browning take the piss out of him, but he still kept his composure and was professional.

After missing the first six US eliminators, I was happy I was able to catch the final two.

Jason Dent looked well rounded, as I expected him to after seeing his previous UFC fights. Rob Browning tried to hang in there, but Dent was bigger and had too much for him.

Afterwards, to be honest, I felt sorry for Rob. I know he got drunk and acted crazy to get some camera time, but he’s young and probably thought that it worked for his brother so he’d do the same. I spoke with him after the fight and I thought he was a decent young guy. He was just too small for 155lbs.

What can you say about the other elimination bout, Kiel Reid vs. Frank Lester? Crazy end to a fight. Sitting at the table with Dana and Dan, we couldn’t believe it when Reid knocked himself out by smacking his own face during a slam. Lester won the fight, no question, but I agree Reid beat himself. Unfortunately he was so out of it there was no way he could continue.

Reid probably was winning to that point but he made a massive mistake doing that slam like that.

Actually, I am embarrassed to admit I’ve done slams in the gym and have landed hard on my own head and knocked myself a bit silly. BUT I’ve never actually knocked myself out... and guys on the Underground say I’ve no chin!

Some people think Lester shouldn’t have celebrated the way he did as he won on what could be described as a fluke. I understand that, but at the same time this was the biggest moment in his life, getting into the TUF house, and it is hard to control your emotions sometimes. But you had to feel bad for Reid.

Either way, Team USA was finally assembled and I was as confident as ever Team UK was going to win.

At that moment in time I wasn’t really matching anyone from their team up with any of my guys in my head, especially as Dan won the coin toss and would pick the first fight. But we were ready to start fighting...


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Going off topic for just a minute... as a middleweight contender I feel I have to comment about the performance from Anderson Silva and Thales Leites from the weekend.

My teammate Cheick Kongo had another great win (well done mate!) on the card and I stayed up late to see him in action. I was very happy for him, I know how hard he worked and he richly deserves his success.

But I wasn’t impressed at all with the main event. You never want to disrespect fellow fighters, much less two contesting a UFC world title, but I think both guys should hang their heads in shame, quite honestly. Leites probably won the first two rounds but nothing happened in the fight.

I fought on the first card in Montreal last April, and the Canadians are tremendous supporters of the UFC. They deserved a hell of a lot better than they got from these two. I've seen more aggression from my fiancé when she hits the January sales.

It was very frustrating for me to be sitting on my couch seeing Anderson Silva, who keeps saying how he’s gone through the middleweight division. I would have fought harder than both of them put together, and so would a lot of other middleweights.

****
Finally, I want to say a big ‘thank you’ to Chuck Liddell. If Saturday was the last time we’ll see the Iceman in the Octagon, then he can retire knowing he will be remembered as the Muhammad Ali or Sugar Ray Robinson of MMA.

The guy is a legend, I like him personally, and myself and every mixed martial artist owes the Iceman a big debt of gratitude for paving the way for all of us to compete on the massive stage the UFC is today.

Thank you, Chuck.

For more information on Michael Bisping, visit www.bisping.tv

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