Apr-27-2009
The Ultimate Fighter: US vs UK Coach’s Blog – Michael Bisping
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TapouT TUF 10 Team Rampage Compression Top - Black/Silver
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By Michael ‘The Count’ Bisping
Week Four - Team UK started as we planned on going with a great win in the fight this week, but let’s not get ahead of ourselves.
Now that both teams are finalised, I want to say a few words about my assistant coaches for this season. Actually, as I said on the show, my “assistants” are actually my coaches at the Wolfslair, Mario “Sucata” Neto and Dave Jackson.
I had to pick Dave and Mario, not only because I like and respect them so much but also because they deserve to be recognised for all the help they’ve given me, and continue to give me, in my own career. UFC veteran Mario is one of the best BJJ practitioners there is, but more than that he is a great MMA coach - he knows striking, transitions, wrestling, everything, and I knew he would improve the team as fighters immediately.
Dave is head striking coach for the Wolfslair and his all-round MMA knowledge is second to none. He’s not just a boxing or kickboxing instructor, he’s a full MMA coach as well. He develops great strategies and he can take any fighter and make rapid refinements, which is obviously what is needed for TUF.
I’ve got a great relationship with them both, and I was proud to have them in Vegas with me.
As you saw in the episode, I made good on my promise to ensure my team were at peak fitness. The footage of us running through Vegas was taken early in the morning. Basically, each team had two sessions in the gym later in the day so, in order to make sure Team UK were getting their cardio in but without affecting their ability to train in the gym, we ran at 8am.
Some people were surprised I was going to the house at 8am to run with them, but that’s the kind of coach I wanted to be. Plus, under the rules, Team UK – or Team USA for that matter – couldn’t leave the house except with me or to be taken to the gym. So if I didn’t run with them, they’d not be running at all.
Without me going there and actually getting my guys, they would have no roadwork, and as a coach that wasn’t an option.
As far as I know, Dan didn’t take his team out running or doing any cardio except what my team dubbed “Ultimate Frisbee”, which I think says it all. That was Team USA’s cardio training.
While we were running, Dave and Mario were in the TUF house preparing breakfast. Then we’d train in the gym later in the day.
I had heard from my guys that Team USA didn’t get along, but I was still shocked to see them bitching at each other to such a degree this early on.
Jason Dent should be commended for trying to be professional and pointing out they needed to train together and fight Team UK, but I think you could see he was dealing with a couple of immature fools.
No, MMA isn’t a team sport, and when I was on TUF 3 I wasn’t there for Team Ortiz, I was there for Michael Bisping and Michael Bisping’s family, but I also understood that Team Ortiz were the only people I could train with. They were the only people I had to push me on and help me prepare for my fights, so it kinda goes without saying that we needed to get along and support each other.
Team USA don’t seem to get that, and they looked a little pathetic moaning here.
It was even funnier seeing them bitch about me. I wasn’t even giving them that much grief, and in fact they started giving me some crap, but for some reason, they couldn’t take it when I fired a few zingers back at them.
They were getting all misty-eyed and emotional at any little thing I said. If they can’t take a joke or a comment from an opponent without getting all emotional, they need to go try another sport.
I don’t want to alienate myself further from my American fan base – if indeed such a thing still exists – but the concept of the show was USA v UK and I was playing my part and taking it seriously. I love America, I spend a lot of time there, but the way the two teams were divided were along national lines and I was having fun with that.
Likewise, I respect Dan and what he’s done in his great career, and I understand his gracious sentiment of “I’ll do my talking in the ring” but, ahem, he did sign up for a 12 week TV series. As far as I understood it, talking is kinda an important part of this audio-visual medium we call “television” but if things were left to Dan, TUF 9 would have had to been broadcast as a silent movie.
One of the few times Dan woke up was to moan about his team making weight “three times” for the fight whereas my team had enjoyed two weeks between their eliminator and the first fight. Dan was certainly getting his excuses in early here.
No.1: my team did get two weeks between their eliminators and this first fight because they had a trans-Atlantic journey in between and it was only fair they had time to adjust to the time, altitude and climate in Vegas.
No.2: as a result my team had to hover around fight week for an extra two weeks, which the Americans did not
No.3 – ONE member of Team USA – Miller – had to make weight twice close together. One eliminator and one fight makes two times, not three as Dan tried to say.
As for the fight with Nick taking on Miller, I was happy with the match and thought right away that Nick could win this. Miller probably was one of the most dangerous Americans, but he was a one-dimensional boxer who telegraphed his shots and Dan completely underestimated Nick.
Both guys produced a great fight, but I felt that Nick was always a step ahead on both the feet and on the ground. He followed the gameplan very well, and even executed a nice hip-toss which I had only shown him two days before, which tells you just how good a student he is.
If Team USA had spent less energy playing the world’s lamest pranks and bitching like a bunch of tarts on the Sarah Jessica Parker Show, maybe Miller would have had the energy to keep his hands by his face and block the kick that sparked him out.
It was a great fight, Miller showed up to fight and the fight was a war. They both did themselves proud and proved they wanted that UFC contract bad.
But in the end, a great job, Nick.
For those who didn’t notice, Team USA were writing daft messaged like “Cheerio” which they seemed to think was a slight on the Brits. I was very happy to shout “Cheerio!” at them after Team UK had gone 1-0 up.
But it was only the first fight, and I knew Henderson, the competitor that he is, would come back in the next fight and try to equalise.
For more information on Michael Bisping, visit www.bisping.tv
Also check out other Team UK blogs
Andre Winner blog:
http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/sport/ufc/article2392782.ece
Ross Pearson blog:
http://blogs.telegraph.co.uk/rosspearson/blog/2009/04/23/ultimate_fighter_9_team_usa_vs_team_uk
Jeff Lawson blog:
http://blogs.mirror.co.uk/wrestling-wwe-ufc-mma/2009/04/tuf-9-blog-episode-3.html
Dean Amasinger blog:
http://uk.eurosport.yahoo.com/23042009/58/ufc-exclusive-dean-amasinger-blog-4.html
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