Michael Bisping irked by Aussie disrespect, didn't appreciate taunting

speeds · Jan 25, 2011

Just a note: when somebody uses the phrase "I don't care"-- unless they instantly move on to another topic-- they care. A lot.

With that in mind, here is Michael Bisping's UFC 127 blog.

http://wwos.ninemsn.com.au/article.aspx?id=8201553

Here we go again! In a little over a month, I'll be trekking to Sydney once more and looking to overcome the boos of the audience and the fists of my opponent to grab my third-straight win in the Ultimate Fighting Championship and claim the 22nd victory in my career.

I'm fighting American Jorge Rivera at Acer Arena, on February 27 at UFC 127, and expect nothing less than a resounding victory on Aussie soil.

Training for the fight has been going great so far and I couldn't be happier with my preparation. We have a great reputation at the Wolfslair gym in northern England and have been lucky enough to draft in some extra fighters to help me prepare for this next event.

We've brought in a lot of good Brazilians and ground guys, so my jiujitsu is at a very high level right now and I'm pleased about that.

Rivera's strength is Thai-boxing and, to be honest, there is no shortage of Thai-boxers for me to train with in England. We're known over here for producing good stand-up fighters with solid hands and I don't foresee any problems in terms of being prepared for Rivera. I've got every base covered for this guy.

Because I'm fighting in February, I did have to watch myself over the festive season and closely monitored what I was eating. Although I missed out on desserts, I still enjoyed myself on Christmas Day with my girlfriend and our three kids. Maintaining a strict diet is hardly a big sacrifice to do the sport you love for a living.

In addition to meeting a tough and rugged opponent at UFC 127, I'll also be returning to Sydney and the Australian fans, many of whom don't exactly carry a membership for the "Michael Bisping Fan Club".

At my last appearance Down Under I was booed heavily at Acer Arena at UFC 110 and I'm still clueless as to why.

I didn't really agree with some of the things they were saying and directing at me during my bout against Wanderlei Silva and a lot of it left a bad taste in my mouth.

It's not much fun having 20,000 fans chant "Bisping is a wanker". After the fight, my manager told me about a few other chants some of the audience came up with and some of it was a bit below the belt. A few fans were getting quite offensive and a little personal and I don't think there was any real need for it.

So, initially, I wasn't in any rush to get back out there and fight again in Australia. Why would I be? Not only was I booed at UFC 110, the judges also said I lost my fight against Wanderlei. Even though I maintain I won that fight, the whole experience wasn't exactly enjoyable for me.

At some point last year, though, I had a change of heart and wanted to give Australia another crack. This is another great opportunity to fight as co-main event in a great sold-out arena and I can't wait for it. When the chance was finally offered, I jumped at it.

No matter how the Aussie fans feel about me, Australia is the birthplace of my partner and mother of my three kids. I'm also proud to again be a part of the UFC breaking into a new territory.

I don't know why the Australian fans didn't take to me first time around and, to be honest, I don't really care. I had never said anything bad about them in the lead-up to the fight or disrespected one of their fighters. Perhaps they were all fans of Wanderlei and supported him because he's a legend in the sport.

There is also a lot of rivalry between the English and the Aussies, so perhaps that had something to do with it. Maybe their hate towards me wasn't so much personal, but was purely down to me being English and a little bit confident. Maybe that's a bad combination when you compete in Australia.

I didn't lose too much sleep over it, but I don't think I deserved the reception, either. In fact, given that my girlfriend is Australian, I was sort of hoping they'd be on my side over there. Turns out I was wrong.

Taking into account the fact that England has just hammered Australia in the Ashes, I don't see the reception getting any better second time around, either.

I'm not the biggest cricket fan in the world, but I know how much the victory meant to England and how much it hurt Australia. Even though I never followed it too closely on television, I was aware of what was going around and how well we did thanks to the media.

I'm a supporter of England and I'll always support their sporting endeavours overseas, so it was great to see them do the business out there.
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Michael Bisping irked by Aussie disrespect, didn't appreciate taunting

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