Interviews
02/09/09 - Exclusive: Mike Bisping talks Kang and Hendo
Michael Bisping just got back off his summer holidays days after it was announced by Dana White that he would be facing Denis Kang at UFC 105. Fighters Only managed to get him on the phone last night for a chat about his last fight and his next one…
FO: Hey Mike, thanks for talking to us. I gather you’re only just back off holiday?
Yeah, I was in Malaysia and went over to Thailand for a few days from there. I didn’t do any training this time, I wasn’t there long enough. This time was just a vacation, get away with the family for a bit.
FO: Nice. So can we jump in at the deep end and talk about the Hendo fight? Was that the first KO you have ever received, including sparring and everything?
Yeah first time ever. But there’s a first time for everything! (laughs). When I first came round I was a bit dazed, but soon afterwards I was up and about and able to drown my sorrows.
FO: Has it had a psychological effect do you think, have you found it playing on your mind since then?
Obviously I was disappointed, I had spent pretty much the entire year training for that fight. I trained really hard for that fight but it didn’t work out on the night. Fair play to Dan Henderson, he did a good job, did what he had to do and he took me out. Afterwards I was disappointed but you know, it happens to the best of us doesn’t it? I suppose it had to happen some time.
No excuses from me, I had a fantastic camp and the Wolfslair did a great job. I had a great camp in England and in the USA. And myself, all my coaches, everyone involved was very confident going into the fight. But, it just wasn’t to be.
FO: I hope you won’t take offence if I say I thought you looked well off-form against Henderson? It looked like you were undecided about how to engage him.
I don’t know, to be honest I am not sure what happened. I sparred some big tough guys preparing for the fight and I wasn’t getting my arse kicked but I went out there and… I don’t know, it just wasn’t my night. It was a bad night at the office, I am just putting it down to that really.
I went out there and it was a load of shit (laughs). There’s no point beating around the bush, it wasn’t my finest hour. For someone like Dan Henderson you have to bring your A-game and I didn’t do that on the night.
FO: Did the heavy booing you received from the Las Vegas crowd unsettle you at all?
To be honest I was fully expecting to get booed. It was the culmination of The Ultimate Fighter show and I was fighting the American hometown guy. I was fully expecting it and I was cool with that. Obviously when I have fought guys in England they have been booed, so its only fair that I should be on the receiving end some time I suppose.
FO: Do you even notice that kind of thing when you are walking in or are you so focussed it passes you by?
You notice it. You can’t not notice 20,000 people booing you, can you? [laughs].
It doesn’t really affect you. Don’t get me wrong, I am looking forward to when I fight in Manchester getting a good reception from the crowd because it does spur you on, but walking out I felt fine. I felt very focussed, all it did was made me more determined to prove them wrong. Although obviously that didn’t happen.
FO: So, you’ve got Denis Kang next, at UFC 105. What are your thoughts?
I think he’s a good test. I wanted to fight someone decent after Henderson because as I said, I had a great camp and I feel improved as a fighter in all departments. I wanted to prove that to the world but I didn’t, I went out there and got knocked out. So for my next fight I wanted a top name and get right back up there. I didn’t want to take a step down in opponent.
Originally I was going to fight Wanderlei [Silva] as I’m sure you know, but he had surgery so it wasn’t to be. They came up with Denis Kang and I felt great. He is well respected, very good skillset, very good all-round fighter. MMA fans that are knowledgeable, that have followed the sport outside the UFC, will know him well and will know he is a tough test for anyone.
FO: Have you started putting a plan together for the fight?
No, we’ll start this week. We’ll get together at the Wolfslair and start organising the camp. I’ve watched footage of him off the internet but I’ll get some footage off the UFC and really start analysing him.
But I’ve only literally just come back off holiday right now. Which is good actually, as I have always overtrained for every fight I have ever had and going away on holiday hasn’t allowed me to do that. The Kang fight is about ten and half weeks away now, and a ten-week training camp is about right I think.
FO: Are you into watching tape of your opponents? Some guys do, some don’t. Gegard Mousasi was saying recently he avoids doing so, as he starts to respect his opponent too much.
I normally watch a bit every day. I suppose sometimes I can get a bit obsessive [laughs]. But every single fight I call the UFC and ask for footage of my opponent and I watch it closely. What patterns has he got, what submissions does he like to go for? What style of wrestling does he like to use.
I think it is very beneficial to know as much about your opponent as you can. I can see what Mousasi is saying, you might end up respecting him too much, but that’s where you have to have your self-belief.
FO: Actually Nate Marquardt says he watched a lot of tape on Maia prior to their fight at the weekend, have you seen it yet? He caught him with a perfect right hand because he recognised Maia was about to kick.
I haven’t seen it yet, I was away at the weekend. I’ve heard it was quick, I looked on Sherdog straight away for the results and it said 21 seconds. Maia is good but with respect, I thought he was a little too one-dimensional for Marquardt. I wasn’t surprised by the result but it was quicker than I thought.
But there you go, by watching tapes you can have a fair idea of what your opponent is about and what sort of things he does.
FO: We spoke to Denis Kang this week and he said that he considers you a good all-rounder. He also said it doesn’t whether you are coming off a win or a loss, he is going to "beat his ass anyway". Although he added that it’s nothing personal.
Excellent, good stuff. He has hit the nail on the head really, none of its personal. But as for it not making a difference about me losing my last fight, it does for me and I am planning on doing just that.
Obviously he has to have confidence in himself or else he would be in the wrong business, so I don’t take it personally anything he said there. More power to him. I just hope he trains hard and we put on a good show for the fans in Manchester.
FO: Rashad Evans was the first loss of your career. What effect did that have on you in terms of preparing for the next fight?
After the fight with Rashad, I had to think about what I could do to improve. There were a few things I was doing wrong that I had to address. Number one thing was fighting in the wrong weight class, so I went to middleweight.
FO: So you’re going to welterweight now? [laughs]
Ha, no. I am definitely at middleweight. But who knows, I might go back to light-heavyweight in the future. I think there is some good fights for me there.
FO: Have you adjusted to middleweight$?
Well, every time I go too light. I think I get so obsessed with making weight that I starve myself so much, I end up depriving myself of nutrients while training, which isn’t beneficial. But I am working with a nutritionist now, this time I plan on coming in a little heavier.
Thanks for talking to us Mike, all the best.
John Joe O’Regan
John.fightersonly@gmail.com
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