Michael Bisping: Tim Kennedy Dresses Like A Woman To Get Attention, It’s Embarrassing
Longtime UFC middleweight contender Michael Bisping is currently without a fight after an unfortunate detached retina required him to have surgery, forcing him out of his scheduled UFC Fight Night 30 bout with Mark Munoz. Thankfully he’s healed up well and has been cleared to resume training.
“The Count” was last seen defeating Alan “The Talent” Belcher via technical decision at UFC 159 in April. The fight had a ton of buildup and trash talk but failed to deliver, with Belcher rendered unable to continue after an accidental eye poke.
It went down as a win for Bisping but you can bet he’s itching to put on a much more impressive showing after a tumultuous 2013 also saw him become one of Vitor Belfort’s three headkick victims.
Lately Bisping has been linked to a bout with Tim Kennedy, who even tweeted a trumped-up bout agreement to Dana White in an effort to push Bisping’s buttons and make the bout a reality. Bisping has stated that he would rather fight a more established opponent than Kennedy but will do what the UFC tells him.
The Cyprus-born kickboxer recently sat down for an interview with Bloody Elbow to discuss the whole Kennedy situation:
“He dresses like a woman on a regular basis just to get a bit of attention. It’s just embarrassing. And for the record, I have many times spoken to Joe Silva and Dana White and said, ‘Listen, let me shut this guy up once and for all.’ It comes down to their decision. He keeps going on like it’s me, and that I have the ultimate say so.”
“That decision basically comes down to Joe Silva, and they’re trying to decide if I should waste one of my fight opportunities on a fighter of subpar caliber.”
“They are weighing their options on whether it makes more sense to match me up with a better fighter to make the company more money, or if they should just let me get in there and beat the shit out of him for my own personal satisfaction. I’m hoping they go with the latter, and I get to beat the shit out of him on national TV.”
Bisping has a point when he says the final decision is up to Silva and the UFC matchmakers, because it is. Kennedy can goad and prod Bisping all he wants, but if the UFC doesn’t think it will be a sellable fight, then it doesn’t matter how much trash talk has transpired. We’ll have to wait and see if Bisping ends up fighting the former Army Green Beret.
“The Count” moved onto the hottest topic in MMA right now, that of former middleweight champion Anderson Silva’s gruesome broken leg at UFC 168:
“Weidman was clearly dominating the fight before he broke his leg. It was a shame, and very sad to see Anderson go out like that. Yeah, the leg break was brutal, and when he was carried past me, screaming in pain, my heart went out to him. He’s had such a beautiful career, and that’s just not how you want to go out. At the same time, you’ve got to take your hat off for Chris Weidman and congratulate him.”
Bisping shows a different side of himself in respecting both Silva and Weidman. “The Count” has gained a significant amount of fans in the past couple of years after playing the heel throughout most of his career.
But he’ll need some victories to truly get back into the crowded 185-pound top-five.
The future is uncertain for Bisping with top-level middleweights like Belfort, Lyoto Machida, “Jacare” Souza, and Gegard Mousasi all vying for a coveted title shot. He’ll have to get at least two name wins under his belt to have any chance at putting his name back into title discussion.
Bisping has also said his career will be unfulfilled if he never gets to fight “The Spider.” Nothing has been confirmed, but sources close to Silva have stated that he’ll definitely be back.
Could this be the perfect return bout for Silva should he make it back to the Octagon sometime early next year? Certainly it’s a more attractive proposition than fighting Kennedy, regardless of their back-and-forth. What will 2014 hold for “The Count?”
