Issue 096

December 2012

Is UFC middleweight Michael Bisping’s revitalized career really all down to his departure from the UK and arrival in the US? FO found out on the beaches of SoCal.

Brilliant Southern California sunshine on his face, shades and shorts on, Michael Bisping sits at the wheel of his SUV, heading to the Ultimate Training Center in Huntington Beach. It is only days after his victory over Brian Stann at UFC 152 in Canada. Where once this would be the start of a lengthy lay-off, he can’t wait to get back in the gym.

The lifestyle change for the 33-year-old since moving to the US, and his ambition to improve as a fighter and a person, are inextricably linked to making the final assault of his career on the UFC middleweight title, and the prospect of the ultimate challenge: 25 minutes in the Octagon against MMA’s own GOAT – Anderson ‘The Spider’ Silva.

 Now 23-4, and 5-1 in his last six fights, Bisping reveals in an exclusive interview with Fighters Only that 18 months ago – then living in the Lancashire town of Clitheroe in the North West England, UK – a return to training would have been on the back-burner. Instead, Bisping offers FO unrivaled access into his life at his new base in the Anaheim Hills, in Orange County, disclosing a sea of change in his attitude, his methods and his outlook for the future.

The ‘Americanization’ of Bisping approaches completion: his fighting methods have a roundedness about them that only total immersion in North America’s finest MMA academies can bring. And he has also changed as a person, bringing with it a perceptible PR switch from British bad-boy heel, to top-tier fighter suffused by the SoCal lifestyle. 

Gone are the trans-Atlantic training camps, the icy mornings in Widnes – 

a nondescript town in between the northern working-class cities of Liverpool and Manchester. They have been replaced by the long, sunny days. Where once he played on the swaggering malcontent, the stereotype of the gangster from Snatch, a more polished image has presented itself in 2012. 

Bisping earned respect for his contest against Chael Sonnen in January, then he held off the power of Brian Stann in September, and was classy in both victory and defeat. Underlying all of this, moreover, has been his new-found ability to fight smart. 

Bisping has fought three times since his switch across the Atlantic, lock, stock and barrel, with his girlfriend Rebecca and their three children. And the evidence of its success has been there for all to see. “Living in Orange County, in the Anaheim Hills, there’s training at my fingertips, and I’m able to work and learn all year round,” Bisping says. “My ground game overall has gone up leaps and bounds – as has my wrestling, and my boxing.

“It sounds strange to say, but training is easy. I don’t really go away for training camp. I go for a run in the morning, I come back and Becki, my girlfriend, makes me breakfast. Then I go to the gym, I come home for lunch, we’ll have lunch together, I’ll chill and sleep, play with the kids and go and train again in the evening.

“When I was back in England I just did my training camp then I had a few months off, then I’d do another training camp. Having that consistency means improvement in all areas.” 

Bisping noted the difference living in Las Vegas has made to the fighting philosophy of fellow British fighter Dan Hardy, after watching his last outing on the UFC on Fuel TV card in Nottingham late in September. “Training in the US, you have another avenue to go down. If you face a striker, it’s smart to mix it up. Strike, strike, wrestle. We saw that with Dan Hardy recently. He was using his brain against Amir Sadollah,” observes Bisping. 

That completeness in style of fighting – arguably which sways judges, too – is being used by Bisping to great effect also. “There’s so many elite wrestlers and a lot of good wrestling coaches out here which is the difference from being in the UK. There are so many that I can just go to for technical advice. If you’re training out here and not improving your wrestling there is something wrong. You wouldn’t be addressing the correct areas.” Bisping explained that he can step seamlessly from local wrestling clubs, high schools and colleges to the Ultimate Training Center, on Huntington Beach. “You’re spoiled for choice, in many ways,” he explains.

He reveals that after his fight with Stann, he was missing training. He admits: “I’m not being funny, but I was bored out my head already. I had to go down to the gym to train. I’d nothing to do, no fight lined up and I just feel like my life’s slipping away and I’ve got nothing to do with my life.

 “I’ve got money in the bank but what am I supposed to do just go around spending money all day like a f**king idiot? You can only go out for lunch with your girlfriend so many times. So I need to find something to do. I want to fight again ASAP.” Call it blind ambition. And, of course, thoughts of matching up with Anderson Silva.  

California dreaming 

The switch from his home in rain-sodden Lancashire to living the American dream, the SoCal lifestyle, that radical change in his environment, Bisping admits, has changed his outlook on life and fighting. “It’s chalk and cheese,” he says, gazing out of the window of his SUV into the rich California afternoon. “People walk around – especially in the summertime – nearly naked, just with a little vest or shorts on or whatever, and people want to be in shape. I spend a lot of time at the gym.

 “Often, in England, after a fight I wouldn’t be in the gym for a long time because I had to travel so far to get to the gym. It took up the whole day to go and train. Here, the gym is just around the corner. On a Friday morning, I can walk just across the street to do a very, very good jiu-jitsu class. I’ll get a light sweat on and I’ll be back home for 11:30am and I’ve already done a good hour of jiu-jitsu with a very good guy.

“When you go out to eat in the North West of England the things on the menu aren’t quite as good for you as they are out here. Here there are very healthy menus with a lot of fruit and vegetables. In England you’re looking at pie, chips (thick-cut fries) and gravy!”  

And kebabs in the evening, washed down by ale, I remind him. “Oh, yeah,” he says, like a paean to two long-lost friends. “Kebabs in the evening, exactly. Although I do miss a kebab in the evening sometimes (laughs).”

It pertains, however, to the rub of culture, a career choice, and, for Bisping, it’s the synergy of work – and play – which stretches out before him, with the backdrop of the warmth and sunlight California is renowned for. “And it’s not just that,” he adds. “All my friends here are in the MMA business; we all train or teach mixed martial arts. So, for example, I’m going down today for a light training session at Huntington Beach, but I’m also going down to see my friends.

“We’ll hang out and go and train and then we’ll swing by at a café along the beach and bulls**t for an hour. I’ll probably have a nice omelet, watch the world go by, and have a couple of coffees. Whereas all my friends in England, I have nothing in common with things like that.

“Don’t get me wrong, they’re all fantastic childhood friends, but the only thing we had in common there was going out and having a few beers. You know, they are either mechanics or builders. Here all my friends are in the fitness industry so that’s a bonus as well.”

Bisping reflects on the changes. “I was watching the first Rocky movie a few weeks ago, where he’s training for the fight against Apollo Creed. He sets his alarm for four in the morning and he gets up and he’s running through the pitch black. I said to my mom, ‘That used to be me, that; running in the freezing cold,’ and in some ways I do miss it because it is character-building and the rest of it. But, you know… the sun is shining over here. A morning run is so different. The weather does make it more pleasurable to go to the gym.

“We get sunshine in the cage and we have to open the doors because it’s so hot. In England, we used to get ice on the mats. When somebody was showing a technique you’d all stop and then you’d start training again and your ligaments would cool down and people would tear ligaments and muscles. It just didn’t make it pleasurable; your toes are freezing cold. Not having to deal with that makes it a lot more pleasurable, as you’re spending a lot of time on the mat so it obviously has an impact on your life.”

The lifestyle, Bisping believes, has also improved for his family. “We were always a close family back home but the one thing we would always complain about was the weather because you couldn’t do many outdoor activities, you couldn’t just go for a walk by the river. It’s easier here,” he concedes, as we pull up to the sand and the beach.

“We come to the beach a lot. Or we’ll go to the park and take the dog for a walk by the lake. Obviously, there’s many, many things you can do out here. In California, they say you can go to the beach in the morning and go snowboarding in the evening, and you can. You can drive to the top of Big Bear in two hours and there’s so much more to do. Overall, it’s just a healthier lifestyle.

 “Again, I’m not saying the people in England aren’t healthy, I’m just saying that generally the people over here take care of themselves a little bit more. Definitely more than the North West of England – let’s put it that way.”

The Bisping family pooch, named Ditto, flew out last year to join the rest of the family. “Yeah, we all flew out – as well as the dog. Ditto’s flight alone was about three grand! 

“When I go out for a run I’m calling him, ‘Ditto’ – and everybody thinks I’m shouting Tito. We couldn’t decide on a name when we got him and the name on his papers was Ditto Van Norton, who was apparently a very famous show dog from Germany.”

He adds: “We live in a guarded community, it’s a lovely little place in the Anaheim Hills, surrounded by mountains and foothills. It’s a nice quiet place, great for the kids. There’s really good schools and lots of nice people. It’s about 30 minutes from the beach, about 20 miles away.

“My son has just started swimming lessons, and we are about to start having surfing lessons together too. I surfed once, in South Wales, in Swansea, and it was freezing. I can’t really surf but it’s fun trying. We’re very lucky. We have a lovely pool and a Jacuzzi at home. It’s great for the kids. There’s a big water feature and slide going down past the rocks into the water.

“Don’t get me wrong, I love England, I always will. But the amount of opportunity out here professionally is so much bigger. I had no idea how different it would be. Whenever my friends come to stay with me, we’ll sit and watch the UFC at five or six in the evening, we’ll watch it and have a civilized beer and a barbecue.

“They’ll be 15 to 20 of us by the pool in the garden watching the fights on the big TV, with the kids there and then we’ll go to bed. In England, people have got to stay up until three to four in the morning and I think that’s part of why it’s still yet to go that next step. To follow the sport properly you’ve got to stay up until stupid o’clock in the morning, and I think that’s hurting MMA’s development.

“But we love it out here, you know. We’re happy. I’ve got a great group of people around me. It sounds like a cliché, but they say healthy body equals a healthy mind. Well, it’s who you surround yourself with and I’m surrounded by good people who like to look after themselves.” 

Outgrowing the UK

Bisping readily admits it would be “a dream come true” to fight Anderson Silva in a stadium in the UK, but the reality is, it’s probably going to be in America, in Las Vegas, or indeed, in Brazil. That final destination, of course, is where he may have to return to playing the heel. He concedes: “Yeah, exactly. I was just about to say it could be in Brazil.

“I’d rather do it in Vegas, to be honest, but yeah, you’re probably right. I wouldn’t want to say it would never happen in the UK, because it could, but that’s the reality at the moment. 

“I just dreamed about fighting Anderson Silva this morning. It would be a dream come true to fight him in the UK, it really would. But, I don’t see it to be honest. The business side of it doesn’t stack up. Anderson wouldn’t take the fight if it wasn’t pay-per-view, unless the UFC were willing to compensate him.

“It wouldn’t make sense for the UFC to just write him a huge ridiculous check so it would have to be a pay-per-view at two in the morning or something like that which they wouldn’t do. I remember Joe Silva saying to me, after the Chael Sonnen fight in January, that it would probably be July when I fought again. I couldn’t believe it.”

Bisping realizes it’s an endorsement of his achievements, that he has reached the upper tier. The box seat. “Exactly, it is a compliment. Obviously, it would be awesome and all the rest of it to fight the champion in the UK, but hand on heart, I can’t see it happening. You never know. I really would like to.”

Bisping’s gut instinct is that he won’t fight for the title before next August, anyway, depending, of course, on the outcome of the fight between the returning welterweight champion Georges St Pierre and interim champion Carlos Condit, as he explained when FO went to print two weeks out from the Condit-GSP matchup. 

He says: “I didn’t think I’d be fighting for the title before August next year anyway. You have the whole side step with GSP. That fight would take Anderson out for at least another six months, so who knows.”

Catching 'The Spider'

Back at the business end, Bisping is contemplating the route to Silva, and how he might defeat him. He reveals: “Anderson is amazing. He’s incredible and all that stuff. He pulls out all these amazing moves but, honestly, hand on heart, I think I’m fluid enough in my stand-up to give him a great match… his boxing isn’t actually that good.

 “He’s got amazing head movement but my boxing coach actually trained him a little bit and he says his boxing’s not that good. I think I can give him trouble in the wrestling part too. I think I can match him.

“Anderson is very good, of course, but I think I can certainly give him a better fight than a lot of people do. Finish him? I don’t know about that, but I definitely believe I could outpoint him over five rounds.

“Against Brian Stann, in my last fight, I wanted a finish. I wanted to strike, strike, wrestle and then submit, but he was so hard to hold down. I’ve spent a lot of time on my submissions, and on top I’ve gotten so much better since I’ve been out here. The plan was to try and work some submissions, but Stann was so hard to hold down. He was so physically strong. He was a beast really. So I never got to go for any of that.” 

But that would be the plan against Silva also. “Absolutely. I believe that wrestling and striking is the way to beat him.” The reality is that Bisping may face the winner of Tim Boetsch and Chris Weidman, or even Vitor Belfort next. “The obvious fight is the winner of Weidman or Boetsch,” he admits. “The problem with that is that they’re not fighting until the very end of the year.

“Then they’ll need a few months off after that and I don’t want to sit around waiting for a fight until May next year. I want to stay busy. I want to keep fighting. I want to keep things moving. I want to be in training camp again.

“The move to California has changed my life. People might think it’s California Dreaming, but it’s Anderson Silva dreaming that really keeps me going, and gets me up and into the gym every morning.” 

Bisping on... Chris Weidman

“Weidman is a very, very good wrestler; he’s also good at jiu-jitsu. If he gets Anderson to the ground he won’t have any problems. He probably would get him to the ground, but wouldn’t finish him. Standing with Anderson would be a bad recipe for Weidman because his striking just isn’t very good – at all. It ends in a bad night for Weidman.”

Bisping on... Tim Boetsch

“Tim Boetsch is far too sloppy. He’s a brawler. He won his last fight well enough, though we are still not sure which Hector Lombard turned up. I thought he deserved to win, but Lombard was awful. Boetsch himself was awful when he fought Yushin Okami and was literally being schooled until the final round. What Boetsch showed is that he has an iron will. He’s not easy to put away but he was a walking punch bag for Okami until the third round. Okami got a little bit complacent in those last five minutes. I’m sure, in a rematch, Okami would walk through Boetsch like he did for most of the fight, but this time he would finish it and get the job done. Tim Boetsch is a nice guy. I don’t have a problem with him but I just don’t see him as a contender, to be honest.”

Bisping on... Alan Belcher

“I just don’t think it’s Alan Belcher’s time. Belcher is too easy to hit and Anderson would knock him out quickly. Admittedly, Belcher has shown some real improvements in his last few fights, but I don’t really see any head movement from the guy and he’s quite easy to hit. Like Boetsch, I’m just not sold on Alan Belcher as a contender for Silva’s middleweight crown. Neither one of those impress me, really.”

Bisping on... rival contenders for Anderson Silva

SUPERFIGHT WITH JON JONES AT 205LB…

“I said recently that I can foresee Jon Jones winning that fight. I think it’s a fair fight. People will try to say Anderson’s not a big enough fighter to take on Jones, but all things being equal, Jones, for me, seems to be catching Anderson up in terms of his brilliance. If the fight was to happen, say, in the next six to eight months, maybe I’d go with Anderson. But if the fight was to happen in 18 months’ time, I’d say it’s Jones who comes out the winner. Jones is a more evolved version of Anderson. They are very, very similar but the difference is that Jones is a very good wrestler as well. Anderson has never developed wrestling as part of his armory. If you were to pick a weak point in Anderson, it would be his wrestling. Jones may well be able to exploit that.”

SUPERFIGHT WITH GEORGES ST-PIERRE AT CATCHWEIGHT…

“In the Jones-Silva fight, I chose Jones because of his wrestling and that would obviously be the style Georges would favor mainly against Anderson. That’s what he’d love to do, of course: keep Anderson on the back foot and take him down. If he was to stay on his feet, Anderson would pick him apart all day long, but I don’t think Georges would have much trouble in taking him down. The key would be what GSP could do if he got him to the ground. I could see Anderson being taken down a few times, but eventually he’ll get up, and win the fight by TKO.”

Counting on extra power

Fast, accurate hands and feet are perhaps the hallmarks of Michael Bisping’s stand-up game, yet plans are afoot to add a little extra spice to the striking game of ‘The Count’ heading into 2013.

Jason Parillo, who trained the late former boxing world champion Jonny Tapia, and previously Tito Ortiz and BJ Penn, came in as Bisping’s boxing coach for the Brian Stann fight at UFC 152 in September. Parillo admits he’s been impressed with the work ethic of the middleweight contender.

Parillo says: “He’s one of the hardest-working athletes I’ve ever worked with. His coordination is very good. It’s little inches here and there I’m trying to add to Mike’s game. Many have Mike down as a jabber and a mover, more than a guy who is willing to exchange punches. But Mike’s got power, and with his hands, with his stand-up, he’s just as talented as anybody. 

“He’s fast on his feet. With Mike, I’ve been more focused on getting him to change his levels more because I know he likes to be high on his feet which makes him fast-footed and he’s able to get out of there – but also his approach is not to over-commit with his feet so he smothers his shots.

“He’s controlling the distance a lot better now and not closing the distance too fast and overshooting, which he was doing before the Stann fight. He’s made really big improvements in that area. To have a guy who can apply what you’re trying to get him to do is a blessing. It’s a gift for a coach.” 

Bisping agrees, adding: “I’ve improved my punching power, and I’m planting my feet more. I feel I’m reading my opponent’s punches better; I can see them coming. My head movement is vastly improved because of the work Jason’s had me doing in the gym.

“I’m getting my combinations off. I’ve always had decent jabs and punches from the outside but now I’m generating combinations on the inside as well. I’m confident with it.” 

Bisping has been working alongside another former Team Punishment coach Tiki Ghosn, for a couple of years, whilst his switch to California has also brought in other fresh faces. Along with specialist wrestling instructor Jason Dallas, down at HB UTC, Bisping’s been making the most of the local high school coaches too.

 He reveals: “There’s a guy called Brandon Halsey who I’ve become quite friendly with. He’s a very well-decorated wrestler I’ve used for the last few training camps. He has crossed over to MMA but knows everybody in the wrestling world. 

“And there are very decent wrestling and jiu-jitsu classes and clubs I can just drop in on literally across the road from where we live. Calvary Chapel, which is a church, has a champion wrestling team, and I’ve dropped in there a few times. The jiu-jitsu class is just a few minutes away. It’s all so easy.”