Issue 090

July 2012

British UFC middleweight contender Mike Bisping talks about the many benefits of his relocation to America, his pursuit of Anderson Silva and the importance of a game plan in the Octagon.

Switching from Britain to live in Orange County, California, has made my working life so much easier. For a start, the gyms are a lot closer. I used to travel 120 miles there and back from home in Lancashire to train, and at times there was no one there between fights.

Here, I’ve got no excuse not to get down the gym regardless of whether I have a fight coming up. I’ve got a lot of resources on my doorstep. Southern California, and America in general, is the home of MMA and it’s where the sport is at its biggest; in every respect.

There is more opportunity as well to forge a career, more opportunity with sponsors. The key to that is being available, and if you’re on the other side of the Atlantic, you’re not readily available. Even for small things, like personal appearances.

There’s a lot of money paid for someone to just turn up and smile and look handsome. They’ll give you £5,000 or £10,000 for an hour’s work. It’s ridiculous. There is a lot more opportunity in that respect. In terms of sponsors, they often want to meet you, sit down, have a chat. And it’s you they want to speak with, get a feel for, not your manager.

I’ve done that a few times and I’ve been lucky enough to get some great deals, but the bottom line in the US is that there are great opportunities with training partners. There’s fantastic jiu-jitsu guys, there’s great wrestlers, great MMA gyms on every street corner.

It’s not the case that you can’t do it in the UK, it’s just definitely a lot easier out here. It’s all at your fingertips – and you certainly haven’t got an excuse. The lifestyle is also different, and more health conscious. I don’t mean to tar everybody with an unhealthy brush in England – far from it – but the lifestyle out here, even the weather, lends itself for some reason to better intake. Or at least it does for me. 

Don’t get me wrong, out here in America, you can go the other way as well. But if you’re health conscious it’s definitely easier to eat well; there’s certainly no late-night kebabs. The bottom line is that it is easier not to be a fat b**tard!

IN PURSUIT OF ANDERSON SILVA

My dream has always been to fight Anderson Silva for the UFC middleweight title, so I’ll be keeping a close eye on what transpires between Silva and Chael Sonnen. To keep myself in the frame, I just have to keep winning. Tim Boetsch is next up in July, in Las Vegas. He was destructive in that third round against Yushin Okami, but I think I am better than him in all departments.

People say I should be tested against heavy strikers, but I want to go in with heavy strikers rather than wrestlers – which is why I want to fight Boetsch. He comes to knock people out. You know he is going to throw punches. He’s definitely not gonna come out and try and take me down. In that respect, I’m definitely excited about the fight.

I agree with what Dana White has said – as long as I keep winning fights you can’t deny that I will get a title shot eventually. In my mind, I’ve only lost one fight. And I’ve been in the UFC for seven years. That was to Dan Henderson. He caught me, I was knocked out. 

The split-decision loss to Rashad Evans, and points losses to Wanderlei Silva and Chael were not defeats in my mind. They could easily have gone the other way. They were fights where judges called it for the other guy, but they were controversial. I’ve always been competitive and always been around the top of the division so I think my time will come pretty soon.

GAME PLANS NOW PART OF OUR SPORT

Fighters seem to be coming in for criticism for fighting to a game plan. There’s nothing wrong with it. You set a pattern to defeat an opponent based on his style. I don’t think they admire the skill that comes into it. Carlos Condit fought Nick Diaz with a specific plan in mind. It paid off. 

I had a similar game plan when I fought Chris Leben at UFC 89. He came marching forward like a zombie, he’s got an incredible chin and he just loves to land that big shot. If I was gonna fight him head on – and I could have done that – it would have been a riskier fight strategy. It wasn’t the smartest thing to do, so I used footwork to set up my attacks, and then moved again. Fortunately, I got the decision, but people are very critical of that.

The immediate name that comes to mind when you talk of an effective game plan is Georges St Pierre. He gets a lot of criticism, but he gets the job done. He’s a professional athlete with a professional attitude. He’s not swinging like he’s outside a flamin’ kebab shop. His fight style is in accordance with that... Did I just mention kebab shops again? I must be missing home!