Michael Bisping will once again headline a UFC fight card this weekend as he will meet former Strikeforce champion Cung Le in the main event of UFC Fight Night 48 from the Cotai Arena in Macao, China.
Saturday will mark the twenty-first time that Bisping will enter the UFC cage and it will mark the seventh time in the UFC that he enters the fight following a defeat.
He has never suffered back to back defeats in his career and this will be his first fight since losing a five round decision to Tim Kennedy at The Ultimate Fighter Nations Finale in April.
Bisping (24-6) admitted that his performance against Kennedy in April was the worse performance he has had in his career and that the fight sucked. He does give Kennedy credit for executing a gameplan but made a mistake in taking a fight so quickly after having an eye injury.
“This is a must-win fight for me. I have to prove to the UFC, I have to prove to the fans, and I have to prove to myself that I’m still an elite fighter who can go on, get some wins over contenders, and fight for the UFC title,” Bisping said in quotes released by the UFC. “My last fight against Tim Kennedy sucked – it was the worst performance of my life. Kennedy had a gameplan to hold me down and he executed that gameplan well.”
“In hindsight, I should never have accepted a fight just seven weeks after getting cleared to return to the gym after my eye injury. Yes, I was anxious to get back in there and earn my first paycheck in over a year but, with hindsight, I needed several months in the gym getting rid of ringrust. Instead, I made a huge mistake in taking on a wrestler like Kennedy without putting the work in – and I paid for it.”
“But I’ve never lost two in a row in my life, and I don’t plan to. I’ve been fighting high-level competition for the last six, seven years. But I don’t want to be one of the guys in the top 10, who wins a few and loses a few, I want to be No.1 and I want to fight for the UFC title.
“My back is against the wall in terms of making that happen. I need to win to prove that I’m not just some fighter with a name who is fighting here and there for paydays. My record over my last six fights is win one, lose one, win one, lose one, and that’s just not good enough for what I want to do in my career.”
His opponent on Saturday, Le (9-2), will be stepping into the cage for the first time since defeating Rich Franklin at UFC on FUEL TV 6. That victory was 651 days ago and he has won back to back fights after dropping his UFC debut to Wanderlei Silva at UFC 139. Le is known for his striking as eight of his nine career victories have come by knockout and he won the knockout of the night bonus against Franklin in 2012. Bisping is well aware of the power Le has in his strikes but he questions other aspects in his game.
“He’s got good power, he’s a great striker if he can keep it long (at a distance) but he’s got nothing against the cage. He’s got no stamina, either. But he’s very dangerous if you let him do what he does best.”
Every fighter has motivation heading into each fight and Bisping holds no punches back in discussing what he believes the motivation is for Le in this fight.
“Listen, Cung Le is basically back in the UFC to boost his brand and remind everybody of his existence,” Bisping said. “He hasn’t fought in a couple of years, so I’m guessing his profile has dipped, he’s probably not getting too many embarrassing kung-fu movie offers right now and – probably worst of all for him – Channing Tatum has stopped retweeting him.”
“I’m going to put a beating on him, and he can disappear again back to b-movies. I have to close the distance on him, because he needs space to generate power in those fancy kicks of his. He’s got nothing at close range; everything is at a distance for him. And, at 42, he’s got no gas in the tank. He’s got four minutes or so in him – then he’s absolutely knackered.”
“This is a five round fight and he’s 42 years old and hasn’t fought in two years. He had no gas in his first UFC fight three years ago, so he’s not going to be in better shape now. I’m going to take this win, cement my place in the top 10, and then go about getting back to the top four before the end of the year.”
UFC Fight Night 48 will be streamed live on the UFC digital network, UFC Fight Pass and Bisping and Le will headlined the main card that will begin at 9 a.m. ET/6 a.m. PT.