When Michael Bisping takes on CB Dollaway Saturday night at UFC 186, it will mark his 22nd appearance inside the octagon.
At 36 years old and alternating wins and losses over his last 8 fights, one has to wonder what keeps Bisping going. Recently, UFC legend BJ Penn, with whom Bisping shares a coach, posed the same question.
“BJ is a two-time world champion in two different weight classes,” Bisping told MMA video producer Rick Lee. “I haven’t achieved that yet. So that’s what keeps me motivated. That’s what keeps me hungry. I’ve had a great career. Financially, I’ve done very well out of this. But that’s not what I want to achieve. What I want to achieve is to be the world champion…. Until I achieve that, I will not stop.”
Last Saturday, he watched his most recent opponent, Luke Rockhold, continue his ascent in the middleweight division.
“You gotta give it to Luke, it was a great performance…Luke did poor it on him. Rockhold and Weidman…Listen I’m not convinced on Weidman yet. I’m sorry, I’m still not convinced. I would take that belt off him in a heartbeat. I’d probably favor Luke in that fight.”
As for his fight this Saturday night against Dollaway, Bisping sees things playing out in a similar fashion to Rockhold/Machida.
“I’m going to look to put him away as fast as possible and in as entertaining fashion as possible. You want to talk about knockouts, Dollaway hasn’t got the best chin. Once I start connecting, he’s going to be in all sorts of trouble. He’s going to crumble and he’s going to let me win this fight because he’s going to look for a way out.”
In his mind, once he dispatches Dollaway, Bisping sees himself only a couple wins away from a title shot, this time a rematch against Rockhold.
“Luke Rockhold is going to beat Weidman later in the year, I’ll beat someone in the summer and then I’ll get my rematch with Rockhold.”