Dubai: If it wasn’t for other fighters doping, UFC middleweight champion Michael Bisping reckons he could have won a long-awaited world title much sooner.
The 37-year-old from Clitheroe, Lancashire - Britain’s first UFC champion - ended a 10-year wait for the belt in June beating Luke Rockhold with a surprise knockout in California after he was called into UFC 199 at the last minute to replace injured Chris Weidman with just 17 days to spare.
It was the ultimate reward for a decade of toil, injury and setback for the veteran, who holds the UFC record for the most bouts (27) and most victories (20).
His career up until that point had been a tale of what ifs.
Three of his most important losses – to Dan Henderson, Chael Sonnen and Vitor Belfort - had been against fighters who had either tested positive for performance enhancing drugs or were openly using testosterone replacement therapy before it was banned in 2014.
“If they had started drug testing people earlier I could have been world champion sooner yeah,” said Bisping in reference to more stringent tests only introduced this summer, speaking on the sidelines of the recent UFC Gym opening in Business Bay.
“Now they are drug testing people randomly and all of a sudden I’m world champion. People aren’t taking steroids and cheating anymore. I haven’t changed one little bit but a lot of people are changing, their physique is changing, they are losing muscle or they are getting caught and suspended.”
Is it justice? “I don’t know, I mean I deserve it I’ve worked my tail off, but I don’t know if it’s justice, I don’t know if that’s the right word.
“I’m just an average guy who isn’t athletically gifted, far from it, I wasn’t even in the school football team because I had two left feet, but with a bit of hard work and determination you can make something of yourself and I hope that’s what I’ve shown people.
“What kept me going? I enjoy it, love it, I’ve always been passionate about it and of course it’s how I pay the bills as well, I mean what keeps you going to work? The paycheck right? But that’s not only why I do it. I do it because I love the sport and I want to give my family the best life possible and by fighting in UFC there’s nothing else I can do that will generate that amount of money.”
Bisping has only had one defence of his title so far, a win by unanimous decision over Dan Henderson in Manchester at UFC 204 earlier this month, which now-retired Henderson has claimed should have gone his way.
“If he’s [expletive] off he should have tried fighting me a bit more, because from what I saw apart from two big punches he landed in the first and second round, he was a human punch bag. If he’s [expletive] off he’s only got himself to be [expletive] off at, so he can go and stew on that in his retirement can’t he?”
Next up, Bisping is most likely to face the winner of November 12’s bout between Weidman and Yoel Romero, or November 27’s fight between Rockhold and Ronaldo Souza. Sixth ranked Gegard Mousasi is also creeping in as a possible future challenger, but it’s Weidman who is making the most noise claiming Bisping would be his easiest fight in years.
“It would be so easy to beat me? The guy that knocked out the person that destroyed him. Rockhold made a fool out of Weidman, he beat him pretty easy and I’ve just knocked Rockhold out.
“Weidman is probably a decent guy, we’re just competitors, but he can keep telling himself that. Do I look like an easy fight to you? Do you want to fight me? I ain’t an easy [expletive] fight pal, not for anyone.”
None of the above will generate as much interest or bring in as much money as a potential super fight with three-time former UFC welterweight champion Georges St-Pierre however. And it’s the Canadian that Bisping puts top of his wish list provided the 35-year-old megastar can overcome an ongoing contractual dispute with the UFC.
Fans are also threatening to boycott UFC 206 in Toronto on December 10 if their local hero St-Pierre doesn’t return.
“Hopefully there will be big news soon, certainly there are no shortage of worthy contenders so I have my hands full, but I’ve had a few interesting texts and I might be in Toronto in December, I don’t know what for but I may be in Toronto sometime soon.”
He says he’s not afraid of anyone. “As fighters we’re not overly concerned with the actual bout itself because you know you’re going to fight.
“The scary part is the winning and losing. We dedicate our lives to this and just like anyone in sport we want to win and be the best.
“Everything just comes down to that one moment and that’s when the fear comes in, failing in your chosen quest. I’m thinking of retiring soon, I’m 37 and have done this a long time, hopefully I’ve got a few more defences in the bag though, we’ll see, it’s a tough sport.”
He’s previously earmarked three more defences until hanging up his gloves should all go well before a move into acting and media work mixed with his business ventures, onto what he calls “greener pastures”.
But his legacy in the sport will surely have been to inspire more British fighters, as the UK’s first UFC competitor let alone champion.
“When I first started doing this nobody knew what the sport was, people used to think I was a maniac, ‘What? He fights in a cage?’ They thought I was crazy. But now it’s come a long way and people give it the respect and credit it deserves. People know what we do, they know we are athletes and they know it’s a real sport. But it was hard work at first.
“Hopefully, I’ll leave a legacy and we’ll see more Brits in the sport, I don’t see why there wouldn’t be a lot more Brits coming through, we’ve always done well in combat sport and are dominating the heavyweight boxing scene at the moment, so I don’t see why I can’t just be the first of many.”
