Michael Bisping: Chris Weidman made Vitor Belfort look like the coward he is

Michael Bisping

Veteran UFC middleweight Michael Bisping said watching Chris Weidman stop Vitor Belfort at UFC 187 was a bittersweet experience.

Why wouldn’t he? He’s as sour as ever on Belfort.

“I looked at (Belfort), and he looks like half the man he used to be, quite literally,” Bisping (26-7 MMA, 16-7 UFC) told MMAjunkie during a teleconference in support of his headliner against Thales Leites (25-4 MMA, 10-3 UFC) at UFC Fight Night 72. “His legs look like two little chicken legs dangling out of a female’s body, and he looked like, to be honest, my 14-year-old son could have beaten him up.”

If that wasn’t enough of a kick to the downed Belfort’s ribs, Bisping dropped the mic with this: “Chris Weidman made him look like the coward he is.”

Fighting words, indeed. But also par for the course with Bisping, who faces the surging Leities at SS Hydro Arena on July 18 in Glasgow, Scotland. The Brazilian is on a five-fight winning streak, and arguably of more value to Bisping’s oft-delayed goal of earning a title shot.

“Of course, I would like to avenge the loss on my record, but I’m not sure avenge is the correct word,” Bisping said when asked about a rematch with Belfort. “I mean, he was on TRT, so it was kind of an unfair advantage.

“I want to kick him in the head and punch him in the face, it’s as simple as that. Whatever way around will get it done is fine by me. But I’m focused on the title. Fighting Vitor isn’t something that’s going to help achieve that, but I would love to punch that guy in the face.”

Bisping never really got the bad taste out of his mouth when it came to Belfort, who handed him a loss two years ago in Brazil. The “Phenom,” then looking to rebound at middleweight after a loss to now-former champ Jon Jones, stopped him with a head kick in the second round in the headliner of UFC on FX 7.

Bisping initially said he wouldn’t cry over spilled milk, but since has grown more and more outspoken about his dislike for Belfort and the testosterone-replacement therapy he became a defacto spokesperson for when the controversial treatment was legal in MMA.

One month after his loss, he called for a rematch with “f-cking cheat” Belfort. The outspoken veteran recently predicted that with no “magic sauce,” Belfort would fall to champ Weidman.

As it turned out, it was the correct call. After one year of delay, Belfort finally got his chance to win the title held by Weidman at this past Saturday’s pay-per-view event. And for a few seconds, it looked like he might fulfill the promise of his late-career comeback. But Weidman weathered a storm of punches and took the fight to the mat, where he pounded out “The Phenom” less than three minutes into the first round.

“I enjoyed seeing it, but it was also bittersweet, because I would have loved the chance to have done that,” Bisping said.

Now, the 36-year-old fighter finds himself in something of a limbo as a popular headliner who’s lost several contender bouts. A win this past month over C.B. Dollaway put him back on track after a loss to Luke Rockhold again quashed his title aspirations.

And yet, Bisping is still vying for a title, though he’s not sure if a rematch with Belfort is a high-value target. But he pulls no punches when it comes to his former opponent’s career stall.

For more on UFC Fight Night 72, check out the UFC Rumors section of the site.