Training is going very well and the interviews and hype for my UFC 152 fight with Brian Stann is now kicking into top gear. A lot of fans are getting excited for this one, and I can’t wait to get to Toronto next week.
You get a good sense of what the fans are feeling for each fight from the questions you get asked by the media. Seems a lot of people make me the favorite but think Stann has a puncher’s chance – which I agree with totally.
They are also asking about what if Stann has some sort of great, super-intellectual gameplan from Greg Jackson to exploit weaknesses I don’t even know I have.
From what I understand, Stann isn’t training with Jackson anymore. But who the hell cares either way? Come on, guys. Just because Stann trained with some smug git from New Mexico who can quote the "Ninja Turtles," doesn’t mean he’s got some mystical insight to beat me. Listen, Greg Jackson has a smug grin on his face when his gameplans go well, but when they go tits up he’s not there going: “Well, blame me, folks. The fighter just followed my stupid ideas.”
And Brian Stann isn’t a fighter who can follow through with a sophisticated strategy anyway. I mean this with all due respect for a guy who is clearly a powerful athlete, a determined guy and who hits like a truck (so you can hold off Tweeting me Hendo gifs, you haters) but Stann is not a massively talented fighter. I know what he’s going to do. He is gonna throw a leg kick – like he always does – and try to take my head off with a right hand. And, hey, Stann can do it; I have a good chin but Stann can knock anyone in the division out with his power.
But that’s not going to happen. A stupid mistake aside, I mince Brian Stann’s arse like burger meat nine times out of 10.
I’ve watched all his fights from WEC to his last fight against Alessio Sakara and, yeah, Stann has sharpened up his striking a little but, other than that, I’ve not seen too much evolution in his game. He’s the same guy, someone who will always be dangerous but isn’t a top talent in the division and never will be.
Stann has talked big about how he’s going to put me to sleep. Well, that’s a fact. I can’t avoid it. None of us can. Brian is going to tell some more deathly boring old war stories at the pre-fight press conference, and we are all going to be in for a snooze.
More seriously, Stann is catching me at exactly the wrong time as far as he’s concerned. I am better than ever, at the peak of my powers, I am the best fighter I’ve ever been. To be honest, I’ve said this before and sort of hoped it was true but, six years after getting into the UFC, everything is clicking into place and now I believe it 100 percent.
I’m the best fighter in the division not named Anderson Silva – and I am ready to prove that.
[Also: Chat replay: UFC legend Chuck Liddell on Yahoo! Sports]
One of the other questions I’ve been getting a lot in interviews is do I feel I’m getting more respect these days? Well, the answer is yes, and I think there are a couple of reasons why.
I think I got a lot of props for stepping up to fight Chael Sonnen on eight days’ notice in January and it was a razor thin fight that could have gone either way.
And second, I think people are getting used to my sense of humor, or at least understand I while they may not like my opinion, at least I’m not a phony faker like some fighters I can mention.
I’d rather have a reputation as having a big mouth than as a two-faced liar. I’m a fighter, not a politician.
I was kicking arse in the UFC when Stann was peeling potatoes, shining shoes and getting called “a maggot’ by some red-faced sergeant in the Marines. This isn’t warfare, this is MMA, and I’m better at it than Brian Stann will ever be.
On September 22, Brian Stann is getting knocked out – fast.
Follow me on Twitter @bisping (Dan Henderson gifs welcome)
UFC 152 featuring Bisping vs Stann is live on pay-per-view and Yahoo! Sports on September 22, 7pm PT/ 10pm ET
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