UFC 152 Benavidez vs. Bisping? Weight Classes Go Out the Window at Press Conference

Q: How do you know when UFC middleweight Michael Bisping is going to start a firestorm of controversy?

A: When his lips move.

Bisping is heading into a fight with Brian Stann at UFC 152 on Sept. 22 in Toronto. He has a lot of respect for Stann, dishing out very little of his usual pre-fight trash talk at the decorated former Marine.

But Michael Bisping being Michael Bisping, he had to have someone to target heading into the fight, so why not the little guys?

“In my opinion, and I think in most people’s, this is the main event. This is the real main event, two big hard-hitting guys. No one cares about little flyweights. This is the real main event. This is the real big fight. Tune in cause someone’s getting knocked out; ain’t going to be me though,” said Bisping in a recent interview on Fuel TV.

“This is the real main event of UFC 152.”

Joseph Benavidez is one half of the announced UFC 152 main event, the first UFC flyweight championship. He takes on Demetrious “Mighty Mouse” Johnson for the honors.

He was asked about Bisping’s remarks at a UFC 152 kickoff preference in Toronto on Tuesday with Bisping seated to his immediate right.

“It was pretty silly of course when I heard it, but it’s Michael Bisping. Everybody pretty much expects something ridiculous to come out of his mouth, right?” Benavidez quipped. “That’s pretty much what he does.”

“Listen pal, when you were a glint in your dad’s eye, I was kicking ass in the UFC,” Bisping played along, although a note of resentment colored his tone.

Benavidez, quit witted himself, retorted, “And probably saying ridiculous things, also,” before moving on to the title fight before him instead of the hopeful middleweight contender beside him.

“It’s not gonna change the fact that we’re the top two guys in the world and that we’re going out to make history that night.”

While the middleweight division sits amid a quagmire of fighters hopeful to get the next crack at Anderson Silva, Benavidez and Johnson square off at UFC 152, one of them poised to become the first ever UFC flyweight champion of the world.

Follow @KenPishna on Twitter or e-mail Ken Pishna.
For more UFC News and UFC Rumors, follow MMAWeekly.com on Twitter and Facebook.