UFC 217: Michael Bisping Post-Fight Press Conference - MMA Fighting

Come on then give it to me, I think it was a great

fight

tonight. I'm sure you're deflated by the loss, but overall, are you happy with the way you performed tonight? I mean, I didn't win, you know? That's why we do it George was a better man. I felt good with the skull clips of him, so he went down. He loved pushing it. He was very strong. You know he had a good grip. He was trying to

fight

against his hands. You don't know more. you can really say I felt good there I found out you know when he knocked me down he could get it whenever he wanted.

I hit him with a few elbows in the back and he was gone. I felt in control of the weakness. Oh yes, God bless you. Good for him, that's how it is, your pre-flight talk is always fun you know, but you said he's the oldest, slow, but I thought at least in the first round his jab was kind of quick. I mean, did that surprise me a little? surprised by the way it came out no, not really, I wasn't surprised, that's what I expected, you know, I mean, he's always a good puncher, no, nothing, nothing, I'm not surprised, nothing, the surprise passed, Then that was left out, that left me, of course, I see a lot of people say, "You know, after taking so much time off to move up a division and beat you, he deserves to be called the greatest of all time, do you think so?" Well, I'd say yeah, good for him, you know, I mean, yeah." Why not?

Why not? You know the soft was a ball for me. I guess lastly, for me, Mike, you mean you put it out there, you said list and you talked about quitting, but I know you're going to continue with the March date in London. appealing for you or do you need some time off no I don't need time off I'm fine I don't have any injuries you know I'm not hurt at all I have a couple of little scratches on my face but you I know nothing hurt me you know but today was his night, maybe March in London, yeah that sounds good, we'll see, we'll see if I'm free.

You know, hopefully, I have some things lined up for next year, but if I'm free. Why not? I certainly know that everyone said like everyone told me, Oh, you didn't beat me, that was great, so yeah, but I got drowned out on TV, so you know, it's not really a good consolation prize, so not really. I want you guys mad because my last time in the octagon should be when I get choked out so I'll be back in there at some point okay Mike George said in a cage. I don't know if you heard it, you were standing there.

He said he saw weakness in you from watching the footage, you know you were vulnerable to being hit on the left side, that's something you were aware of and had worked on to try to improve or were you surprised when you heard him say it. no, no, no, I mean, you know, I mean good for him, you know, I mean, he had confidence there, you know, it was a, you know, he called me simple, since it's not like I saw, I had any witness to that was working. Know? Nice shot, you hit it with a pretty good right hand.

I think it was late in the first race. I am not mistaken. Were you surprised how he took it because it's a blow from you, a much bigger guy than you would? He could have done some damage. Did you give him credit for having a better chin than maybe you thought he had? Oh no, I mean, to be honest, AB knows he had a good chin. You know, I always knew he had a good chin, but no, I love it. all of them you know he took it well that's what you do that's what you do when you've been in this sport it's these long nights of has the sport stolen part of me um yeah you know something quick question you look like You were it Timing him really well in the second round it also looked like he might have been slowing down a little bit Did you feel like he was getting slower and how did you think he came back in the third?

I did, yes, and I'm slowing down. Of course, you knocked me down in the second round. Every time you get knocked down you want to get back up, but he was landing a lot of good elbows from the bottom and he was executing some punches from the bottom, but he was still even breaking it down. I was still aware of the fact that you lost the fight in that position, even though you knew I was opening it up, I knew I was losing the fight, so I thought now was the time to get back up, so I felt very positive.

The big day, of course, got me down, but I was able to get back up on the first one and on the second I chose, so yeah, you know, I may be confident, maybe it was my demise, but yeah, I felt like I was going to slow down a bit. bit. a little bit, yeah, I could see it on his face for sure when he started bleeding and stuff like that, you know, yeah, obviously, this was GST, his first middleweight fight, did he feel like a middleweight there too? You know, yeah, yeah, he looked like one too.

He looks huge and I said going into this, I said he would probably be the strongest guy. You know, he's one of those kind of people. He's a consummate professional, so yeah, you know, he sure felt like a middleweight when he had his arms wrapped around him. around my neck, who would you like at GSP Whittaker? What do you mean by winning? Yeah, I don't know, I don't know, oh sure, we'll say GSP, but probably not Whittaker. He would be GSP in a rematch, but. God bless him, it's his night tonight, you know it's good for him, I won't take anything away from him, he did well, he did very well, maybe he'll go here.

Is there anything about George that surprises you tonight, nothing more than that, oh no, no, you know? I mean, to be honest, the fight went as I expected, I felt like I was reading him, you know, I'm not trying to take anything away from him, we did fantastic, he was a better man than me today, he got the job done, but yeah, you know . He really he wasn't hurting me with any shots, you know, so maybe you know, maybe that's why I got a little overconfident. I know he was going to rest for me. I didn't feel as strong as anything other than money.

I know the rear naked strangler hawk, so he again he didn't feel as strong as I say. I was able to get back up pretty easily even in the little wrestling exchanges we had. I felt like I knew all the power in him, but nothing, no. No, I mean, of course I got caught, so it sounds stupid to say that, but it was a fight I was hoping for, okay, and you mentioned it and said you'd like to headline the London Show. Is there anyone in the division? that you might want to fight, there's a lot of people warning, yeah, I don't have a headline, I don't think you've seen it, I just choked, so we'll see, but listen, I love doing what I do, you know?

I'm from a small town in the northwest of England. I never thought I'd be a headliner at Madison Square Garden and I'll be damned if the last time I do it they'll drown me out on TV so you know it wasn't my night. but that's how it is in professional sports, you know one man or one team wins and one man or one team loses, whatever the next fight is, there's no one you know at home, maybe a third fight with Luke Rockhold settled the deal de co Romero, you know those things. It really stands out for you, yeah I'll be honest my biggest concern right now is getting to the bar before the shots, seriously I'm not thinking about my next fight I'm thinking about the bar you know when you win I do it you are celebrating.

It was always much easier to go out afterwards, yes, because what you have to do is when you win, you celebrate and if you lose, you know, drowning your sorrows, then you get up a lot, now it's over, how would you sum up your title reign and, by supposed? you use it at short notice, defend in Manchester and then release it tonight, but how will you remember this? Yeah, you know it was like yesterday. I was world champion. You know, I mean, listen, I am, I'm happy. proud of what I've accomplished in this because I really am, you know, I can't take that away, I mean, my kids are there and he just said, you said I thought you'd be angrier and I'm Listen, of course, I'm angry, I'm Broken inside, I am, but at the same time you have to realize what's important in life, you know, I mean, this is what I dedicated my life to, but I do it for my children.

I heard we're getting over a million PPV buys tonight from the best people, so that's good, you know, and that's why I do it. What I do is I don't get paid anything now, first of all, what I want to earn the most, of course I do, it's nice. little consolation prize, but since you ask, I'm happy, I'm happy with what I've done, but yeah, I'm crushed inside, but life goes on, life goes on, you know, every time you fight, one man will win, another man Lose, that's what you signed up for, you can't cry a little, you know, I have all due respect to George, well done, he beat me.

Yeah, I felt fantastic walking in there tonight. I really thought I was going to smoke it and I did. You know I'm very well done, Michael, although you know towards the end of that last round, when you have a minute, was there any chance you were going to tap? I don't know, I mean, he had a good shake, I don't know. I think he would give me chances maybe maybe if you didn't squeeze your heart. I don't know, you know, you live by the sword, you die by the sword, so to speak, you know, but yeah, okay, that was the last question, thank you all.

I appreciate it, carry on, so what bar do I think is called Moxie or something? I don't know, that's my manager, we have some, we have some free drinks lined up, so my wife is there thinking, damn, we have plans tomorrow we have plans. Tomorrow baby cancel them they will put me in bed guys thank you all good night