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Michael "The Count" Bisping will be looking to build off of his victory over Denis Kang at UFC 105 when he faces Wanderlei Silva at UFC 110, in what will be the UFC's first-ever Australian event.
Bisping had a challenging year in 2009, suffering the only knockout of his career against Dan Henderson at UFC 100 in a fight that followed their stint as coaches on The Ultimate Fighter 9, when Bisping's brash, out-spoken personality often clashed with Henderson's more respectful demeanor. Returning after his loss to Henderson, a somewhat quieter Bisping showed good poise in his fight with Kang, recovering after being badly rocked in the first round to win via second round TKO.
Bisping established himself as a very visible representative of British MMA after winning his class on The Ultimate Fighter 3, and has had a successful run in the UFC, with a record of 8-2 in the organization and an overall career record of 19-2.
Bisping is now three weeks into his training camp for UFC 110, and he sounded relaxed and confident as he spoke to the Telegraph.co.uk about his preparation at his home gym, the Wolfslair.
"There's not too much to study with Wanderlei Silva. I have seen enough of him, he was a hero for me when he was fighting in Pride. There are no real surprises in his style, very powerful knees, good Muay Thai, good BJJ, slightly weaker in the wrestling department. I watched DVDs of his fights, but after that I decided to stop. I'm not interested in his old fights. I don't watch to watch him KO people, because I don't want to give him too much respect. Besides, we have a team of coaches who study the opponent and come up with the fight plan and strategy. I'll train in the Wolfslair until two weeks before the fight. We have a great group of guys here, and we have brought in some Muay Thai guys and wrestlers from the United States, and we are getting all bases covered. This is a real winnable fight for me."
Bisping also revealed on his Twitter account that longtime friend and training partner Quinton "Rampage" Jackson will be arriving in the UK in the next few days to help with his preparation for Silva.
Wanderlei "The Axe Murderer" Silva became one of the most recognizable figures in MMA during his time with Pride, at one point putting together a 5 year, 18-fight unbeaten streak that stands as one of the greatest accomplishments of anyone in the sport. Overall, Silva's career record stands at 32-10-1, with 1 no contest.
Interestingly enough, Bisping's former hero has followed a similar path to Michael in the UFC in regards to weight class. Both men entered the organization fighting as light heavyweights, but after several fights, decided a move to middleweight would be a better match for their natural size. Wanderlei has already had a catchweight fight at 195 since deciding to drop in weight, a decision loss to Rich Franklin at UFC 99, but his match with Bisping will mark his debut at 185.
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