Michael Bisping tells American fans to “get over it”

Michael Bisping is one of the most polarizing figures in mixed martial arts. The fans in his home country love him, but many American fans view Bisping as arrogant and obnoxious.

Bisping believes that most of this split opinion comes from his time as a coach on The Ultimate Fighter: Team USA vs. Team UK. Bisping and his fellow Brits ran through Team USA in dominating fashion as they claimed both titles on season 9 of the popular reality show.

“They’re always going on about how bad I was on the Ultimate Fighter, I for the life of me can’t see what I did wrong, I was just trying to help my team win,” the middleweight contender told The Sydney Morning Herald.

Bisping added, “Yes there was a bit of fun and banter back and forth, but it was just a pisstake. Bloody hell, get over it. There’s no point crying yourself to sleep over it, I was just having a laugh.

“Also I think it was the fact I was the Team UK coach and they thought I was anti-US, which wasn’t the case at all but maybe that was the way it was portrayed and perceived, so now they like to criticise me, whatever, I know in England I’ve got a fan base and in Canada and hopefully here in Canada. If that’s how they’re going to be then so be it, tough luck.”

One thing Bisping fails to mention is how the season concluded when the two coaches squared off. He was on the wrong end of “Knockout of the Year”.

“The Count” is in Australia doing the final preparations for his UFC 110 bout against Wanderlei Silva. The two have been exchanging words building up to the fight, and at the press conference yesterday things reached a boiling point.

While referring to Silva, Bisping stated, “Wanderlei’s been very vocal about me, how he doesn’t like me. I’ve got nothing but respect for him as a fighter. I can’t say the same about him personally after some of the comments I’ve heard.”

Silva fired back with, “We’re going to stop talking. Talking is the easy part of the show. He’s talking a lot, I’m talking a lot but now we’re going to see [Sunday]. We’ll have a great show,” said Silva, before turning to Bisping, “and I’m going to kick your ass.”

UFC 110 will take place on Sunday afternoon in Sydney, but due to difference in time zones the event will still air live at it’s normal time of 10 p.m. ET on pay-per view.