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Bisping took another significant step in cementing his image as one of the 'bad boys' of MMA when he told fans, in essence, to f**k off at the weigh in for his fight with Mayhem Miller at the TUF 14 finale. This follows the drama surrounding Michael Bisping's last performance at a UFC event (127) when he faced Jorge Rivera. In the build up to the match Rivera and his camp made significant, and clearly premeditated, efforts to get under the skin of The Count and clearly succeeded in doing so. Bisping was livid at what he perceived as being slurs against his family that were broadcast to an international audience via YouTube with each video receiving thousands of hits and - according to Michael Bisping - friends of his kids at school had viewed them and were bringing up the content with his children. The tension was apparent at the weigh in when words were exchanged and Dana White had to separate the fighters with no chance for the usual 'face off' picture to be taken.
Things then got worse in the fight. At one point Rivera was technically down on the ground but Bisping delivered a knee attack to his opponent's head. Sure, he could defend it by saying his timing was off and he thought Rivera was rising, but no-one was buying that story, least of all Dana White, and I don't remember that Bisping ever came out and defended his action. Rivera was shaken by the shot and never really recovered and Bisping took the win. Immediately after he marched to Rivera's corner and appeared to spit at them (Bisping later claimed he was spitting on the floor in front of them to show his contempt as the cornermen had also featured in the YouTube videos). No-one was impressed and Dana White dealt with the matter privately and all the public knows is that Bisping received a fine.
Fast forward to the TUF 14 weigh in and we again witness Michael Bisping being very quick to show his anger in public. The needling between the two fighters had started from the moment they were announced as coaches. Bisping, as he had commented on Rivera, did not feel that Mayhem was of high enough quality as an opponent and wouldn't bring him closer to a title fight. Mayhem responded with various digs that became worse throughout the shooting of the reality show. At the time of the weigh in Bisping was clearly not the favorite of the audience who booed him from the moment he stepped up on stage. Making matters worse, Bisping was fractionally over his weight limit and required another ten minutes to bring his weight down. Joe Rogan first spoke to Mayhem Miller who briefly commented then urged the audience to 'boo this man', which they promptly did. Moving to Michael Bisping Joe Rogan made an apparently innocuous remark about the crowd 'giving some love' to Bisping which Michael subsequently said sent him over the edge. He wasn't looking for any love and wasn't impressed with the crowd, saying 'f**k you all' before storming off and giving them the finger. Rogan quickly wrapped up the weigh in and that was it. Bisping went on to dominate the fight and won in the third round in what Dana White called the most one-sided fight he had ever seen.
Opinion seems fairly split over the matter. Some argue that what Michael Bisping did was highly unprofessional while others blow it off as being no big deal. What interests me is that Dana White didn't have a problem with it and, as far as I can tell, no-one in attendance was particularly bothered by it either. I can't help but wonder though that if there was a massive negative reaction to the incident on the actual night, would Dana have been less forgiving? I would tend to think not.
The crowd doesn't seem to have taken Bisping's words personally and appear to have seen his reaction as part of the game; almost as if they deserved it in fact for booing him in the first place. Kudos to them if that is the case: don't dish it out if you can't take it being thrown back at you. The problem though, as some have noted, is that not everyone in the crowd actually was booing.
Michael Bisping is building a bit of a reputation as one of the 'bad boys' of MMA, but I really don't see him like that. I do not think he is trying to cultivate such an image in the same was as a Chael Sonnen or a Josh Koschek is or has done in the past. I think Bisping is genuinely mightily peeved about the situations with both Rivera and Mayhem and what you are seeing are spur of the moment, highly emotional outbursts.
But they are highly emotional, spur of the moment outbursts from a professional sportsman in the public view.
Years ago there was a famous incident in the English Premier League when the fiery Frenchman Eric Cantona was sent off. On his way to the tunnel a 'fan' made some comment that incensed the already angry Cantona, causing him to promptly leap up and perform a kung fu kick to the surprised onlooker.
At the time this incident was hotly debated and the general opinion that emerged was that while everyone understood why Cantona had done what he did (and many said that in a more quiet place if someone had mouthed off to them in the same way, they would have done the same thing...) that didn't excuse his actions.
I personally feel the same way about Michael Bisping. I totally understand why he was angry in both the fight with Rivera and at the TUF 14 weigh in, but I also think that part of what it means to be a professional fighter is to deal with these issues in a professional manner so that MMA (in this case) can be portrayed as being a professional sport. I think that what Michael did post-fight by spitting at Rivera's team was worse than giving fans the finger at a weigh in; but that doesn't make what he did last weekend acceptable in the least. Dana White has also allowed a potentially dangerous precedent to be set. Plenty of fighters are booed at the weigh in, during a walk in and in a fight itself. Many are cutting weight and have every reason to be miserable and highly strung. Which raises the question of what happens if / when there is a next time? More difficult is how Dana would intend to deal with complaints from the audience if they arose. And what happens if the same situation arises at a weigh in for a Fox event? Would that kind of press be welcome?
Precisely where the line is that separates professional conduct from unprofessional conduct is difficult to determine but my feeling is that Michael Bisping himself has not been cowed by the fine he incurred over the Rivera incident. Potentially more difficult in the future will be if a similar situation develops - a state of affairs Dana White appears happy with - but the audience become irate and start expressing their own anger. Chael Sonnen, for all his mischief, has always recognized that if they crowd are buying a ticket they can boo as much as they want. It is part of the entertainment for many fans. This strikes me as a very reasonable and professional attitude to take and is an opinion I think Michael Bisping would do well to note.
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