Michael Bisping: “I Want to Fight in January or February”

STUDIO MMA, RIVERSIDE, CA – UFC middleweight contender Michael Bisping is arguably one fight away from his first UFC title shot. The logical choice would be to face the winner of UFC 155’s middleweight clash between Chris Weidman and Tim Boetsch.

The winner of Boetsch v Weidman is the natural fight and if I was playing it smart, I’d sit on the sidelines and fight one of them,” Bisping said to ESPN.co.uk. “I match up really well with both of them. Weidman’s stand-up is very very poor, it’s not good at all. He’s a very good wrestler, very good grappler, but I do well against those guys. I’d get back to my feet and knock him out. Boetsch I don’t particularly rank at all. He’s just a tough bastard! I’d have my way with him all day.

Bisping last fought in September at UFC 152, earning a unanimous decision victory over Brian Stann. If Bisping opted to play it smart, we could have a legitimate middleweight number one contender match-up on the horizon. However, that means 6-7 months without a fight. Having only fought twice in 2012, Bisping wants to fight more and sooner.

So if I played it smart I’d wait for them to fight at the end of the year, maybe fight the winner in March/April, but I’m not prepared to do that. This is the way I make a living and I want to fight. I want to fight somebody else in the mean time. I’ll take my chance. If I win, great. If I lose, I don’t deserve a title shot anyway. I want to fight in January or February. I’d like to fight three or four times a year.

With Bisping not wanting to wait around on the sidelines, who could he face?