Michael Bisping: "Chael Sonnen cannot knock me out. He can’t submit me, either."

Middleweight Michael Bisping has never been one of the UFC’s most beloved fighters, at least outside of the United Kingdom, but “The Count” likely won some fans over this week by stepping up ten days notice to accept a bout against Chael Sonnen rather than allow the organization’s January 28 card on FOX to suffer by passing on the pairing. Sonnen is widely considered to be the division’s second-ranked competitor and excels in areas Bisping is still attempting to master.

However, to hear Bisping explain it, he would have taken the fight regardless of the amount of time he had to prepare, labeling the match-up as “a huge fight, huge opportunity for me and my family” in a recent blog entry for FoxSports.

A Look at What Brought Bisping to his Current Set of Circumstances

The 32-year old Brit also went on to reveal his mindset in terms of accepting the bout, writing, “Dana hadn’t even finished saying Munoz was out before I was planning how to beat Sonnen in my head. I’ve accepted fights on short notice for the UFC throughout my career, but this one is a massive, massive chance for me, and I am very grateful to Dana (White), (UFC matchmaker) Joe Silva and the UFC. I was already hugely grateful to be asked to fight on FOX, but to fight Chael on FOX … well, there are hundreds of fighters who would kill for this opportunity, and I would have had to be a fool to turn it down.”

“Next week, I’m ready to go all guns blazing. A fight is a fight, and at this level anything can happen, but all things being equal, Chael Sonnen cannot knock me out. He can’t submit me, either,” Bisping added before frankly stating, “The worst that is going to happen is that he will outpoint me and, if I don’t beat him, I didn’t deserve a title shot against Anderson Silva anyway.

Watch how things unfold in the co-headlining clash at UFC on FOX 2 when things fire up at 8:00 PM EST on 1/28. Not only will a top middleweight contender be crowned on the card but Rashad Evans-Phil Davis will meet in the main event with a likely crack at 205-pound champion Jon Jones on the line.

PHOTO CREDIT – UFC