Here's the Foxsports.com article:
Bisping's blow-up bad for UFC
Ben Cohen / FOXSports.com
Posted: 1 day ago
The UFC first came to the U.K. in 2002 to a fairly muted reception. Viewed as a fringe sport full of violent hooligans, the British shied away from the American creation and the press largely ignored its presence.
However, five years and 32 promotions later, the company came back to the U.K. to the northern city of Manchester for UFC 70. Having learned from its mistakes, the UFC attempted to win over much of the press and created a huge buzz among the public. There was a carefully orchestrated promotional campaign that included treating the British boxing press to a slap-up dinner at the upscale Strand Hotel in London, along with putting ads on every major TV station, newspaper and magazine for weeks on end.
One of the UFC's major marketing ploys was to also focus much of its promotion around light heavyweight Michael Bisping, the British winner of the reality series Ultimate Fighter 3.
Bisping, a likeable chap from the non-descript Lancashire town of Clitheroe, was an exciting fighter with a media-friendly persona. Cheeky, cheerful and full of confidence, Bisping create a huge following, bringing thousands of new fans to the sport.
At the packed M.E.N. Arena in Manchester, Bisping scored a TKO victory over Elvis Sinosic in an exciting, bloody fight, to the delight of his screaming fans. The British press flocked to Bisping after the fight, calling him one of Britain's most promising athletes. They also began to pay serious attention to the wildly popular sport, accepting that it could one day become a regular part of British sporting life.
Five months later, the UFC was back in London for more. UFC 75 featured some huge names in MMA, and had Bisping back to face rival Matt Hammill from Ultimate Fighter 3. Press conferences were packed with reporters from the BBC to the Lancashire Telegraph, and the event caused an unprecedented amount of attention in the British media.
The event was a successful one, with the biggest gate seen in London for any fight in 12 years. But Bisping did not fight well, with most ringside observers scoring the bout for his opponent. Although Bisping won a split decision, he appeared to be taken out of his game and repeatedly hit with effective shots.
He was stunned and taken down several times throughout the bout, and did not look particularly comfortable in front of an opponent he had guaranteed victory over. After the bout, Bisping told the press that he had "given him (Hammill) a boxing lesson."
From a technical point of view, it was anything but. Bisping repeatedly pulled back from punches (a cardinal sin in the sweet science), crossed his legs when moving laterally and failed to keep his hands up for much of the fight. If anyone was doing the boxing, it was Hammill. However, Bisping did have his moments, and showed tremendous heart, something he and his fans should be proud of.
Questionable decisions happen in combat sports, and the decision for Bisping was not terrible. Hammill graciously accepted his defeat and expressed respect for Bisping after the fight. The Brit, however, was not so polite.
Brashly entering the post-fight press conference, a bruised and bloody Bisping bantered loudly with friend and training partner Quinton Jackson. The first question put to the fighters was directed at him and the mood in the room quickly darkened.
"Do you really think you won Michael?"
From then on, it was a one-man tirade from the defensive Brit.
"Of course. Don't insult me like that. You wanna go three rounds? Cheeky (expletive). Of course I (expletive) won the decision. Get the (expletive) outta here."
Staring aggressively at the hapless journalist, Bisping continued.
"Get that smile of your face, too, while you insult me."
"I think you are the only one who seems to think so," came another remark from the press.
FOXSports.com then asked Bisping a seemingly benign question.
"Do you think the judges scored the fight on volume of punching over hurtfulness of punching?"
"I don't (expletive) know. I'm not a (expletive) judge. Are you?" Came the tart response. "Did you think I won the fight?"
FOXSports.com answered in the negative.
"How many fights have you (expletive) judged? Who the (expletive) are you anyway? What's your (expletive) MMA background?"
Explaining to Bisping that this journalist actually had fought in kickboxing did not seem to quell the storm.
"Yeah, well good for you. (Expletive) you. You're a kick boxer, so (expletive) what? (Expletive) off!"
There were reasons behind Bisping's unusually aggressive behavior.
"Nobody knows what happened before the press conference," Bisping said on his Web site days after the event. "Just before I walked in, I got a phone call saying that my dad had been attacked in the car park by several people.
"A security guard came down on a moped and I jumped on the back of the moped and we were flying around looking for him and we hit a road block.
"It wasn't the right thing to say, but there was things that went on beforehand," he said. "The guys that asked the questions, I apologize to them, but I had just been in a spin for the last 10 minutes."
Apology accepted.
But there is a more serious issue at hand here. The UFC is struggling to create and maintain a respectable image in the U.K., and behavior like that from one of its biggest stars is totally unacceptable. Bisping is a professional fighter, and aggressive behavior toward normal people can be extremely intimidating and frightening. Several journalists at the post-fight press conference quickly exited afterward, feeling understandably threatened by his confrontational outburst.
Athletes of the UFC need to maintain impeccable behavior if they want to be treated like true stars. It is still a young sport with a great deal of growing to do, and it can ill afford to lose the enormous gains it has made in recent years. Bisping is a good fighter with a great deal of marketability, but the notoriously savage press in the U.K. won't stand for any hostility on his behalf. And it certainly won't be looking to give the benefit of the doubt to an athlete in a sport it still does not really understand.
http://msn.foxsports.com/boxing/stor...813162&ATT=209
