Michael "The Count" Bisping - The UFC Columnist?

The ‘Count’down with Michael Bisping

Undefeated British striker Michael Bisping, ‘The Ultimate Fighter 3’ light heavyweight winner, begins his series of weekly columns for www.uk.ufc.com and www.ufc.com.

By Michael 'The Count' Bisping

ANARCHY IN THE UK

The rumours are true: the UFC is back in Britain and in a massive way by the sounds of Wednesday's release, and obviously, I'm very excited that the UFC is going to be in Manchester, England on April 21 at the MEN Arena.

And, as the locals in Manchester say, they will be "mad for it" when the UFC hits town and I'm confident that my fellow Brits will create an atmosphere to match any in UFC history on the night.

Dana White has said that I am going to be a 'poster boy' for the UFC in Great Britain and, although I'm not all that sure what a poster boy actually does, I'm very honoured and flattered the UFC thinks so highly of me.

At the time of writing this I'm currently waiting for absolute, final confirmation that I'll be fighting on the card - and more importantly who I will be fighting - but I am already in training and cannot wait.

Seriously, to be part of a UFC card in my own country will be a dream come true -another dream come true in what has been a fantastic year or so for me.

The last time the UFC was in the UK was in July 2002. Back then I hadn't even begun training MMA - if you'd have asked at the time I'd have guessed "pulling guard" was holding your hands in front of your face - but five years later I'm going to be a big part of it.

It's crazy, really.

THE STAR TREATMENT

I've been back to Vegas twice since I beat Eric Schafer on UFC 66 on December 30 - both times to do PR work for the UFC with the British press.

I've really put in some air miles this last year and I've got to say, I much prefer flying over the Atlantic without having to sit next to my mate and fellow TUF 3 contestant Ross Pointon for eight hours at a time.

I've done several trans-Atlantic trips with Ross and while he's a nice guy, believe me, too much of his yapping in one go can really get on your nerves when you just want to read or watch the in-flight movie...

"You know what I mean?"

I've actually enjoyed the PR side of things I've been doing. I know some fighters don't like doing interviews and stuff, but I see talking to the press and representing the UFC as part of my job and, actually, it's a part I quite enjoy.

My girlfriend has told me for years that I talk too much - especially about myself - but now I've got the excuse that the UFC actually wants me to talk about myself.

And I couldn't believe that I got a full-page article in a UK national newspaper called Daily Star last month talking about me as the UFC's answer to David Beckham. For those of you in America who maybe don't know, Beckham is an English born soccer icon who recently signed to play for LA Galaxy.

The first I knew of the Daily Star article on me was my mates calling me up on the Saturday morning telling me about it. Some of my mates have given me some grief a bit about the Beckham reference, but, believe me, the UFC's answer to him or not, I'm not going to go in for no daft hair cuts and I certainly won't be wearing my girlfriend's knickers out in public!

Having said that, I could certainly put Beckham-style $1million per week wages to very good use, if you're reading this, Mr White!

JACKSON FIVE (OUT OF TEN)

The second time I was out in Vegas was during UFC 67 weekend. I always enjoy
sitting at Octagon-side and watching the fights and I really enjoyed the event.

After fighting on two live UFC shows now, the TUF finals last summer and now an actual PPV card, it has finally sunk in that I am a proper UFC fighter now, but I'm still a big UFC fan at heart, too.

But even though I enjoyed myself and the fights, I switched out of "fan mode" when Quinton Jackson made his Octagon debut.

Because he's in the same division as me, I took a very close interest in Jackson's win over Marvin Eastman. Because of his big win over Chuck Liddell in Japan a couple of years back, Jackson's come to the UFC with this massive reputation but, to be honest, I've got to say I wasn't that impressed.

I'd probably give Jackson five out of 10 on his performance, if you forgive the pun.

Even allowing for the fact that Eastman is a very underrated fighter, I didn't think Rampage looked like this killer who has put the entire division on red alert.

Jackson said he was nervous and I am sure he was – and maybe he'll show more of himself next time. I hope he does because I want my division to be the most exciting one in the UFC.

But like I said after my last fight, everyone in the 205lbs division (or 14stone 9lbs in English money) better watch their backs because I've not come this far just to make up the numbers in the UFC light heavyweight division.

WEIGHT A MINUTE

There's been a bit of talk on the fan forums about me been a little too small for light heavyweight and, to be honest, I have thought once or twice about giving middleweight a go.

Last year I almost decided to have a dummy run at making 185lbs and see if I still felt strong and sharp. But, having thought about it some more, I'd consider myself a bit of a coward running down to middleweight to fight smaller guys.

And, anyway, I wouldn't risk trying to get down to middleweight for a fight and either let the UFC down by not getting to 185lbs (13stone 3lbs) or having to spend hours sweating my arse off in a sauna, weakening myself before the fight. Nah, that doesn't sound good to me at all.

But I do realise I'm a little smaller than guys like Chuck Liddell - who is a monster - but the Count has a plan!

I've got a mutual acquaintance with Ricky Hatton - Britain's best boxer - and I've been put in touch with Ricky's strength and nutrition coach, Kerry Kayes.

Kerry is regarded as the very best in the business in England and as well as training Hatton and a load of other top boxers, he's also just trained a powerlifter to deadlift 1000lbs, which is kinda like the four-minute mile of power lifting.

And I only need to lift 205lbs - my opponents - for a slam so I am sure Kerry can help me out.

I'm going over to Manchester to meet with Kerry in a few days. Hopefully he doesn't think I'm a lost cause and agrees to help me out.

I'll tell you all about it next week...

*** Here is Bisping's UFC PPV debut at UFC 66 against Eric Schafer ***