"The Count" Down to 185

Our favorite fighter who kicked the living shit out of Matt Hamill at UFC 75 then lost a squeaker to Rashad Evans at UFC 78 in the Light Heavyweight division (205 Lbs.) has decided to cut out the fish & chips with Guinness consumption to properly prepare for his debut in the UFC Middleweight division (185 Lbs.) the next time we see him in the Octagon.

Here's some quick quotes from Michael "The Count" Bisping on his time at 205 and his long journey into Anorexia Nervosa by UFC.com

Bisping on his decision to drop weight classes:

“Even though I’ve never fought at middleweight, I’ve gone back and forth with the decision to go down pretty much my whole career,” Bisping said. “Even from my very first pro fight (April 2004), people were telling me that I was a little too small for the light heavies. But I kept winning and, at least before I stepped up to the UFC, I was winning easily so I didn’t really take much notice.”

Bisping on his support to drop to 185:

“Dana thought it was a great idea, he said I’d be ‘a monster’ down at middleweight. In fact all sorts of people like Rampage (with whom Bisping is close) were telling me this was the best thing for my career. Really, I knew middleweight was the place to be. When I went to train with Rampage in America over the summer, when we’d go eat he’d have half a lettuce leaf; I’d have a pizza or a couple of foot-long Subways and a couple of sneaky cookies.

Bisping on fighter nutrition:

“Even though I train as hard, if not harder, than anyone else for a fight, I wasn’t making sacrifices like other fighters do. I’ve had world class nutritionists like (boxer) Ricky Hatton’s strength coach Kerry Kayes tell me I could be so much stronger at middleweight, so I was getting this same advise from all sides.”

Bisping on his loss to Sugar.. dun,dun,dun,daaaa,dunnnn,daaaaa ahhhh.... Rashad Evans:

“I didn’t feel like I lost anything in defeat,” Bisping said. “I felt I performed very well against one of the best wrestlers in the UFC in Rashad. I regret not pushing it a little harder in the last round but, overall, I can’t complain about a controversial loss because I was coming off a controversial win. My performance again made me go back and forth about going to middleweight but, in the end, this is my career and how I make a living, and although it isn’t that I can’t hack it at 205 pounds, it doesn’t make sense to give every opponent an advantage when I don’t have to.”

Bisping on his bitchiness level when the weight cut happens:

“I weighed 197 pounds for my second fight with Mark Epstein three years ago but that’s the lightest I’ve fought at. I know 185 pounds is the weight I should be at, and I am actually looking forward to the extra challenge of making weight, but I want to apologise right now because I know I am going to be one moody SOB come fight week!”