UFC 127 – Michael Bisping hoping for a better reception from the Australian fans second time around

UFC middleweight contender, Michael Bisping has been speaking about the fans reaction to him the first time he travelled to Australia last year to take on MMA legend, Wanderlei Silva, and how he hopes for something different second time around.
Speaking via his blog post for Australian site NineMSN, Bisping said:

“At my last appearance Down Under I was booed heavily at Acer Arena at UFC 110 and I’m still clueless as to why. I didn’t really agree with some of the things they were saying and directing at me during my bout against Wanderlei Silva and a lot of it left a bad taste in my mouth.”

“It’s not much fun having 20,000 fans chant ‘Bisping is a w—–‘. After the fight, my manager told me about a few other chants some of the audience came up with and some of it was a bit below the belt. A few fans were getting quite offensive and a little personal and I don’t think there was any real need for it.”

“So, initially, I wasn’t in any rush to get back out there and fight again in Australia. Why would I be? Not only was I booed at UFC 110, the judges also said I lost my fight against Wanderlei. Even though I maintain I won that fight, the whole experience wasn’t exactly enjoyable for me.”

“At some point last year, though, I had a change of heart and wanted to give Australia another crack. This is another great opportunity to fight as co-main event in a great sold-out arena and I can’t wait for it. When the chance was finally offered, I jumped at it.”

“I don’t know why the Australian fans didn’t take to me first time around and, to be honest, I don’t really care. I had never said anything bad about them in the lead-up to the fight or disrespected one of their fighters. Perhaps they were all fans of Wanderlei and supported him because he’s a legend in the sport.”

“I didn’t lose too much sleep over it, but I don’t think I deserved the reception, either. In fact, given that my girlfriend is Australian, I was sort of hoping they’d be on my side over there. Turns out I was wrong.”

Bisping has put together back-to-back wins inside the octagon after the disappointment of being edged out by Wanderlei Silva on his last trip to Australia, defeating Dan Miller and Yoshihiro Akiyama via unanimous decision. Stay tuned to MMABay in the coming weeks for more build-up to this one and more as we get it.