Bisping: "I could have beaten anyone"
by Ben Blackmore, 10 May 2008
Just one week after his awesome victory over Charles McCarthy, Michael Bisping took time out with setantasports.com to reflect on a successful middleweight debut and roared: “I could have beaten anybody”.
Bisping smashed his way through “Chainsaw” McCarthy with a series of knees and body shots, forcing a stoppage at the end of round one – retiring McCarthy from the sport in the process.
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It was the relentless performance Britain’s number one fighter had been promising for some time, and he revealed he felt ‘unstoppable’.
“All I was thinking was ‘I have to win this fight and I have to win it in style,’” Bisping told setantasports.com.
“I was thinking ‘this guy can’t compete with me’ and I showed that.
“I showed what I could do in Montreal, I haven’t done that in The UFC before and I don’t know why. Maybe it’s nerves or something but I finally felt like I showed what I can do.
“I felt so confident back stage, honestly I felt amazing – I felt like I could take on anybody. I felt unstoppable – I was bursting with energy, I just couldn’t wait to get at the guy.”
Bisping started the fight by peppering his opponent from range – and McCarthy’s only response was a cocky taunting gesture that did little to hide his obvious pain.
McCarthy did threaten briefly when he took the fight to the ground, enabling him to exercise his BJJ strength, but Bisping was never worried.
“He was pulling faces when I hit him and I just thought ‘I’m gonna kick you in the head’,” said “The Count”.
“He smiled at me and I thought ‘right, you’re smiling now but the fight’s only gone a minute. Let’s see if you’re smiling in a couple of minutes.’
“I was annoyed that I ended up on my back, but before he even had the arm I had defended it, so I was calm, I was relaxed, and I did what I had to do.”
Bisping has already accepted his next fight in the shape of Jason Day at “UFC 85”, live on Setanta Sports. For details of how to subscribe, click here.