Bisping on Le: ‘There’s no smoke without fire’
Michael Bisping: “His were the only levels that were high. Mine weren’t high. Nobody else’s were high. He was the one everybody was suspecting going into the fight.”
UFC middleweight Michael “The Count” Bisping has lost only five of his past 16 fights. He lost to Dan Henderson and Vitor Belfort, who were on TRT. He lost to Chael Sonnen was on TRT, and later failed a PED test. He lost to Wanderlei Silva, who received a lifetime ban from the sport for running from a PED test. Tim Kennedy is the sole clean fighter Bisping lost to since 2007.
Thus when Cung Le tested positive for elevated levels of Human Growth Hormone following a loss to Bisping at UFC Macau, Bisping had something say, although it was muted, as he won.
“If I lost, I would be outraged and would have more to say,” said Bisping to Ariel Helwani for MMAFighting. “I don’t want to kick a man while he’s down. He has to explain this to his kids.”
Then doubts were raised over the testing process, and the UFC rescinded Le’s one year suspension, citing “a lack of conclusive laboratory results.”
In a new interview with Brett Okamoto for ESPN.com, Bisping said he still wasn’t particularly upset.
“To be honest, right from the very start I was indifferent because I won the fight,” said Bisping. “Had I lost, I would have been outraged. But I won it in style, via stoppage, and I got a bonus for it. If anything, it makes me look better that he was on all kinds of stuff and I was able to beat him.
“Regarding the suspension being lifted, listen, I’m not a scientist. I don’t know all the details. I know the blood samples were destroyed, so it looks like, to me, he got off on a loophole or a technicality.”
“They’re saying his HGH levels were high after a fight for a number of natural reasons. Well, his were the only levels that were high. Mine weren’t high. Nobody else’s were high. He was the one everybody was suspecting going into the fight. There’s no smoke without fire, but I’m not a scientist and I haven’t even read the stories about it because I couldn’t care less. Cung Le is old news for me. Done and dusted. I’m focused on the future.”
Bisping fights Luke Rockhold at UFC Fight Night: Rockhold vs. Bisping (UFC Fight Night 55) on November 8, 2014 in Sydney, Australia.