Bisping takes blame for mouthpiece

Michael Bisping earned the biggest win of his career on Saturday at UFC Fight Night 84 in London, narrowly beating Anderson Silva, the greatest fighter in UFC history. It was a split second from going the other way.

At the end of the third round, Bisping pointed to a spot on the mat where he believed his mouthpiece still was, and looking at referee Herb Dean. Dean had already picked up the mouthpiece, and as he is supposed to, was waiting for a break in the action to reinsert it.

Silva took the loss of concentration to land a spectacular flying knee, that sent Bisping crumpling to the canvas. Instead of following up, Silva walked off, and within moments, the round ended.

https://twitter.com/ufc/status/703721256470781952

Bisping came back in the fourth, narrowly edging Silva out on all three judges’ score cards. And that won him the fight. In an immediate post fight interview, Bisping seemed to blame Dean, but he later offered a more balanced perspective.

I was trying to say, ‘Herb (Dean)’ – that’s my fault, said Bisping to MMAjunkie. I’m too experienced to make those mistakes, and Anderson capitalized and well done for that guy.

When the round stopped, I wasn’t sure what had happened. I was like, ‘Please don’t tell me this is over. I’m fine.’ Of course, when you’ve just taken a couple of knees and elbows, your faculties aren’t exactly the sharpest at that moment in time. But fortunately, I got the job done.

Whilst I have a breath in my body, I will always continue trying to fight.”

Going into the fight, of course, were things said, but I have the utmost respect for Anderson Silva. This is the greatest fighter of all time. So for me, this was a personal challenge. This is by far the biggest win of my career.

Bisping looked like hell after the fight, but his spirits were high.

“You should have seen the other guy,” he quipped.

Reporters in attendance could not in fact see Silva, as he did not attend the post fight press conference.