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Count out to settle score
MICHAEL Bisping is out to settle a score when he returns to the Ultimate Fighting Championship on Saturday.
The Clitheroe cage fighter faces his second UFC mixed martial arts bout on British shores at the O2 Arena in London, and he's up against an old foe.
Matt Hamill, not to be confused with Star Wars' Mark, was one of Bisping's house-mates in The Ultimate Fighter 3 television programme that saw the former upholsterer break into America's fastest-growing spectator sport.
The two didn't get on, both were tipped as the best fighters in their class, but Hamill was forced to pull out of the show injured, while Bisping went on to win the final.
Ever since, the American has been calling out his fellow light-heavyweight to prove who is the better fighter, and now he's got his chance.
Bisping said: "He doesn't like me and I don't like him. It's nothing personal, we'll put all that aside when we climb in the cage.
"It's an opportunity for me to get one up on him and finally shut his mouth for good."
At first, The Count was less than impressed about facing Hamill, regarding it as an "everything to lose, nothing to gain" fight, but he has since changed his tune, and sees it as opportunity to show that he can wrestle with the best.
He said: "I just thought I'd proven myself in the class of field in TUF 3, and I didn't have much to gain from Hamill.
"He'd been handed an opportunity I didn't really think he'd earned, just because he'd been throwing my name around.
"But then I thought about it some more and I saw the positives I can take from this. I think I've proven I've got pretty good stand-up, I think I've proven in my last couple of fights I'm hard to submit, and that my Brazilian Jui-Jitsui is there – but I've never fought a world class wrestler.
"It will be good to fight and beat someone of that style as it's another boxed ticked."
He added: "I've got big ambitions in the UFC, but if I can't deal with wrestlers there's something missing from my game. I think I'm a well rounded fighter and will prove that on Saturday."
The O2 Arena is what used to be the Millennium Dome, transformed into an 18,000 capacity venue that should see another sell-out crowd for the British fighter.
There will be 2,000 more fans than his last outing at the MEN Arena in April, but he won't get carried away by the throng of the crowd this time.
Bisping said: "I'll be expecting the UK fans in London to get behind me, just like they did in Manchester.
"I've gone through a few techniques since then, as the crowd really caught me off guard.
"I wasn't expecting an adrenaline rush like that, not even boxers like Mike Tyson have got a reception like that at the MEN.
"This time I'll be expecting it, visualising the room before I go out and keeping cool, calm and collected."
And in preparation for this fight, he flew out to Big Bear in California to sharpen up his skills with fellow fighter and friend Quinton "Rampage" Jackson who tops Saturday night's eight-card fight night with a title bout against Dan Henderson.
UFC 75 will be screened live in the UK on Setanta PPV1 (Sky channel 481) at 8 p.m. on Saturday.
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Weather for Clitheroe
Friday 25 May 2012
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