INGLEWOOD, Calif. (AP) – The beer in Michael Bisping’s hand was neither his first nor his last of the night. He savored every sip between his soliloquies deep inside the Forum, the UFC middleweight title belt gleaming in front of him.
After 26 fights in a decade with the UFC, Bisping had just beaten Luke Rockhold in the first round. At 37 years old, the motor-mouthed English bad boy was a UFC champion.
Many men would be speechless. Not many men are Bisping.
“Ten years and I never got a title fight, and then I just knocked this bum out in the first round,” Bisping said while Rockhold glowered a few feet away at the post-fight news conference.
“I’m just going to relish this moment. I’m going to ride the crest of this wave. I’m going to have a few drinks. I’m not going to … walk around with this (belt) on constantly, but I do envision the mother of all hangovers coming my way pretty soon. After that, once I drink some water, take a couple of ibuprofen to get rid of the throbbing in my head, I’ll take a look at the landscape and see who wants knocking out next.”