UFC Fight Night 55: Michael Bisping calls Luke Rockhold a ‘piece of s---’, promises to end feud

UFC stars Michael Bisping and Luke Rockhold shared a conference call to promote their upcoming Sydney fight. It didn’t end well.

(LtoR) UFC Fighters Luke Rockhold and Michael Bisping exchange words at the upcoming fight in November. Photo Jeremy Piper

MICHAEL Bisping has vowed to put his escalating feud with Luke Rockhold to bed with victory at UFC Fight Night 55 in Sydney, labelling the American a “lanky piece of s---”.

In a bitter conference call ahead of their main event on November 7, Bisping promised to take care of business as the pair traded insults.

The question-and-answer conference this morning quickly deteriorated when Rockhold described “The Count” as a “prick everywhere in life”.

“It’s definitely a bonus to shut his mouth and set the record straight on that night,” Rockhold said.

“He’s a guy I haven’t respected for the way he carries himself around the sport.

“I’ve been around a while and I hear a lot of things and I see a lot of things and I really don’t care for the guy and I’m looking forward to shutting him up for myself and a lot of people.”

It might not look like it, but these guys can’t stand each other. Photo Jeremy Piper

Asked if there was a reason why he didn’t respect the No. 9 ranked challenger, Rockhold said: “He just doesn’t seem to be a nice guy to most people.

“You’ve got to treat people the way you want to be treated and it seems like he’s a prick everywhere in life, so I don’t know what he’s not happy about, so I’m looking forward to making everyone else happy.”

Bisping quickly interjected.

“Well, allow me to shed some light on the situation because I’m not sure if he’s aware of the situation that this is a f---ing conference call and you’re supposed to talk and be a little bit eloquent and get your side of the story over,” Bisping said.

“Luke, I don’t know you, I don’t care for you and we haven’t shared a single proper conversation, so you’re basing your facts — or what you perceive as facts — on absolutely nothing … fresh air.

“We had one conversation on that sparring match in question that everyone talks about. You don’t know me as a person so kiss my f---ing arse you lanky piece of s---.

“I’ll see you in Australia you a---hole. We’ll put this all to bed then.”

Rockhold responded: “Well, very professional.”

Rockhold also rejected theory that it was risky to enter a high-stakes fight high on emotion.

“The way I’ve carried myself in conversation, I’m not too emotional,” he said.

“You want to see me emotional, go back and see my Vitor Belfort lead up. I was pissed, I was emotional and you could see it in my eyes.

“I’m very comfortable and relaxed and that’s not going to happen again.

“I’m not going to let emotion get the better of me and I’ve done my work. I’ve worked my a--- off in this training camp, worked with the best guys in the world and I’m prepared and I’m better than I’ve ever been and I’m going to go out there and do my job.”

Bisping will be hoping for a different result from his last fight in Sydney, when he was defeated by Wanderlei Silva.

After clearly demonstrating his hatred for Rockhold, a calmer Bisping claimed he was unfazed by his opponent’s remarks.

“Anything Luke Rockhold says doesn’t register with me to be honest,” he said.

“He’s just trying to jump on a bandwagon and say ‘he’s doing this for the sake of everybody, he’s such an a---hole and no-one likes him’. No-one gives him the right to an opinion on anyone because when I’m outside the octagon, I’m at home with my kids so I don’t know what he’s basing the whole bad guy image on.

“I’m going down there to take care of business and Luke Rockhold is not someone I’m upset about, he’s not someone I care about and he’s not someone I wake up in the morning and think about.

“I’m here to do my job, to put on an entertaining fight for the fans and I’ve done that throughout my career and this will be another occasion when I will do that.

“I’m going down to Sydney to take care of business and shut this guy up in the process and that is obviously a bonus.”

Rockhold is 14-2, Bisping is 25-6.

Rockhold said that things went sour when the pair was in Macao.

The morning after Bisping defeated Rockhold’s training partner Cung Le, Bisping and Rockhold ran into each other at a coffee shop.

Rockhold said that Bisping’s friend and father were trash talking.

Rockhold proposed a bet that Bisping would not get out of the first round if the pair came to blows.

“I had no choice but to butt in,” Rockhold said. … “It was an unavoidable situation.”

Bisping told a different story.

“You’re an absolute liar,” he said. “No one was looking at you. You showed a lack of class and I’ll punish you for it next week.”

Rockhold, No. 5 in the world, will meet Bisping in a five-round bout at Sydney’s Allphones Arena.

Originally published as UFC Fight Night 55: Michael Bisping calls Luke Rockhold a ‘piece of s---’, promises to end feud