Posted by Michael Bisping @MichaelBisping
Official Creators account for UFC Middleweight Champion Michael Bisping
As some of you might already know, I went away for a few weeks for a much needed holiday with my family to Thailand. I got in some impromptu training and plenty of R&R, but now I’m back home and have begun a camp for my first title defense against Dan Henderson.
I’m very excited about my fight, and from what I’m led to believe, it will be in Manchester. I’m going to prove that I’m no flash in the pan. I see titles changing hands very quickly these days, but I don’t plan on being a one-time champ. I plan on defending this belt, and all these people talking smack about all these different opponents—Don’t worry, they’re all gonna get their chance. I’ll be wearing this belt for a very, very long time.
Now that USADA is clamping down on performance enhancers, people are getting popped left and right. They still have a long way to go, but people are getting caught, and that’s what counts. It’s funny, now that we have USADA in the mix, I’ve become world champion!
I’ve been here all this time, and yes, I have improved, and my coaches have worked hard with me to get me where I am, but USADA’s presence and my becoming world champion isn’t such a crazy coincidence. I think there’s a reason for that.
It’s disgusting to see that people are still taking performance enhancing drugs and it puts a bad name on the sport as a whole. Brock Lesnar should be ashamed of himself, as well as anybody else that’s been caught taking them.
Everybody knows my stance on PEDs, and that hasn’t changed one little bit. The Diaz brothers say that everybody is taking steroids, but obviously there are still some of us that aren’t. I kind of hear what they’re saying, though. I think the large majority of our athletes are on something, but by his logic in the strictest sense, that would mean they are taking steroids, also. Remember, they said EVERYBODY. Obviously, I know what they mean, but I still find it amusing.
The only thing that I know is that I am not on steroids. You can bet whatever you want to bet. I’ll say that on my children’s lives, on my wife’s life, on my mother’s life…anything you want. I can say with all the integrity and honesty in the world, and I’ll still be able to look you in the eye and sleep at night, I do not take performance enhancing drugs.
Anybody else, I don’t know about. It’s not my business, but since USADA has come in, I am now the champion. You do the math on that one and let me know what you come up with. I don’t really want to kick people when they’re down, because the people that have failed their drug tests have probably punished themselves plenty. I can only imagine the UFC’s frustration.
With so many of the top dogs out, maybe I can get three fights in each year. Two fights is never enough, in my opinion, but I am fortunate that this year, I’m getting those coveted three fights. It’ll be the first time in a while that it’s happened.
I’m happy and I feel a sense of pride in that I’m a relatively old school UFC fighter. I’m no Matt Hughes or Chuck Liddell, but I’ve been on the roster for over a decade, and I’m proud of that. I was on The Ultimate Fighter 3, not 30, you know what I’m saying? It’s nice to be one of the older guys, the longer tenured guys and I have the belt on top of it all.
You know what the best part is? I’ve been here all this time, and I’ve never tested positive for anything other than hard work and dedication. I take a lot of pride in that, and I look forward to the rest of my career knowing that I’ve accomplished all this on my own terms, without the benefit of external drugs. In this day and age, that’s quite an achievement.