Michael Bisping and Tim Kennedy have taken fight-promotion to a whole new level in the days leading up to their main event fight at The Ultimate Fighter Nations Finale on Wednesday. That was never more evident than during a staredown on Monday in Quebec City, Quebec, Canada.
Bisping, known for his in-your-face style, did just that, immediately going nose-to-nose with Kennedy. The two middleweights were allowed to remain within inches of exploding on one another until being separated by the UFC executive on scene. "The Count" was talking the entire time, dropping several expletives, while Kennedy, an Army Ranger, remained calm throughout the ordeal.
All of the Twitter back-and-forth talk has made this bout for Bisping "pretty personal," as he said on a recent episode of "UFC Tonight."
"I've never met the guy," he said. "He might be a great guy, but he's made it pretty personal. It's been pretty one-way (in terms of trash talk). He's been attacking me in every interview. I can't wait to fight him and it's going to be very satisfying to punch him in the face."
Bisping (24-5) is coming off a victory last April over Alan Belcher via technical decision. He was forced to the sidelines to recover from an eye injury. The Brit noted on Twitter after the face-to-face that Kennedy (17-4) seemed rather quiet.
"So Tim Kennedy talks all this (expletive) on the internet but doesn't have the (expletive) to say a single word to my face," he wrote, along with the words keyboard warrior behind it.
Kennedy, who has won three straight since a 2012 loss to Luke Rockhold for the Strikeforce title, told
MMAjunkie.com that he agrees with Bisping in terms of the trash-talking being one-sided.
"It has been (one-sided) because he sucks so bad," Kennedy stated. "Apparently he's the best at it. Him and Chael Sonnen are supposedly the one's who can talk the most smack, but obviously not because he can't hang at all with what I've been doing the past six weeks. I'm fairly disappointed in the allure of Michael Bisping's crap-talking."
Kennedy and Bisping will have one final meeting after weigh-ins Tuesday before they exchange inside the Octagon on Wednesday night.
Read more at http://www.wrestlinginc.com/wi/news/2014/0415/574190/michael-bisping-and-tim-kennedy-get-heated-video/#zYT4pfsrtKxRQKjP.99
TNA has announced that Eric Young informed officials he will defend his World Heavyweight Title on this Thursday's Impact Wrestling broadcast. No word yet on who his opponent will be.
