Jorge Rivera wasn’t the first name that Michael Bisping thought of as his next opponent, with the British star keen to face longtime contender Nate Marquardt or rematch against the legendary Wanderlei Silva. However the trash talking of Rivera and his manager has stirred Bisping to take the fight, with the TUF winner saying that Rivera is “just jumping on the bandwagon that it’s cool to hate Bisping…These [expletive] jump on the bandwagon (and think) it’s cool to hate Bisping, and they all talk [expletive] trying to score points”. Because of all this Bisping is going against his initial judgement that Rivera is “beneath him” to take the fight in the hope that he’ll be able to ” teach him a lesson”.
The two fighters will meet at UFC 127 in Sydney, Australia and Bisping is certain as to what will be the result, telling Rivera to “enjoy your time as co-main event while it lasts because you’ll be back to the undercard after this one”.