Bad boy Bisping ready for all comers

When you're in a sport in which the amount of money you make is largely dependent upon how much people want to see you, the worst possible outcome is to be ignored.

Be certain that Michael Bisping is never ignored.

Oh, he's hardly a beloved figure in the UFC, but he's good enough at playing the villain that people are willing to pay to see him in the hope of seeing a repeat of the outcome of his match with Dan Henderson at UFC 100.

That was the bout when Henderson knocked Bisping cold with one of the biggest right hands in UFC history.

Bisping isn't apt to make many new fans on Saturday when he meets Jason "Mayhem" Miller in the five-round middleweight main event at the Palms on The Ultimate Fighter Finale, but that's hardly of concern to him these days.

He wasn't looking to appear again on "The Ultimate Fighter," given that he appeared as a fighter in Season 3 and then again as a coach opposite Henderson in Season 9. It would have been a different story, he said, had the opposing coach been someone who would have put him in line for a title shot, but he concedes that win or lose on Saturday, he'll need to win at least one more fight to have a hope of competing for the middleweight belt.

"I want to fight for the title and, obviously, a win over Miller is not going to get me there," Bisping said.

[ Related: ’Mayhem’ gets his moment in the sun ]

The UFC had hoped to have Bisping and Chael Sonnen as coaches for this season, the finale on Spike TV. Had that happened, the level of trash talking would have reached levels never before seen.

As it was, Bisping had a fairly good feud going with Miller, though it wasn't anything like it could have been with Sonnen.

"I'm not really sure what I get out of doing this again," Bisping said. "That's a good question. I'm not fighting for a title shot, and I'm not fighting a top contender. I suppose I got a lot of good exposure out of it and I remain current with the fans. The UFC has been very good to me over the years and they asked me to do it and so I did. They're fantastic employers and if this is what they needed, it was fine with me.

"The only problem with it was that you're away for so long and look who I'm fighting. You never underestimate an opponent, and I'll be ready, but what has Miller done? I've been around fighting the best fighters in the world. He hasn't accomplished much of anything in this sport. A win over him doesn't really do a lot for me, but I do recognize that he's got some ability and I've taken him seriously. … I need to win it and I have had one of the best camps I've had in a long time."

An MMA apparel company which has no stake in the fight took advantage of Bisping's notoriety and produced a video in which people, including fighter Tim Kennedy, said they wanted to see Miller punch him in the face.

At the start of the video, the narrator says, "There is one disease that needs to be eradicated from the face of the Earth before it's too late," and then goes to clips of people asking for Miller to punch Bisping in the face.

It stems from a feud Bisping had with Jorge Rivera prior to their fight in February at UFC 120. Rivera posted a series of videos in which he railed against Bisping. After Bisping stopped Rivera, he spat at Rivera's corner.

It's typical, though, of how Bisping has come to be perceived among UFC fans. Few fighters are more despised, with the possible exception of Josh Koscheck, but Bisping at least understands that people care enough to hate. That's good, he pointed out.

He took the latest video in stride and professed not to be bothered by it.

"I have no idea what they could have been thinking, but I suppose in some sense, I should be grateful that they took the time and spent their own money to promote my fight," he said. "That's flattering in some way. I've got thick skin, though. I don't care what they do. It doesn't bother me. It won't stop me from doing what I'm going to do."

It's an uncertain future ahead. Sonnen is expected to fight Mark Munoz on UFC on Fox 2 on Jan. 28 in Chicago, though that bout has yet to be officially announced. Champion Anderson Silva is not expected to fight until late spring or early summer and it's believed he'll meet Sonnen if Sonnen wins his interim bout.

Bisping simply knows it's a must-win fight on Saturday and he plans to do just that. He'll worry about the future starting on Sunday.

"The most important thing is to get rid of this loudmouth first and then I can talk with the UFC and see what they think," he said. "I need to win this fight so that the significant fights I really want can become a reality."

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