UFC on Fox 2: Michael Bisping Says Chael Sonnen Can't Win by KO or Submission

Michael Bisping is saying Chael Sonnen doesn’t possess the all-around skill set required to either knock him out or submit him when the two combatants clash at UFC on Fox 2 later this month.

What awaits the winner is a chance to vie for Anderson Silva’s middleweight crown.

“Next week, I'm ready to go all guns blazing. A fight is a fight, and at this level anything can happen. But all things being equal, Chael Sonnen cannot knock me out. He can't submit me, either.

“The worst that is going to happen is that he will outpoint me and, if I don't beat him, I didn't deserve a title shot against Anderson Silva anyway,” Bisping told ESPN.co.uk.

For Bisping, the opportunity to fight in the co-main event presented itself when Mark Munoz, Sonnen’s original opponent, had to pull out following an elbow injury he incurred in training.

An opportunity Bisping wholeheartedly accepted after the UFC hierarchy informed him of the situation.

With less than two weeks to prepare for what could turn out to be the biggest fight of his MMA career, “The Count” (22-3 MMA, 12-3 UFC) is already strategizing on how to wreck Sonnen’s title aspirations.

“Dana hadn't even finished saying Munoz was out before I was planning how to beat Sonnen in my head. I've accepted fights on short notice for the UFC throughout my career, but this one is a massive, massive chance for me, and I am very grateful to Dana, Joe Silva and the UFC," Bisping told Fox.

“I was already hugely grateful to be asked to fight on Fox, but to fight Chael on Fox ... well, there are hundreds of fighters who would kill for this opportunity and I would have had to be a fool to turn it down.”

Earlier, Sonnen told USA Today that he was giving Bisping his full backing.

“I'm a Bisping supporter. I think he has. I think he's fought a lot of important matches,” Sonnen said.

UFC on Fox 2 is set for Jan. 28, 2012, at the United Center in Chicago, Ill.

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