Michael Bisping Hopes Referee 'Has the Balls' to Stop Belfort's Illegal Punches
Michael Bisping is making it clear that he expects Vitor Belfort to take advantage of a bad situation during their main event fight at UFC on FX 7.
Whether it's illegal punches to the back of the head or the possibility of being fueled by testosterone replacement therapy, "The Count" says that Belfort's "bully" tactics will eventually start to fail him, UFC legend or not.
In Bisping's latest guest post penned at Yahoo Sports, the famed MMA Englishman outlines his hopes that Belfort won't be able to cheat his way to a win:
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"I was disappointed Vitor Belfort started talking in tongues when asked about TRT recently. He had a little more to say on Monday when he was asked directly about my concerns that all his recent UFC fights were won by illegal punches to the back of the head. In between lengthy references to the New Testament, Belfort basically said he doesn’t care if he hits opponents behind the head.
How he’s gotten away with this in his career is a mystery to me, and I hope we have a strong referee who has the balls to do something about it – if it happens - with thousands of Belfort supporters screaming in the stands. And of course it is down to me to make sure I’m not put in a position where he can unloaded [sic] these kinds of shots.
"
Most notably, Belfort's latest instance of winning a fight with illegal back-of-the-head punches came at the expense of Japanese fighter Yoshihiro Akiyama, who went down to strikes in the first round of their UFC 133 bout.
To date, though, Bisping has only been stopped on strikes once, and that was a haymaker blow from one of the sport's hardest punchers in Dan Henderson.
Fans will get to see whether Bisping's chin (or the back of his skull) can hold up against Belfort's striking soon enough, as the two top middleweights are still set to face-off at the Ibirapuera Arena in Sao Paulo, Brazil. Should Bisping win, he's expected to achieve a career-long dream and face Anderson Silva for the UFC middleweight title.
