The tension between Michael Bisping (left) and Jorge Rivera (right) reached a boiling point at the UFC 127 weigh-ins, where the two men had to be separated by UFC President Dana White (center). (Photo courtesy of Zuffa, LLC.)
Hype does sell fights, but sometimes at an unwanted cost. What began as commonplace pre-fight smack talk between “The Count” Michael Bisping (21-3) and “El Conquistador” Jorge Rivera (18-8) in the weeks preceding their UFC 127 bout turned into below-the-belt mud slinging laced with venom and vitriol by the time their co-main event’s weigh-ins rolled around last Friday, as the two men looked ready to throw down right there and literally had to be separated by UFC President Dana White. Then the next day at UFC 127: Fitch vs. Penn, as each of the middleweight contenders took his place inside the cage of the Acer Arena in Sydney, Australia, the men seemed intent only on walking out of the cage with his opponent’s head on a stick. Continue reading »
