UFC
UFC on Fox 2: Michael Bisping rips Chael Sonnen for PEDs, "one testicle," now predicts KO win
Jan 24, 2012 - 3:00:40 AM UFC on Fox 2: Michael Bisping rips Chael Sonnen for PEDs, "one testicle," now predicts KO win

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By: Jamie Penick, MMATorch Editor-in-Chief

When news broke last week that Mark Munoz was injured and Michael Bisping was in against Chael Sonnen for this weekend's UFC on Fox 2 event, many expected the new matchup to breed quite a bit of trash talking. What many probably didn't expect was that it would be Bisping delivering more of the barbs.

After saying he'd submit Chael Sonnen if taken down in an interview with Fighter's Only this week, Bisping appeared on Monday night's edition of Inside MMA on HDNet and unleashed another stream of insults at his new opponent.

"Okay. One. Let's start with the obvious," Bisping began (transcribed by MMAMania.com). "He's not the middleweight champion. He's been beaten many, many times. He's been submitted more times than I care to mention. Not to mention, the last time he lost a fight by submission, there were some issues involving performance enhancing drugs. I don't know what the deal is. Apparently, he has one testicle. One testicle! This is why he uses performance enhancing drugs. He's gonna need more than one little ball to fight me next weekend!"

After his farcical hearing with the California State Athletic Commission, it may be only fitting that Sonnen receives a "one testicle" jab his way. That goes doubly so when he had made comments about Lance Armstrong in 2010 (a testicular cancer survivor) about his PED issues before getting caught up in his own. But after that "playful" little dig at Sonnen, Bisping shifted into fight prediction mode, this time believing he'll be stopping this fight in a different fashion.

"He's gonna try and take me down, lay on top of me and smother me to death," Bisping said. "Me, on the other hand, I will be arriving to fight this guy. I'm gonna look to knock him out. Of course; like all my fights. It's not gonna be easy. He's a tough opponent. I'm sure it's gonna be an amazing fight. All joking aside, it's gonna be a tough fight."

Penick's Analysis: Chael will still have his backers, but this is the one matchup that may lead many to actually be on Bisping's side for once. Sonnen has gotten a lot of backlash to go along with a lot of adulation from MMA fans, while Bisping's mostly been a magnet for scorn; yet, he's taking some well-timed jabs at Sonnen in the wake of this matchup that could pull people to root for him in the fight, and I'll be very interested to see what the reaction is to both fighters in Chicago on Saturday night. Regardless, Bisping is going to need to have a career-best performance to earn his first ever Title shot in the UFC, and it's going to take a lot more than words to accomplish that.

[Michael Bisping art by Grant Gould (c) MMATorch.com]