Respect isn't a two-way street for Wanderlei Silva (32-10-1 MMA, 2-5 UFC) and Michael Bisping (18-2 MMA, 9-2 UFC).
Silva, who makes his middleweight debut this weekend when he meets Bisping in the co-main event of "UFC 110: Nogueira vs. Velasquez," promised his pre-fight potshots were over but then fired another one in Bisping's direction at today's pre-event press conference in Sydney, Australia.
"We're going to have a great show," Silva said before glancing at his opponent. "And I'm going to kick your ass."
The room tittered with laughter. Bisping took a swig of his water at the podium and tried to smile it off.
"Best line ever," Bisping said.
Prior to the press junket, Silva said he didn't like the British fighter and wanted to kick his ass as a gift to his fans. Meanwhile, Bisping spoke mostly of his respect for the former PRIDE champion in the weeks leading up to the event.
Silva's hate, it seemed to Bisping, had come out of nowhere.
"I think it's funny," Bisping said. "I haven't said two words to the guy, but a lot of animosity has seemed to have built up. Right from the start, I saw blogs on the Internet, him saying various things and laughing and poking fun. He seems to think I've been disrespectful towards him. I've got nothing but respect for Wanderlei. How can you not respect a guy like that who's had the career he's had."
"He's a fantastic fighter and a good ambassador for the sport. But the respect isn't coming back towards me, so I've got to go out there and take my respect. And I plan on doing just that."
On the other hand, Bisping had recently promised to send Silva into retirement, as one reporter noted. The former PRIDE champion shrugged the statement off.
"He's fun," Silva said, pausing.
"You do need to win fights in this business, Wanderlei, and you haven't been doing that lately," Bisping interrupted.
"Sorry, but I don't understand what (he's saying)," said Silva with another smile.
"Well, that makes two of us," Bisping said.
The British middleweight returned to the win column this past November by stopping PRIDE veteran Denis Kang at UFC 105, four months after Dan Henderson handed him what was quite possibly the most brutal knockout of 2009 at UFC 100.
Bisping has polarized fans since his coaching stint opposite Henderson on "The Ultimate Fighter 9." During a UFC Fight Club Q&A with Dan Henderson at UFC 102, fan after fan thanked him for the UFC 100 knockout. Nevertheless, Bisping comes to UFC 110 in a far better position than Silva.
Since he migrated to the UFC in December 2007, Silva has lost three of his past four fights (and five of his past six in three-plus years) – most recently a close split decision loss to Rich Franklin at UFC 93.
While he acknowledged the fight was very important for his career in the buildup to UFC 110, Silva said he had no intention of retiring.
"No, no," Silva said. "I feel good, and I'm young. I fight for so long, I've fought for 20 years," he started.
"We've heard it," Bisping again interrupted.
"Shut up," Silva countered. "I feel good. I feel happy. I feel comfortable in this new division. You guys will look at my performance, and he'll be retired after this."
UFC president Dana White shied away from calling the fight a do-or-die situation for the Brazilian.
"It depends on how you lose the fights," White said. "Him and Chuck was a great fight, toe-to-toe, you lose the fight. It depends on how you win or lose the fights."
Regardless of future, Silva appeared focused on the task at hand. And "The Axe Murderer" said the dislike of Bisping overflowed to the fighter population, as well.
"100 percent of the guys that talk to him, (talk to me and say) kick him," Silva said. "Everybody don't like him."
"That's nice," Bisping volleyed. "Fortunately, I couldn't give a [expletive]."
It was a great start to potential fireworks down the line
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