This was taken from Michael Bispings official website:
Hi everyone,
So, I get a call while I am at my mother-in-law’shouse last night telling me Chris Leben has been sentenced to 35 days in prison and my new opponent is Jason Day. I faxed back the new contract this morning and, with 29 days to go, I am fighting Jason Day.
As for Chris Leben, yeah, I am a little disappointed the fight won’t be happening in June. Not only was I looking forward to finally – finally! – getting to fight a striker in the UFC after two years of grapplers and wrestlers but most importantly the fans were really excited about it. I feel very sorry for Chris here, I can’t imagine how frustrated he must be in jail missing out on a big fight overseas like this. If I were in his position, I would be pretty devastated.
So, I offer my condolences to Chris and maybe we can get this on at some point in the future. Also, I offer him the following sage advice: “Chris, don’t drop the soap in the shower, mate!”
More seriously, big respect to Joe Silva who found anopponent who I feel is every bit as dangerous as Leben but - unfortunately for me - isn’t as well know and doesn’t have the same reputation with the UFC fans Chris has after only one UFC fight. That’s no reflection of Jason’s skills but obviously most UFC fans won’t have seen him as he was on the undercard inMontreal.
However, I did see his fight and he put a hurting on Alan Belcher in very impressive style.
Some people have already said I’m in just as dangerous a fight with not as much to gain, but I don’t really see it like that. As soon as I learned it was Day and not Leben, boom, my mind was 100% on Day as if he was the opponent from… well… Day One (boom boom).
This is my job, I am a professional fighter, this is what I do to earn a living and the news was no big deal to me. As far as I am concerned, I want to fight often and I am very excited to be fighting in front of 20,000 people at the o2 Arena next month. I don’t care if the opponent changes 1000 times, I’ve got a date and whoever is across the Octagon from me on that date I’ll fight.
You have to respect Jason Day for taking this fight. Not only is it even shorter notice than I got that I was getting added to UFC 85, but it is also in another time zone half way around the world. I give Jason alot of credit here; as if you couldn’t tell from his performance at UFC 83, this guy is all fighter and I am looking forward to meeting him June 7. He said he thinks this will be the fight of the night and if he fights me like he did Alan Belcher at UFC 84 it could well be very explosive.
- The Count
This shows what a gentleman Bisping is, and we wish him the best of luck in his fight.
The Ultimate Fighter 9 is set to be a USA versus England event, and Micheal Bisping has been named as the first coach for the show.
