Alan Belcher frustrated that Michael Bisping chose to fight Brian Stann instead of him
Malki Kawa, the manager of UFC middleweight contender Alan Belcher, has revealed how his client is pulling his hair out after loud-mouthed Brit, Michael Bisping decided to go back on a proposed fight between the two and instead chose to fight Brian Stann at UFC 152 in Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
Speaking via MMAWeekly.com, Kawa said:
“We were absolutely disappointed. After all the trash that both guys have been talking and this is a fight Alan’s been asking for, ever since his injury he wanted to fight Bisping. He’s been asking for a lot of the big name guys. With this whole situation in the 185-pound division after Chael (Sonnen) lost, we thought we were going to get Bisping. We had been asking for it and Bisping was talking about Alan, they were going back and forth, and for sure I thought this fight would work, but then lo and behold Bisping wants to fight Stann. So we’re not sure what the reasoning is for that, but we’re looking forward to getting somebody in the top ten so we can get the title shot at soon as possible.”
“We think Chris Weidman is the fight out there right now. If we could fight anybody, if we had our choice, Chris Weidman would be the guy. I think fans, media and everybody alike has Chris Weidman as the No. 1 contender at this point, and after he beat Mark Munoz I think everybody has him as the No. 1 guy. I’m not sure what Joe Silva is thinking, not sure what Dana (White) is thinking, but if he’s the No. 1 guy, Alan Belcher would love to fight him. I don’t see any other match-ups that make more sense. We’ve seen Vitor fight Anderson, Chael obviously just fought him, and then you’ve got Hector Lombard, but Hector Lombard is a guy that a lot of people don’t know and haven’t seen. So we’re looking at it like Chris Weidman is coming off a great fight, Alan Belcher is a great fighter, so why not throw them somewhere like this Oct. 5 card, let them go five rounds and the winner gets a title shot.”
“You’ve also got Vitor (Belfort) sitting out there looking for somebody to come to Brazil to fight him, and we’re open to that as well. It’s one of those situations where we want to fight, we’re looking for a fight, so we need one of these guys to pick up a phone and say ‘I’ll fight Alan Belcher,’ but these guys continue to avoid him and I don’t blame them. Alan’s tired of just sitting around and seeing what everybody wants to do. He wants to fight Bisping and then he goes and says he wants to fight Brian Stann, when Alan was ready to rock and roll. So we’ll go to Brazil to fight Vitor, we’ll go to London to fight Bisping, we’ll go wherever the biggest fight is against whoever wants to step up and fight him.”
Belcher returned to the octagon after a prolonged period away due to a career threatening eye condition in September when he defeated Jason MacDonald via submission due to punches. He returned to the octagon earlier this month and surprisingly defeated Brazilian submission artist, Rousimar Palhares to extend his current winning streak to four. Stay tuned to MMABay for more news on when and where “The Talent” will resurface as we get it.
By Michael Pepper. (Follow me on Twitter)
Why not tell us what you think about this story and get your thoughts featured in this week’s edition of MMABay Radio? Email Mailbag@mmabay.co.uk, start the subject with the word ‘RADIO MAILBAG’ and we’ll talk about our favourites on the next show.
