It’s quite common for Michael Bisping to get under the skin of his opponents, and vice versa, but no one has enjoyed badgering the Brit quite like Tim Kennedy.
The two middleweights have been trashing talking non-stop on social media for months leading up to their bout, which headlines the TUF Nations Finale April 16 in Quebec City.
“He’s an idiot. He’s a jerk, so I get a kick out of watching him get all riled up and spend all sorts of time replying to something that we’re just making fun of him,” Kennedy told UFC Central in Albuquerque. “I enjoy it. If I’m disrupting his fight camp with him looking at videos of us making fun of him, or reading something that we wrote weeks ago, and he gets emotionally involved in it, cool.”
Bisping (24-5) hasn’t fought since a technical decision win over Alan Belcher at UFC 159 last April. The polarizing star had been out of action recovering from surgery to repair a detached retina in his eye, but is looking to get back into the middleweight title picture with a win over Kennedy.
Kennedy (17-4) is 2-0 in the UFC since moving over from Strikeforce is and hoping to put on a show for the fans at the Colisee Pepsi, adding he doesn’t care how his teasing has affected Bisping.
“Fight night, all I hope is he shows up and wants to fight,” Kennedy explained. “If he’s passionate and emotional and wants to take my head off, all the better. As long as he doesn’t spit on my corner, grab the cage, or grab my shorts, or poke me in the eye, or kick me in the balls, or knee me in the head while I’m down like he’s done to other people, then I think we’re good.”
PROGRAMMING NOTE: Watch TUF Nations every Wednesday at 10 p.m. EST and don’t miss the live finale April 16 on Sportsnet 360
Despite all the verbal jabs the U.S. Army veteran has thrown, Kennedy doesn’t dismiss what the TUF 3 winner has accomplished in his eight-year UFC career.
“As a fighter I have a lot of respect for him,” Kennedy said. “He’s been a perennial contender for five, six years, he’s been ranked in the top 10 that entire duration, in the top five for most of it. He’s beat some of the most notable, marquee guys in our weight class; his losses in 185 have been under TRT circumstances — [Vitor Belfort, Chael Sonnen and Dan Henderson were all TRT users] — and I’m outspoken against TRT as well. He’s good. I’m not underestimating him. There’s deficiencies in his style, but he’s a very, very talented fighter.”
Since their bout is a main event, it’s scheduled for five rounds. Bisping has never gone past the third round in his MMA career, while Kennedy went five full rounds on two separate occasions when fighting for the Strikeforce belt, first against Ronaldo Souza in 2010 and in 2012 against Luke Rockhold.
