"Rightly or wrongly, you can just kinda relate to the person"- Michael Bisping and Anthony Smith talk about fighters that don't speak English and whether it hurts their popularity
Michael Bisping and Anthony Smith recently discussed the need to speak the English language amongst fighters.
We have seen many fighters attempt to learn English as their UFC careers progress. Speaking with light heavyweight contender Anthony Smith on the Michael Bisping podcast Believe You Me, the former middleweight champion and UFC Hall of Famer stated:
Song Yadong doesn't really get the credit that he deserves. He kind of flies under the radar a little bit in terms of star power... it's like Anderson Silva back in the day.
After Smith interjected to add that current flyweight champion Deiveson Figueiredo is similar in that he doesn't speak English, Bisping continued by adding:
Figueiredo, that's right. Well, look at Canelo. When Canelo started talking a little bit of English in the post-match press conference, 'get the f**k out of here'... automatically, rightly or wrongly, you could just, kind of, relate to that person a little bit more... I don't know why that is because obviously when they're speaking, they're still speaking a language. We're the ignorant ones that don't understand it, but as soon as they start talking our lingo, we're like s**t, okay, you've mastered the English tongue.
Bisping's comments are interesting in that they show that many fight fans want to feel a connection to fighters even outside of their performance. The ability to understand them, even if they aren't great at the language, makes it easier for a lot of fans to get behind a fighter.
Watch Michael Bisping's full comments below:
Michael Bisping believes Khamzat Chimaev broke unwritten code
Following UFC 279, Michael Bisping gave his take on the controversy surrounding Khamzat Chimaev's alleged fake-glove touch against Kevin Holland. Bisping shared that while Chimaev didn't break an official rule, he did break an unwritten one:
There was an unwritten code of samurais and warriors dating back to dark ages. When you engage in hand-to-hand combat, there's a certain dignity involved, don't you know? But it's kind of like an unwritten rule, someone walks out and puts their hand up. You can say, 'no.' You can do whatever you want because he wasn't breaking any rules.
Real gangsters don’t fake glove touch, pussy. https://t.co/B29d0rv3Xq
Khamzat Chimaev has been surrounded by controversy over his decision, amongst other controversial moments throughout the week. While touching gloves isn't necessary in combat sports, seeing a fighter go for a takedown while his opponent reaches for a glove-touch is not something that is often seen.
Watch Michael Bisping's comments below: