Michael "The Count" Bisping was named the first coach of The Ultimate Fighter: Season 9. The UFC President Dana White had told media not too long ago that the winner between Rich "Ace" Franklin and Dan "Hollywood" Henderson will be named coach of the TUF 9 season. Bisping will have to wait and see who his next challenger will be as he heads out to Dublin, Ireland to watch the UFC 93 event.
The British fighter spoke highly of both Franklin and Henderson when interviewed by the mmaweekly radio show. He predicts a very close fight, but gives a slight edge in favor of Franklin due to his fancy footwork and his technical fighting skills.
Here’s a snip from Bisping himself:
"I wanted one of those guys (Rich Franklin and Dan Henderson) cause they’re two of the best in the world, and probably #1 and #3 in the middleweight division…so they’re the guys I want to fight. There’s idiots on the Internet that say I dodge good fighters and this and that, and that kind of annoys me a little bit and that’s why I want to fight these guys…I’ve been watching that fight very closely…I think it’s a fantastic fight. I think it’s definitely got the potential, apart from the fact that it’s in January, I’d say ‘Fight of the Year’…Rich Franklin is probably the smarter fighter out of the two. I think he’s got better footwork, probably more technically composed fighter. Dan’s got great knockout power obviously. They’re both fantastic fighters…if I had to pick a winner, I’d probably go out on a limb and say Rich Franklin by decision, to be honest."
