Michael Bisping believes Paddy Pimblett might need to reevaluate some things.

Pimblett had himself a December to remember, first getting embroiled in a feud with Ariel Helwani and then eking out a controversial decision win over Jared Gordon at UFC 282, one that many people felt he didn’t deserve. Pimblett then capped things off by dismissing the many detractors of his win outright, saying he felt he won all three rounds of the bout. Needless to say, Pimblett’s month left a sour taste in the mouth of many MMA fans, and Bisping believes Pimblett may want to consider checking his ego a bit.

“Some of the way he handled it afterwards wasn’t the best,” Bisping said on his Believe You Me podcast. “I can’t talk s***, because I did a similar thing myself, back in the day. I’ve literally been in that position, 15 years ago. You’re young, you get a lot of attention, maybe a bit of it goes to your head a little bit, and you start to think to a certain degree that your s*** doesn’t stink. Your s*** still stinks. Everyone’s does. It doesn’t matter how big you get, because the court of public opinion will bring you back down to Earth pretty f****** quickly, and that’s what he experienced there.

“I think what Paddy needs to do is just humble himself a little bit. Stop with this ‘I’m the new cash cow’ s***. When I asked him who would he want to fight next, ‘I don’t need to say anyone’s name because I am the man. I’m the boy, I’m the cash cow,’ and you’re yet to fight someone ranked. When you’re dominating people, that’s all well and good. When you’re scraping by a victory, it doesn’t have the same effect, and it starts to rub people off the wrong way.

“Nobody in the top 10, certainly in the top five, needs Paddy to give them a rub. Dustin Poirier, Islam Makhachev, Charles Oliveira, these are household names in mixed martial arts. They don’t need Paddy to say their name to get a few Instagram followers. The whole ‘pay me for interviews’ thing, I think that left a bad taste in people’s mouths. Again, I’m not hating. I’m just being honest in what I saw.”

A former middleweight champion and UFC Hall of Famer, Bisping was also known to ruffle some feathers during his younger years. “The Count” made a name for himself as the brash British brawler who won season three of The Ultimate Fighter and for much of his career, Bisping was a heel in the sport. However, as Bisping notes, he was able to turn that narrative around over the years, and now he’s one of MMA’s beloved elder statesmen, something that he says can happen for Pimblett as well.

“The sport forgives fast and quickly,” Bisping said. “All he’s got to do is go out there, beat someone, and that’s it. It’s all forgotten about. Go out there, smoke someone, be cool and be funny, and all the rest of it and everyone forgets. This sport is about what have you done for me lately. You’re only as good as your last fight…

“Look at me. I made so many mistakes. I was hated. We wouldn’t have a podcast now if I was still hated.”

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FINAL THOUGHTS

Thanks for reading and see you tomorrow!

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