‘The Only Thing Getting Bounced Is Your Head’

Bisping ripped into former NBA player James Johnson for suggesting he could beat G.O.A.T. contender Jon Jones after a year of MMA training.

Michael Bisping is fed up with non-fighters claiming they’d beat the best champions to ever compete in mixed martial arts.

The latest example of this is former NBA player James Johnson, who recently claimed he could beat UFC heavyweight champion Jon Jones with a year of wrestling training. Johnson has a background in karate and a dubious amateur fight career. He’s also huge, but none of that will help when you’re talking about a fight against one of the greatest to ever compete in the octagon.

“Give me a year? Give me a f—ing break,” Bisping exclaimed in a new YouTube video. “That’s what we really need right here. Listen, this James Johnson, I’m sure he’s a lovely guy, I really am. But this is hilarious. We’ve all watched a martial arts film and at the end we’re all hyped up, we wanna go. We watch Rocky, we start shadow boxing, we think we’re a bad ass. Go down the pub, have a few beers, think we can take this guy on. The list goes on.”

Bisping also called out Johnson’s claimed record of 20-0 in kickboxing and 7-0 in MMA.

“I had a little look on Tapology. Tapology registers all fights, okay?” he said. “You don’t have to be an NBA player, someone famous, you can be anybody and have one fight and you will be on Tapology. You will be on the Sherdog database. But when I go to Tapology, there’s lots of James Johnsons … there’s none that are 7-0, there are none that are 6’8”. There’s none that are basketball players. This guy’s having a laugh, he’s out of his goddamn mind.

“It’s nonsense, it’s stupid. This guy’s fights can’t be found anywhere. Even if he is 20-0 in kickboxing, we all know someone that’s a British kickboxing champion or a regional kickboxing champion, and when you look at their fights it’s seven people in a sports hall and the opponent was well out of shape and never trained in his life. They get given a big shiny belt and all of a sudden ‘They’re a champion!’”

“The Count” also took issue with Johnson’s suggestion that Jones is a wrestler first and foremost and couldn’t hang on the feet.

“Jon Jones is the greatest of all time, Jon Jones is undefeated,” Bisping said. “Jon Jones is fighting Stipe Miocic in Madison Square Garden, against the greatest heavyweight of all time … And Jon Jones is a little around the bend. Jon Jones is crazy. He’s got that nasty streak in him, and whether you want to criticize him for it … he’s put on some amazing fights and that meanness, that f—ing craziness that he has, that helps you in a fight.”

“I’m sure this basketballer has flipped out on the basketball court. I’m sure he’s got a real reputation. But you ain’t going up against Jon Jones. No way.”

“Stick to your court: the basketball court,” he said. “No one’s bouncing balls in octagons. The only thing that’s getting bounced is your head all over the place by vicious elbows from Jon Jones when he takes you down with relative ease.”

Jon Jones takes on Stipe Miocic at UFC 295 on November 11th in New York City. He’s extremely focused on Miocic and their fight, and hasn’t posted on Twitter since the end of August. We’re still hoping that he takes a moment to share his undoubtedly dismissive thoughts on the Johnson situation, but thus far it’s been radio silence from “Bones” on the subject.