Michael Bisping, Urijah Faber seeking first UFC titles

INGLEWOOD, Calif. — Veteran middleweight Michael Bisping will get his first opportunity to fight for a UFC belt Saturday. For Urijah Faber, title shots are becoming old hat.

Both have the opportunity to walk out of The Forum as UFC champions for the first time at UFC 199.

Bisping has been a top contender at 185 pounds for the better part of a decade, but fell short several times in No. 1 contender bouts and was never quite able to get over the hump.

That’s why he was so quick to contact UFC president Dana White to volunteer to take this fight last month when he heard former champ Chris Weidman was hurt and had to pull out of his title bout against champion Luke Rockhold.

“I’ve worked a lifetime for this,” Bisping said. “So two days, two weeks, two months, I really don’t care.

“I’m just happy. I’m relieved. I’ve been at it so long. I know the words are cheesy, but I do believe this is my destiny. When I was 8 years old and I first put gloves on, I knew I’d be champion one day, and I’ve worked tirelessly to get here. This is a lifetime’s work. I’m not here by accident.”

He certainly has paid his dues. Bisping, 37, has three consecutive victories and 18 wins in the UFC.

For most of his time as a contender, Anderson Silva was the champion and Bisping was focused on getting a fight against him.

He finally got the chance in February, but Silva no longer had the belt. Still, Bisping won a unanimous decision and put himself in position to finally get a title shot.

He said it’s odd to be facing someone else now that his opportunity has arrived.

“I wanted to fight Anderson Silva my entire career,” Bisping said. “ I always wanted to fight him. He was the longtime champion and the guy I looked up to and aspired to beat. That was a personal goal I wanted to achieve. I don’t think about this (expletive) to my right. I haven’t thought about him in years. He’s not a guy I longed to fight. Yes, I want to be the champion, but on Saturday there is no opponent. It’s about me fulfilling my dream.”

Bisping’s last loss came against Rockhold in 2014, so he also has a chance to avenge that defeat. There is even more history between the combatants in the other title fight on the card.

Faber, 0-3 in UFC title fights, will get another chance when he meets bitter rival Dominick Cruz for the third time in his career in a bantamweight title bout.

Cruz won a unanimous decision over Faber to retain the belt in 2011. Faber handed Cruz the only loss of his career in a 2007 World Extreme Cagefighting title bout.

In addition to the UFC title bout loss to Cruz, Faber lost to Renan Barao twice for the UFC bantamweight belt, in 2012 and 2014.

He has lost just one nontitle fight in his career and was the WEC champion when that organization boasted the best bantamweight class in the world, but hasn’t been able to win the UFC belt.

Cruz found time between trading insults with Faber this week to say he believes his rival is among the top three or four bantamweights in the world, but the competition at the top is stiff.

“Guys have just been a little better than him in title fights,” Cruz said. “It’s not always easy to go out there and look incredible against the top guys in the world. It’s different fighting guys in the top 15 than fighting guys in the top two.”

Faber insists he will win, but also dismissed the notion this could be his final chance.

“When somebody loses the Super Bowl, should they stop trying to go to the Super Bowl?” he said. “Last one? Do you know how many times people have said that? There’s a story to every win and every loss. There’s no last anything. I’m going to get the strap.”

The football analogy could be all too apropos after Saturday. A loss would put him in a category with the Buffalo Bills and Minnesota Vikings at 0-4 on the biggest stage.

One of his coaches at Team Alpha Male in Sacramento, California, thinks it would be unfair to judge Faber’s career off whether he ever wins the UFC title.

“I think it’s very important, but it wouldn’t be an issue if he didn’t get the gold,” Justin Buchholz said. “He’s accomplished so much, and he has been a champion in the WEC. He was the man. Best fighter in the world at that weight class and held the title for years. I don’t think he has anything to prove except to himself. I do believe he’s going to win, and it’s important to him to put that cherry on top but not essential.”

Bisping echoed the sentiment about his own legacy. But he realizes how close he is to fulfilling his boyhood dream of being a world champion.

“I’ve had an up-and-down career, but it’s been a great career. I’ve been close to this several times,” Bisping said. “I just have to reach out and touch it. It’s right there.”

The title bouts are part of a pay-per-view event that begins at 7 p.m. Four fights from the preliminary card will air live on Fox Sports 1 at 5, with the remaining bouts streaming online on Fight Pass at 3.

Contact reporter Adam Hill at ahill@reviewjournal.com or 702-224-5509. Follow him on Twitter: @adamhilllvrj