Michael Bisping took an interesting approach to interviewing this weekend, when he tore into new UFC interim welterweight champion Colby Covington.
Shortly after Covington claimed a unanimous decision over Rafael dos Anjos in the UFC 225 co-main event, the American 170lber took to Fox Sports to speak to the panel which included Karyn Bryant, Kenny Florian, Michelle Waterson and Bisping.
Despite his own history of trash-talking, Bisping clearly isn’t the biggest fan of Covington’s shtick and he took him to task for carrying his heel gimmick into his post-fight demeanour.
“No one’s making excuses, Colby, you fought a good fight. Why are you so defensive? Why do you have to be a prick?” Bisping asked.
Turn sound on. Grab some popcorn. You're welcome. pic.twitter.com/8q2QxCvXxL
— FOX Sports: UFC (@UFCONFOX) June 10, 2018
Bisping clearly got a kick out of winding Covington up, accusing him of “being controversial for the sake of it,” and the former UFC middleweight champion closed out the interview with some words of advice for Covington.
“Congratulations! You did very well,” Bisping said.
“But let me give you a bit of advice. Tone it down a little notch, enjoy the moment and lose that chip on your shoulder just a little bit and that’s coming from an old pro who’s been there, done it and worn the t-shirt.”
The manner in which Bisping spoke to Covington in the wake of his biggest career win to date did not sit well with UFC commentator Jon Anik, however.
Anik took to Twitter on Sunday to condemn the recently retired former champion for speaking to ‘Chaos’ like that.
Was disgraceful. It’s Colby’s night and moment. Pretty stunning that they’d allow an analyst to steal his shine.
— Jon Anik (@Jon_Anik) June 10, 2018
Not sarcastic at all. I was appalled. Not the analyst’s job to antagonize a fighter who has just won a UFC title.
— Jon Anik (@Jon_Anik) June 10, 2018
There’s some truth there. Guess I’m just still old school when it comes to certain TV elements. Probably should’ve kept my mouth closed.
— Jon Anik (@Jon_Anik) June 10, 2018
After several Bisping fans took umbrage with Anik’s decision to brand the interview “disgraceful,” Anik took to Instagram to issue an apology to ‘The Count’.
“Felt the need to issue a quick statement due to the response to my comments on the post-fight show interview between Colby Covington and Michael Bisping. I replied to a tweet and just shouldn’t have made my opinion known, especially in a disrespectful way,” Anik wrote.
“While I did think parts of the interview lacked professionalism and many of you disagree with me as to what exactly an analyst’s job is in that situation, I regret my word choice to call it ‘disgraceful’ and I apologise to Michael Bisping for that.
“Had I been more thoughtful, perhaps my comment wouldn’t have elicited such a response. As anyone who listens to my podcast can attest, I have as deep a respected for Mike as a friend, fighter and analyst as anyone in the game.”
