Michael Bisping insists Vitor Belfort is a "bully with chicken legs" and will crumble mentally He might want to think about covering them up. He looks like a typical meat head who goes in the gym and does a lot of bicep curls and lots of bench presses and doesn't want to do a lot with his legs so that was the first thing I noticed. He definitely had chicken legs, but then thinking about it, he's got the heart of a chicken in some ways as well. He's a bully if I'm honest. He's an incredible fighter, he's had an incredible career but when I watch his fights, when he's winning and doing well, he's a world beater. But if the opponent can take it for a little bit and start to turn the tide, he crumbles mentally and loses focus and finds a way out. When he fought Jon Jones, I watched that fight closely and he put his arm there to be submitted. He wanted a way out. He can give it, but he can't take it. He has the body of a lion but the heart of a chicken. Bisping revealed that he accepted the fight straightaway when it was offered to him. He understood that it would be a ticket to a UFC middleweight title challenge against champion emeritus Anderson Silva. But the Briton revealed he was waiting three weeks while Belfort dithered over whether to accept and sign the fight contract. I agreed to do the fight straightaway, then as the days were passing, I was speaking to my manager Audie Attar from Paradigm Sports Management, and the bout agreement hadn't come through, and I was told Vitor hadn't agreed to the fight. I was told he wanted an easier opponent coming of the Jon Jones title fight. I take some satisfaction from that, but ultimately he's signed the bout agreement now, we're going to fight and I'm sure he will come in confident. He says the outcome of this fight is already predetermined. I think he's underestimated me, I think he's looking past me and I think he is in for a big shock. He's going to come out hard and fast in the first round. I think he will find I am a much harder person to hit than others and he's in for a surprise let's put it like that. There was an air of unbridled confidence about Bisping when Telegraph Sport caught up with the British mixed martial artist, who is based in Orange County, California, four days ago as he prepared to head to Brazil. In confident mood, Bisping has always performed at his best. He continues to work with sports psychologist and life coach Brian Cain, and has learnt that "wanting to win," rather than "needing to win" is an attitude which can quell nervous energy. This matchup with Belfort puts Bisping in a title eliminator position for a third time. Third time lucky? "I bloody well hope so, though luck really has no part to play in this," responded Bisping. The British fighter faced Dan Henderson at UFC 100, but was knocked out on the cusp of a middleweight title challenge, and a year ago, lost on points to Chael Sonnen in Chicago in the same position. I feel like I'm one of the best in the world and if I win this fight I'm the clear cut No. 2 in the world," said Bisping. Outside Bisping, Chris Weidman, currently out through injury, would contend that view. He added: "I've been here before but it wasn't to be. I've learnt from all these experiences and I'm learning more and more. I'm still training, I'm as hungry as ever. My conditioning is there. Everything about me, there's nothing slowing down. I'm only getting more and more momentum. I'm only getting better and better. I look at Vitor and I have a lot of respect for him as a person, as a fighter. He's an incredible fighter, he really is and I truly believe this is the hardest fight in the middleweight division outside of Anderson Silva and I look at him and I think I can beat him. And that's not why I took the fight. I took the fight because the UFC said "Do you want to fight this guy and I said "yeah" let's do it." A lot of people have said that's a dangerous move you shouldn't do that. But if I can't beat Vitor Belfort then I don't deserve to fight for the title anyway. So I guess we're going to find out if I am the rightful challenger ... This is my seventh year in the UFC, and I've fought some of the biggest names the UFC has to offer and for the most part, apart from Dan Henderson - who I think is my only real loss - I've had a very good career. I think I deserve it. If you look at some of Silva's past contenders - like Thales Leites, Patrick Cote, Demian Maia - there is no doubt that if beat Belfort, I definitely deserve the title fight. It's up to me to go out there and do it now on Saturday night. Bisping will face the heat in the Octagon. If he can live with it, and defeat Belfort, the title shot he craves will have been hard-earned, and deserved. Records Michael Bisping: Overall 23-4. TUF 3 Winner Vitor Belfort: Overall 21-10. Former UFC 12 heavyweight tournament champion; former UFC light-heavyweight champion.