"If Chael Sonnen comes into the octagon in the right frame of mind, he will give Silva problems. But I can see Silva winning this by submission, because when Sonnen fought Nate Marquardt he was ­dominant on top, but left himself open at times. I’ll be watching the fight closely, because I believe I am two wins away from fighting for that belt. I think I have seen chinks in [Akiyama's] armor. I’m going to come in very strong, very fit, and I’m going to exploit him by setting a fast pace."

Ultimate Fighter (TUF) 3 champion Michael Bisping tells the Daily Star that he intends to vault himself into the middleweight title hunt with a big win over International star Yoshihiro Akiyama. "The Count" rebounded from a unanimous decision loss to Wanderlei Silva "Down Under" back on February 20 to outwork the venerable Dan Miller and take all three judge's scorecards at UFC 114 last May. Bisping is 3-2 in his last five fights with losses to Silva and Dan Henderson. In addition to Miller, the Brit also stopped Denis Kang at UFC 105 and decisioned Chris Leben way back at UFC 89. Is he "two wins away" from a title shot? Or do we reserve judgment for after the "Sexyama" fight?