And "The Count" gets that unlikely vote of confidence from none other than Sonnen himself.

The freshly-minted 185-pound division number one contender, who told media members at the UFC on Fox 2 post-fight press conference that Michael Bisping hit him so hard he didn't even know what round it was, also claimed the British banger proved to him with that performance he had the chops to defeat reigning middleweight kingpin Anderson Silva.

"Having fought Bisping and the alleged champion, I can tell you Bisping could beat him today. I was surprised by everything. I was never in a position where I was comfortable. I looked at him and thought 'my God, you have no idea how hard you hit me'."

Saving face?

Perhaps Sonnen is heaping on the praise to downplay his performance from last Saturday night (Jan. 28, 2012) at the United Center in Chicago, Illinois. Despite a unanimous decision win, his performance was far from dominant and some mixed martial arts (MMA) fans and pundits, including UFC President Dana White, thought Bisping should have won the decision.

Nevertheless, Sonnen gets his "Spider" rematch in an attempt to finish what he started at UFC 117 way back in August 2010. After sticking it to the Brazilian for four-and-a-half rounds, Silva managed to pull off the fifth round submission win with a last-minute triangle choke.

But would he be so "lucky" against Bisping? We may never know.

For more UFC on Fox 2 results and fallout click here. To see full fight video highlights of Chael Sonnen vs. Michael Bisping click here.