The day after his surprising dismantling of Alan Belcher (Pictures) at UFC 83 in Montreal last month, Jason Day (Pictures) told Sherdog.com that he wanted Michael Bisping (Pictures) as his next opponent.
The UFC officially announced last week that the Canadian middleweight will be replacing Chris Leben (Pictures) as Bisping's opponent in London on June 7.
Leben was sentenced to 35 days in jail last Thursday following a probation violation that stemmed from an old DUI charge. With his release scheduled for less than two weeks before the June 7 bout in London, the UFC pulled Leben from the card and inserted Day. v The 29-year-old, who holds a 17-5 record, told Sherdog.com that he feels all of his hard work over the years is finally paying off.
"Everything is falling into place," Day said. "It's just clicking, and I'm loving it."
He had been the underdog against Belcher. Although he showed a dangerous standup game in the fight, perhaps the most impressive aspect of Day's win was his extremely effective use of the rubber guard -- a series of techniques popularized by Eddie Bravo.
"This guy came up to me at the hotel and told me it was a wicked use of the rubber guard," recalled Day, who thanked the man. "He told me he was going to send me his DVDs, and I thought to myself, ‘Why is this guy sending me his DVDs?'
"Then it clicked, and I was like, ‘Oh man, this is Eddie Bravo.' And I was like, ‘Thank you very much. It's an honor to meet you.' I had never actually seen him before. I knew who he was, but I'd never seen his picture."
Day knew exactly who Michael Bisping was, though, and by then he was already wanting to fight him next.
"I just look at guys, and something says I want to fight them," said Day from his home in Lethbridge, Alberta, Canada. "It's just instinct I guess. It's just pure luck that this fight came up, and they thought of me."
Day had taken two weeks off after the April 19 win over Belcher and was already back in training when the offer to fight Bisping came last Thursday. Even with only four weeks until the bout, he jumped at the opportunity.
"I still have four weeks and I'm in good shape now," he said. "This isn't short notice at all. It's twice as long as any training camp I get."
Bisping fought on the UFC 83 card alongside Day, scoring a decisive and energetic victory over Charles McCarthy (Pictures) in his first bout after dropping from light heavyweight to middleweight. Day knows that a win over the popular Englishman will do wonders for his ranking in the UFC.
"I'm playing leapfrog right now," Day said. "I think I opened up a lot of eyes with that [Belcher] win, and now I get to fight another guy who is very well known, who's got a great reputation and has never been stopped. A win over Bisping and I jump another few notches on the ladder. Right now I'm loving how I'm getting matched up."
Bisping has lost only once in 16 professional fights, and Day believes their meeting in England -- Bisping's home turf -- will be an entertaining one.
"He's just a well-rounded fighter," Day said. "I think we match up very well. I have a lot of respect for him. It's not like he's a bad guy or anything, but I think it has potential to be a wicked fight."
Day will tell you that entertaining the fans is critical.
"I love to put on an exciting fight," he said. "I'm an entertainer. I'd rather put on an exciting fight and lose a close decision than have a boring grind-out that I win. Nobody likes to lose, but I want to have that marquee fight."
Fighting Bisping in England should give Day what he wants -- the spotlight, with a chance to take another step forward in the UFC middleweight division.