Britain's first UFC world champion chatted to SunSport in Las Vegas, where he spoke candidly about the torment of his KO loss to Dan Henderson at UFC 100
But his fight with Dan Henderson goes so much deeper than just a standard world title defence.
Seven years ago Henderson sent Bisping crashing to only his second professional defeat, a brutal knockout on the biggest UFC event of all time, UFC 100.
Bisping still bears the mental scars of that fight to this day, with fan detractors always quick to point out his spectacular KO loss to 'Hendo' in 2009.
But now the Brit has the opportunity to avenge that loss as he gets set to face Henderson for a second time at UFC 204 on October 8.
And 'The Count' says the American MMA legend will be facing a reinvented, transformed athlete second time around.
"Since the last fight with Dan Henderson I'm a different person, I'm a different fighter," he explained.
"That was seven years ago, but it feels like a lifetime ago. In terms of the way I fight, in terms of the amount of fights I've had since then, how my style's changed, how I've matured, how I've grown up - I'm a totally different person.
"Of course he was on TRT (testosterone replacement therapy) back in the day, so that always kinda p****d me off, because I never knew that, I wasn't privvy to that information. But here we are."
The choice of Henderson as Bisping's first title defence has upset some, including a number of top middleweight contenders, who feel the Brit has cherry-picked his first opponent.
But in fact it wasn't Bisping's choice at all, as he explained.
"I'm not ducking anybody. I've never ducked a fight in my entire life," he said.
"The UFC came to me with this fight. I didn't call them and say 'I want Dan Henderson', contrary to popular belief.
"(UFC president) Dana White called me and said 'We're thinking about Dan Henderson. What do you think about that?'
"I said 'Yeah 100%! I owe that motherf****r!'.
"If they'd have called and said 'We want to do you versus Jacare' I'd have said 'Yeah, 100%, let's do it' and been all excited and I'd have gone and done some jiu jitsu that day."
And while Bisping acknowledges the fact that Henderson isn't one of the division's top contenders, he's excited at the prospect of getting revenge over his old nemesis before the American veteran hangs up his four-ounce gloves for good.
"Is he the number one contender? No he's not. But is this a fun fight people are interested in. Is there a storyline? Did he just knock out Hector Lombard? Yes to all of these things," he said.
"To be honest I have no ill will towards him, he's a legend in this sport. His time in this sport is almost done. If I'm gonna get revenge, I need to get it now.
"All these other guys, all these other contenders, they're in their prime. They're still gonna be there. This fight's happening in seven weeks. They're not gonna go anywhere.
"I'm gonna take him out in seven weeks and then whoever it is, I'll take care of it.
"No ill will. But as a competitor, I owe him one. He talks about retiring after this fight. He's GOING to retire after this fight, because I plan on putting a beating on him.
"I'm not trying to talk talk trash or anything like that. I'm just gonna beat him to the punch, I'm gonna be too fast, I'm gonna punish him, make him pay. I'm gonna put on a striking clinic and finish him in the later rounds."
That desire to get revenge doesn't just begin and end with Henderson, however.
That crushing defeat at UFC 100 left Bisping questioning his own ability to bounce back, as he saw media interest and faith in his abilities fade away quickly after his devastating knockout loss.
"The Dan Henderson loss - that was a big one," he admitted.
"After the fight a lot of people talked. Joe Rogan, people in the media, journalists I'd spoken to many times for years kinda gave me a wide berth.
"Everybody said 'He's done'. They said 'Fighters don't rebound from a knockout like that. He's done. He's finished'.
"And I felt that. I felt that was how people felt.
"I remember my next fight against Denis Kang, in the dressing rooms and when we were doing media the journalists just walked right past me.
"They weren't even interested, because they thought, 'Bisping's old news. He's done'.
"So going into that fight, which was in Manchester at UFC 105, there was incredible pressure. Incredible pressure.
"I had to prove to myself, let alone the public, that I still had it and that I could still do it and that I wasn't gun shy.
"When I look at the original fight with Henderson at UFC 100 it was a terrible performance. I almost can't watch it. I cringed so bad. I'm like 'oh my God, what am I doing?!'
"I was very tetchy. I was skipping around. It was just a bad performance. It wasn't me. It just wasn't me.
"It took a lot to rebound from that, it really did. I feel it's testament to my staying power, my fighting spirit, whatever you want to call it.
"And here we are, I've got the belt. I'm proud of that."
And now he has the title, Bisping revealed his plan is to make a trio of successful title defences before hanging up his gloves not only as a champion, but as one of the UFC's most successful middleweights ever.
"For me, if I could get three title defences. I think I could do it," he said.
"Obviously it's hard - three title defences against the best people in the world.
"But if I could do that - if I could take out Dan Henderson, that's my next fight, then a couple of number one contenders - I think that would put me on something like an eight or nine fight win streak.
"Taking out Rockhold, Anderson Silva, Dan Henderson. It'd be quite the stretch. I think I could retire then as one of the greatest middleweights that ever competed.
"Of course, the earning potential is what keeps people hanging around, but I've done this a long time, I'm still hungry to do that. I'm still hungry at the gym, I'm still hungry to train. I love this sport.
"But also at the same time I don't want to be one of those guys that just hangs around too long, that you look and you see: 'I wish this guy would hang it up'.
"I don't wanna be that guy, so I'm setting my target at three title defences, then I'll call it a day."
Michael Bisping takes on Dan Henderson in the main event of UFC 204 in Manchester on Saturday night, October 8.
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