"I've been thinking that this might be the last fight. I'm going to give it all I've got," Rivera said. "The last fight left me kind of flat. Other than being sick of fighting, I'm not sure I want to do that. I'm getting to 40-years-old now. I don't want to be taking unnecessary blows to the head. I want to come out with a W and maybe take one or two big fights and then I'm done."
He also spoke of his lingering ill feelings for Bisping:
"I needed some time off after my last fight. To lose to someone like that was just (explicit) awful," Rivera said. "And people think I deserved to lose because I was talking smack and I was. It was all for the fight, to sell the fight. People wanted to see that fight. Some wanted to see me get my (butt) kicked. Some people wanted to see me whoop his (butt) but I didn't care. As long as people wanted to see the fight.
"When it comes to the fight time I'm going to be there. I'm going to fight and I'm going to fight clean. I'm not a dirty fighter. Bisping was really inexcusable. And I haven't really spoken out about it at all. It was pitiful. He went to my corner after he kneed me and the head and talked (explicit). He purposely kneed me, goes over to my corner and tells them that. Then he says after that it was unintentional. It's hard for me to respect the guy. It's hard for me to like him."
Both Rivera and Sakara have had very similar career paths lately and this fight is extremely important to both of them. If Rivera loses, would he retire? The article states that he signed a new four-fight deal after the Bisping loss, and the talk from Rivera about focusing on making money would seem to contradict the retirement talk to a degree. Hopefully he can put the Bisping saga behind him and move on."When it comes to the fight time I'm going to be there. I'm going to fight and I'm going to fight clean. I'm not a dirty fighter. Bisping was really inexcusable. And I haven't really spoken out about it at all. It was pitiful. He went to my corner after he kneed me and the head and talked (explicit). He purposely kneed me, goes over to my corner and tells them that. Then he says after that it was unintentional. It's hard for me to respect the guy. It's hard for me to like him."
