While UFC 159 is headlined by a light heavyweight title clash between Jon Jones and Chael Sonnen, the co-main event between Michael Bisping and Alan Belcher is getting a healthy amount of hype in its own right.

Speaking to mixedmartialarts.com, “The Count” had some choice words for his upcoming opponent.

“He thinks he’s some great Thai boxer because he walks around in Thai shorts and he went to Phuket.  I went to Thailand for three months, but I don’t go around talking about it all the time.  He’s got decent Jiu-jitsu, but I don’t see his knockout power.”

“He’s a middleweight so he should be capable of it, but I don’t see it.  His Thai boxing is mediocre, at best.  No doubt, he’s strong, but I’m better than him in all areas.”

Despite the harsh criticism, Belcher has achieved nine of his 18 professional wins by way of knockout and was on a four-fight win streak between Dec. 2009 and May 2012.

However, the wind was taken out of his sails when he dropped a unanimous decision to Yushin Okami at UFC 155 in December.

Meanwhile, Bisping is just 1-2 in his past three fights, most recently suffering a TKO at the hands of Vitor Belfort at UFC on FX 7 in January.

Therefore, Bisping vs. Belcher is critical match up to keep the winner relevant in the UFC’s middleweight division, while the loser likely becomes a permanent gatekeeper.

Bisping made a rather surprising remark about how he would react if he comes up short against his Roufusport counterpart.

“If I lose, there is something seriously wrong.   I’ve told my coaches that if I don’t win, you’re all f---ing fired because you’re doing something wrong.”

Given the UFC’s more stringent cut policy in 2013, it’s completely feasible that Bisping could be cut with a loss to Belcher on April 27.