Rejuvenated McCarthy looks to choke out Bisping at UFC 83

We haven't seen Charles McCarthy perform inside the Octagon since Nov. 11, 2006.

On that night, McCarthy fought through the pain of a severe knee injury -- which turned out to be complete tears of the ACL, LCL and meniscus -- to submit Gideon Ray with an armbar at the finale of The Ultimate Fighter 4.

While McCarthy was on the road to recovery, his life improved dramatically. McCarthy and wife Elisa welcomed their first child, Zachary, to the world. He opened his own MMA and self-defense training facility in Boca Raton, Fla., which has enjoyed a steep rise in membership.

Shortly after his injury healed, McCarthy earned a brown belt in Brazilian jiu jitsu from American Top Team head instructor Ricardo Liborio, one of the elite trainers of the discipline.

After 17 months away from the UFC, "Chainsaw" steps back into the cage Saturday to fight Michael "The Count" Bisping at UFC 83 in Montreal.

McCarthy returns from a 17-month absence at UFC 83. (CBSSports.com)

Since the fight was first announced, skeptics have theorized the UFC is trying to give Bisping an easy win for his middleweight debut, after a pair of disappointing performances at light heavyweight. It seems McCarthy's critics remember him only as "Captain Miserable," a moniker he has tried to live down ever since Matt Serra tagged him with the nickname during the TUF4 season.

McCarthy shrugs off the critics and says Bisping is a good style matchup for him.

"I know his game," McCarthy said. "We can go 15 minutes on the feet and he won't hurt me. But if we get it on the ground, he will never last 15 minutes on the ground with me. So I don't care much what people say, you know?"

In the media leading up to UFC 83, Bisping hasn't shown a great deal of respect to McCarthy. It's easy to tell the feeling is mutual.

"He's a decent kickboxer," McCarthy said. "(He's) real arrogant, and, you know -- not much else, really. He's gonna get choked out April 19."

Bisping has been one of the UFC's most hyped fighters of the past year or so, as the promotion tries to grow its audience in Bisping's home country of England. McCarthy is not completely impressed by Bisping's fighting ability, but he doesn't have a problem with the publicity Bisping has received along the way.

"You know, what are you going to say, man?" he said. "The guy's gotten a big push, you know, and he's done what he's supposed to do to get his push."

One of the reasons Bisping gets a lot of attention is his mouth. He often can't resist publicly mocking other fighters. He has even been accused of taking cheap shots at a reporter at a postfight press conference. McCarthy says Bisping is disrespectful.