Anderson Silva has smashed records and defeated all comers in his five-year reign as UFC middleweight champion, but his work at 185-pounds is far from over, at least according to Michael Bisping.
“The Count” recently sat down with MMAWeekly.com to talk about Silva, the UFC middleweight title and coaching opposite of Jason “Mayhem” Miller on season 14 of the “Ultimate Fighter.”
“I do get frustrated when I hear people say that Anderson Silva’s wiped out the middleweight division. He hasn’t wiped out the middleweight division. He hasn’t fought me yet. I feel I match up very well with him,” said Bisping.
Since dropping to middleweight in April 2008, Bisping has amassed a 7-2 record with notable wins over Yoshihiro Akiyama, Denis Kang, Dan Miller and Chris Leben.
He has always been a well-rounded fighter, but lately, he has shown great improvements in his boxing, footwork and head movement. The knockout loss to Dan Henderson seems to have taught the Brit a lot about octagon awareness and staying away from your opponent’s power hand.
“I’m not disrespecting Anderson. Anderson rightly so is regarded as the pound-for-pound best in the world, and I’m a big fan of him. But I feel like I’d give him a good fight, and I feel I match up a lot better with him than a lot of the other fighters he’s faced,” Bisping said.
Bisping certainly couldn’t do any worse than Yushin Okami, who completely abandoned his game plan and opted to stand and trade with Silva at UFC 134.
While a championship match with Silva is Bisping’s ultimate goal, he remains focused on the task ahead. Since finishing his coaching duties on the “Ultimate Fighter”, Bisping has been hard at work preparing for his upcoming showdown with Miller at the finale on December 3.
“Maybe beating Miller is the guy. I mean I’ve got a decent streak. I’ve only been beaten once at middleweight. I’ve been around the UFC for a long time. I’ve beaten tough guys consistently for a long time. I feel like I’m going to get a title shot real, real soon,” said Bisping.
Would beating a guy like Miller be enough to earn Bisping a UFC title shot?
It’s really tough to say. There are other fighters waiting in the wings for a shot at Silva including Dan Henderson, Chael Sonnen, Brian Stann, Alan Belcher, Mark Munoz and Vitor Belfort.
The one thing Bisping has on his side is the fact that he hasn’t faced Silva yet. A fresh contender taking on the seemingly unstoppable Brazilian is always an intriguing factor, but it would take a really impressive showing from Bisping to leapfrog guys like Henderson, Sonnen and Belfort.
Even though he hopes for a title shot, Bisping hasn’t lost sight of his overall objective, which is to keep winning fights. If he keeps winning, he will eventually get the title shot that has always eluded him.
“Hopefully, I beat Miller, I do a good job, I do it in style. Who knows? Maybe that will get me the title shot,” said Bisping. “If not, definitely I think one more fight and I should get that shot pretty soon.”
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