If you’ve been anywhere around the MMA world, or if you’ve visited any MMA-related page/group on Facebook, or if you’ve followed any MMA fans on Twitter, you probably have already noticed the number of people who are openly calling for a Jason “Mayhem” Miller win over Season 3 light heavyweight winner and perennial UFC middleweight mainstay, Michael Bisping.
Most fans know that Bisping wants to stand with Miller, and Miller wants to take the fight to the ground, as many have questioned his ability to put anything behind his shots based on his performances in previous bouts. However, despite knowing what Bisping can do, some fans still believe that Miller is the man who will prevail on Saturday.
Thus, the question, “Are fans giving Mayhem too much of a chance over Bisping?” must be what we ask right off the bat—it’s a question that can be answered without flying off the handle and making ourselves look as though we know less about this sport than we actually do.
What’s the simple answer to this question?
The answer is no. Fans are not giving Mayhem too much of a chance over Bisping, and considering Mayhem’s last UFC bout ended in a lopsided loss to Georges St-Pierre, it’s a wonder how many people are truly giving Mayhem that much of a chance to win.
Sure, it’s a fight, and sure, Mayhem can beat Bisping, but most of the fan support for Mayhem is really nothing more than a brigade of fight fans who want Mayhem to be the second coach in TUF history to beat Bisping’s face in, once the real “Coaches’ Challenge” begins.
It’s not a bad thing, nor is it really a ridiculous thing, if you think about it.
Mayhem is a diverse striker with a solid BJJ arsenal and an attitude that throws some fighters off, but his attitude is also one that’s gotten as much under Bisping’s skin as Bisping has gotten under Mayhem’s skin.
While somewhere in the neighborhood of a wildly-uneducated guess of 75 percent of the pro-Mayhem side of the MMA world just wants to see Bisping lose again, there’s a margin of fight fans who legitimately think that in the stylistic breakdown of the fight, Mayhem really can get the job done.
It’s a small margin, and it’s hard-pressing to find those who fit in with that small percentage of people who seriously see this as a stylistically better fight for Mayhem than it is for Bisping, but it’s an honest opinion that there are some people who think that this fight is legitimately a bad one for Bisping.
In any event, the fight this Saturday will go how it will go, and the better man will win—but fight fans on the pro-Mayhem or the anti-Bisping side of the spectrum will be satisfied with the fact that no matter what happens, Bisping will at least get hit by Mayhem at least four times before the fight ends.
The only question left to answer now is, can Mayhem put himself on the better end of the fight after finally landing one punch to Bisping’s face?
Read more MMA news on BleacherReport.com