The UFC is growing rapidly, and was perfectly lined up to get even bigger in the next year. Unfortunately for Dana White, and MMA fans in general, there is a rapidly shrinking list of “star” fighters that the UFC can count on to attract fan…
The UFC is growing rapidly, and was perfectly lined up to get even bigger in the next year. Unfortunately for Dana White, and MMA fans in general, there is a rapidly shrinking list of “star” fighters that the UFC can count on to attract fans. Chuck Liddell is gone. Randy Couture is gone. The careers of other brand-name fighters like Matt Hughes, Wanderlei Silva, Kenny Florian and BJ Penn are all undeniably approaching an end.
On top of that, the UFC’s single biggest PPV draw, Brock Lesnar, after his UFC 141 loss to Alistair Overeem and it is highly unlikely that his decision will change (which often happens in the UFC). The second biggest draw, seemingly-unstoppable Welterweight Champion, Georges St-Pierre, recently underwent major surgery on his knee. There are rumbles that this injury could be career-ending, and whether or not this proves true, it is difficult to believe GSP will come back as the same fighter that remains undefeated since April 2007, even though he anticipates a November 2012 return. To top it all off, #1 Pound-for-Pound fighter, and UFC Middleweight Champion, Anderson Silva is apparently planning to retire after his current UFC contract expires, which is likely to occur in 2013.
With only one dependable draw that is immediately available (Light Heavyweight Champion Jon Jones) the UFC needs to build their fighters’ brands. Quickly. Luckily, they have a deep pool of talent, both young and old, that they can work with.
UFC on FOX 2 may be headlined by Phil Davis and Rashad Evans, but Chael Sonnen or Michael Bisping may just steal the show come Saturday. The two brash and talkative middleweights will be fighting for a shot at reigning middleweight champion, Ander…
UFC on FOX 2 may be headlined by Phil Davis and Rashad Evans, but Chael Sonnen or Michael Bisping may just steal the show come Saturday.
The two brash and talkative middleweights will be fighting for a shot at reigning middleweight champion, Anderson Silva. While Sonnen has his doubts that the match will ever come to fruition, Dana White has assured fans that the winner of this match will definitely get a fight against Silva, most likely in the summer.
So while Davis and Evans claim main event status, Bisping vs Sonnen is more important. The winner could very well be the next middleweight champion.
Sonnen is the heavy favorite (at least according to Vegas) going into the fight and his first fight with the champion has been well-documented.
Sonnen was able to challenge Silva in a way that no one has before, dominating the champ for the large majority of the fight before succumbing to a triangle choke/armbar submission late in the fifth and final round.
A rematch would be, as Sonnen himself called it, “the biggest rematch in the business” and a fight that many have clamored for since their first fight in August of 2010.
The question is, can Sonnen do it again?
Obviously Sonnen’s submission defense is questionable at best and his return matchup against Brian Stann didn’t do much to show improvement in that area as Stann isn’t much of a submission artist.
However, Sonnen was able to remain busy against Stann and continually looked to improve position, a stark difference from his fight against Silva when he was content to sit in Silva’s guard—something that cost him in the end.
Should Bisping pull the upset, Silva will probably breath a sigh of relief. However, Bisping could present a threat to the champion.
For years it has seemed like Bisping has been kept away from upper-echelon opponents and has failed to find success against good competition when he has had the opportunity. A win over Sonnen would show major improvement.
A year ago, this fight would be a no brainer. You could bet your house that Silva would easily dispose of Bisping, probably in spectacular fashion. The times they are a-changing though and SIlva’s age may finally be catching up to him.
With Silva’s repeated retirement talk and continuous issues with injuries it is hard to tell if his skills will decline over the last fights of his career.
As Fedor Emelianenko has shown, even legends can have their skills diminish and when it happens, it happens quickly.
Bisping is a huge middleweight and he would have to work extremely hard on his wrestling but if he shows to be skillful enough to get past Sonnen it is feasible he could give Silva a run for his money, especially if Silva has retirement on the brain.
Either way, Anderson Silva will have a legitimate threat emerge from UFC on FOX 2.
CHICAGO — Watch below as Chael Sonnen talks about his UFC on FOX 2 fight against Michael Bisping, the mutual respect between the fighters, the pressure on him to always deliver a sound byte, why he has no respect for a certain MMA media member, and why he won’t be walking out to the cage with WWE champion CM Punk.
CHICAGO — Watch below as Chael Sonnen talks about his UFC on FOX 2 fight against Michael Bisping, the mutual respect between the fighters, the pressure on him to always deliver a sound byte, why he has no respect for a certain MMA media member, and why he won’t be walking out to the cage with WWE champion CM Punk.
In the lead up to his fight with Michael Bisping at UFC on Fox 2, the usual smack-talk that emanates from the oral orifice of Chael Sonnen has thus far been near non-existent, however, one person who can turn his verbal taps on, is none other than his …
In the lead up to his fight with Michael Bisping at UFC on Fox 2, the usual smack-talk that emanates from the oral orifice of Chael Sonnen has thus far been near non-existent, however, one person who can turn his verbal taps on, is none other than his arch nemesis UFC (Ultimate Fighting Championship) middleweight champion Anderson Silva, whom he suggested was akin to Mike Tyson—fake.
[…] “Anderson Silva is as fake as Mike Tyson was. They called him the hardest, ‘the baddest man in the world’ but he wasn’t even the toughest guy in America and we had to sit through and listen to that over and over again as he fought lots of tomato cans. Anderson Silva has no interested in the fight with me and I don’t know what his deal is …” Sonnen said in a recent interview with Telegraph Sport.
The Oregon native has been spoiling for a rematch with the 185-pound kingpin ever since his near miss at capturing the title back at UFC 117. Sonnen has goaded, berated and thrown everything at Silva save for the kitchen sink to get another tilt at the belt, but still no joy.
As consequence, he’s given up hope of ever contesting with the Brazilian denizen and instead has turned his attentions to two other UFC titlists—welterweight champ Georges St. Pierre and 205-pound kingpin Jon Jones.
[…] “If I win this contest on Saturday I will become the number one contender and I intend to fight either GSP or Jon Jones.”
“Don’t ask me whether the GSP fights will be at welterweight – just ask me on Sunday after the Bisping fight and I will answer that question for you then.”
“If Mike [Bisping] wins, he might get his shot at Anderson Silva, but I’m out of the picture. I’ve given him four opportunities and he’s turned them all down. I’m not giving him a fifth chance. Anderson Silva and I will not cross paths again in a fighting arena – ever.”
“You will have to talk to Anderson Silva to ask him why he has turned down the rematch with me. For me, it’s plain and simple. I will fight with anyone at the weight class – Anderson Silva is just a closet champion.”
Still, Sonnen is quite aware of the fact that if he defeats Bisping in several days time, he automatically attains the position of No. 1 contender to “The Spiders” crown. And if that transpires a rematch is more or less in the offing as UFC President Dana White said recently.
“I 100 percent guarantee you, if Chael Sonnen wins this fight, Anderson Silva will fight Sonnen this summer,” White told ESPN.
With that said, the upcoming Chicago event was abruptly interrupted following news that his original opponent, Mark Munoz, had to pull out due to an elbow injury sustained whilst training, thus thrusting Bisping into the title eliminator bout with less than a fortnight to go.
According to Sonnen, however, the prospect of locking horns with Bisping on short notice holds no real significance—to him it’s just another fight.
Both combatants are renowned for their abrasive trash-talking and that per se, would likely be enough to generate the public’s interest in their co-main event matchup. However, Sonnen sees it differently.
“You are asking me why there is so much interest in my fighting Michael Bisping, all I can say is this – they always come out in their droves to watch me fight. It doesn’t make any difference to me that Bisping is a new opponent for me at 11 days notice.”
“I’m from a wrestling background and you never know who you are going to be up against. Since I was nine years old every weekend I would jump in the truck with my dad and we would go to wrestling tournaments all over the place.”
“Whoever shows up, you fight. I’ve fought nine guys in a day before now and not known anything about any of them even though I’ve been fighting one after the other 20 minutes apart.”
“So who cares whether I was facing Mark Munoz and now I’m facing Michael Bisping in Chicago.”
“Who cares? I really don’t care who the opponent is,” Sonnen said.
UFC on Fox 2 is scheduled for Jan. 28, 2012, at the United Center in Chicago, Illinois.
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Our friend Marcos Villegas over at FightHubTV caught up with Michael Bisping ahead of his UFC on Fox 1 middleweight contender match-up this weekend and the brash Brit is not surprisingly confident of his chances Saturday night against Chael Sonnen, who he has been preparing to fight his whole life apparently.
“Well, you know…um… it’s a difficult match-up. There’s no two ways about it. Chael Sonnen is widely regarded as the number one contender and he’s closing in on a match with Anderson Silva. I was training for Demian Maia, who himself is a very, very dangerous opponent. He actually holds a very good win over Chael Sonnen. Demian Maia submitted Chael Sonnen. I’ve been training hard — as hard as humanly possible, to be honest, for my fight with Demian Maia. A fight with Chael Sonnen, there’s a lot of people out there who don’t want to take that fight,” he explained. “I didn’t think about it for a second. I jumped at the opportunity. I’m a fighter. This is what I do and I want to have the title. A lot of people said, ‘Oh, you’ve only got a week to prepare.’ I disagree. I’ve been preparing for this my whole life. I’ve been training in martial arts since I was about nine years old; I’ve been training hard for this fight. It doesn’t mean anything. At the end of the day, I don’t care about the style, we’re gonna get in there and fight and it’s gonna be who’s the better fighter. I believe I’m the better fighter, but we’ll see what happens…I believe this is my destiny to be world champion and Chael Sonnen’s in my way.”
(Video courtesy of YouTube/FightHubTV)
Our friend Marcos Villegas over at FightHubTV caught up with Michael Bisping ahead of his UFC on Fox 1 middleweight contender match-up this weekend and the brash Brit is not surprisingly confident of his chances Saturday night against Chael Sonnen, who he has been preparing to fight his whole life apparently.
“Well, you know…um… it’s a difficult match-up. There’s no two ways about it. Chael Sonnen is widely regarded as the number one contender and he’s closing in on a match with Anderson Silva. I was training for Demian Maia, who himself is a very, very dangerous opponent. He actually holds a very good win over Chael Sonnen. Demian Maia submitted Chael Sonnen. I’ve been training hard — as hard as humanly possible, to be honest, for my fight with Demian Maia. A fight with Chael Sonnen, there’s a lot of people out there who don’t want to take that fight,” he explained. “I didn’t think about it for a second. I jumped at the opportunity. I’m a fighter. This is what I do and I want to have the title. A lot of people said, ‘Oh, you’ve only got a week to prepare.’ I disagree. I’ve been preparing for this my whole life. I’ve been training in martial arts since I was about nine years old; I’ve been training hard for this fight. It doesn’t mean anything. At the end of the day, I don’t care about the style, we’re gonna get in there and fight and it’s gonna be who’s the better fighter. I believe I’m the better fighter, but we’ll see what happens…I believe this is my destiny to be world champion and Chael Sonnen’s in my way.”
“There’s a lot of people out there who wouldn’t have taken this fight, but that’s precisely why I’m gonna win, because I did take this fight because I’ve got the balls and I’m gonna back it up,” Bisping says. “Ultimately it doesn’t matter [who the fans like or hate]. I couldn’t care less who’s the hero, who’s the heel, who’s liked, who’s not. There’s a lot on the line this fight. A world title shot is on the line. I couldn’t give a shit who the fans are cheering for. All I care about is winning.”
As for how he sees the fight playing out, “The Count” seems to think his, er… superior striking will decide the match, in spite of the fact that he has yet to knock out a UFC opponent.
“Chael Sonnen is an outstanding wrestler. There’s no two ways about it. I’ve fought a lot of good wrestlers in my UFC career and this fight will be just like al the others. I’m gonna go out there and look to keep it on the feet and I’ll look to knock him out — as simple as that. He’s gonna be a tough test. I’m under no false illusions about that. He’s an amazing wrestler, but like I said, I think I’m a better fighter. I want it more. Nobody wants this as bad as me. I believe I can stop his takedowns,” he predicts. “If he does take me down, I believe I can submit him on the ground. If I can’t get the submission, I’ll get back to my feet. Nobody gets back to their feet as well as me in the UFC and I’ll show that [Saturday].Of course he’s probably going to get takedowns. Like I said, I’ll get back up, but for the most part I’ll shrug off most of his takedowns, he’ll wear, I’ll start landing punches and soon he’ll fall to the floor. Chael Sonnen is probably going to look to control me on the floor and ground-and-pound me, which he’s very good at. I’m not gonna let that happen. I’m gonna work back to my feet, I’m gonna turn the tables, I’m gonna look for the knockout.”
He may be looking for a while since Sonnen has never been knocked out in his MMA career. But this is MMA and there’s always a first for anything, right. Ah, who the hell are we kidding. It ain’t happening Mike, so you should probably come up with a “Plan B.” And FYI, you can just say “Chael,” or “Sonnen” or even “he,” instead of saying his full name every time you mention him. We know who you’re referring to. You’re welcome.
Filed under: UFCCHICAGO — The UFC arrived in town Wednesday, settling down in the south side of the city inside a hearty, no-frills boxing gym to kick off the UFC on FOX 2 fight week festivities leading up to Saturday’s event at the United Center.
CHICAGO — The UFC arrived in town Wednesday, settling down in the south side of the city inside a hearty, no-frills boxing gym to kick off the UFC on FOX 2 fight week festivities leading up to Saturday’s event at the United Center.
Gathering inside a muggy room with two boxing rings inside the Chicago Boxing Club gym, Rashad Evans, Phil Davis and the main attractions took turns working out for the media.
The main event on Saturday features two lively personalities in Evans and Davis and much has been made of their willingness to embrace in pre-fight verbal sparring sessions. However, three days removed from their light heavyweight tilt, the two appeared to be in a different mind frame. Perhaps they were saving their material for Thursday’s official press conference or the two were simply eager to fight. But gone from the former champion Evans’ demeanor on Wednesday was his energetic playfulness prominent at last month’s press conference that landed him in hot water.
Instead, Evans completed his shadowboxing and padwork without a hint of a smile. Evans turned on a friendly attitude once he began speaking to the press but even then the Chicago resident was mostly soft-spoken.
Davis, a slight underdog heading into the fight, presented himself as a confident competitor and sounded as self-assured as ever. The unbeaten 27-year-old spoke about benefiting from his lengthy layoff by having greatly improved in his MMA fundamentals.
“He might have outstruck me a year ago,” Davis said. “I don’t know if that’s going to happen on Saturday.”
Evans acknowledged the likelihood of seeing an improved Davis, but insisted he already understands the basics of Davis’ movement and cadence inside the cage.
Former middleweight title challenger Chael Sonnen chose to handle the media interviews prior to working out, welcoming a discussion with reporters on everything from his fight against Michael Bisping to his political stance to possibly voting for Brian Stann as a write-in candidate.
Sonnen shrugged off the challenges of having initially prepared for Mark Munoz, stating he doesn’t believe in things such as a “gameplan” anyway. And contrary to what the UFC is saying, Sonnen also reiterated his belief that a rematch against champion Anderson Silva won’t materialize even if Sonnen emerges victorious Saturday.
“The title shot is not going to happen, I’m all for the marketing, I’ll get behind it as much as the UFC wants to, but that’s not going to happen.” Sonnen said. “I’d rather go to Brazil, maybe Vitor [Belfort] or somebody else …. But Silva is not getting in there with me.”
The strength of British middleweight contender Bisping lies in his effective boxing and he spent his entire workout primarily on his striking with trainer Tiki Ghosn on the mitts.
Judging from their workouts, the wrestling-centric Chris Weidman and jiu-jitsu specialist Demian Maia are anticipating a ground war. Weidman practiced a variety fundamental wrestling takedowns — single-legs, double-legs, trips, ankle picks, etc. with training parter and Strikeforce fighter Gian Villante. The 2007 ADCC grapplng champion Maia was the rare fighter to incorporate jiu-jitsu into his workout for the press.
Embracing this grand opportunity, Weidman was in such positive spirits that you wouldn’t have guessed he’s in the process of a difficult weight cut. His camp admits the one-week notice has been challenging on their preparations but assures Weidman will be on target come Friday’s weigh-in.
Following the workouts, former WEC champ Miguel Torres and UFC on FOX 2 competitor Mike Russow spoke with teens about the importance of staying focused and avoiding the temptations of drugs and alcohol. After the brief talk, Torres guided the teens through boxing drills.
UFC on FOX 2 may be headlined by Phil Davis and Rashad Evans, but Chael Sonnen or Michael Bisping may just steal the show come Saturday. 
CHICAGO — The UFC arrived in town Wednesday, settling down in the south side of the city inside a hearty, no-frills boxing gym to kick off the