On Wednesday afternoon, the UFC released the list of medical suspensions from UFC on FX 7. Suspensions were handed down to 10 fighters by the Comissa Atletica Brasileira de MMA, a new regulatory body that will handle these affairs for Brazilian events….
On Wednesday afternoon, the UFC released the list of medical suspensions from UFC on FX 7. Suspensions were handed down to 10 fighters by the Comissa Atletica Brasileira de MMA, a new regulatory body that will handle these affairs for Brazilian events.
The list of suspended fighters (via MMAweekly.com) includes headliner Michael Bisping and co-main event fighter Daniel Sarafian.
Suspensions of 180 days were handed to preliminary fighters Diego Nunes, Wagner Prado and C.J. Keith, although each fighter has the ability to be cleared sooner by a physician.
The full list of suspensions is as follows:
Michael Bisping: Suspended 60 days with no contact for 45 days
Daniel Sarafian: Suspended 30 days with no contact for 21 days
Ben Rothwell: Suspended 30 days with no contact for 21 days
Thiago Tavares: Suspended 60 days with no contact for 45 days
Milton Vieira: Suspended 30 days with no contact for 21 days
Diego Nunes: Suspended 180 days unless cleared by a Maxillofacial Surgeon; he is also suspended 30 days with no contact for 21 days
Lucas Martins: Suspended 30 days with no contact for 21 days
Pedro Nobre: Suspended 60 days with no contact for 45 days
Wagner Prado: Suspended 180 days unless his left knee is cleared by physician following MRI; he is also suspended 30 days with no contact for 21 days.
C.J. Keith: Suspended 180 days unless his right knee is cleared by a physician following an MRI.
It is interesting to note that not a single winner from the event was given any sort of suspension.
Preliminary card fighter Andrew Craig is the only loser from the evening who did not receive any sort of suspension. Craig went three full rounds against Ronny Markes and came up short on the judges scorecards.
UFC on FX 7 took place on January 19 at the Ibierapuera Arena in Sao Paulo, Brazil.
Even though Hector Lombard has been scheduled to fight Yushin Okami—a man no one should underestimate—he can’t seem to stop talking about how badly he wants to fight Michael Bisping.During his time on The MMA Hour, when talking about …
Even though Hector Lombard has been scheduled to fight YushinOkami—a man no one should underestimate—he can’t seem to stop talking about how badly he wants to fight Michael Bisping.
During his time on The MMA Hour, when talking about Bisping, Lombard said: “I’m really trying to push this fight because I’m not sure it’s going to happen.”
Their dislike for each other began when Lombard was signed and talk began to circulate that should he win his first fight under the Zuffa banner, he would get a title shot.
This, of course, prompted Bisping to take some shots at Lombard, and the back-and-forth between them began.
We’ve seen fighters campaign to make fights in the past and it’s always a good thing if they are willing to drum up some interest; god knows it makes Joe Silva’s job easier if there is already some demand for said fights.
Perhaps it’s the new wave of fight promotion, but I can’t seem to shake the notion that it’s a bad idea to be looking at potential fighters too far ahead of time when your next opponent is working hard in the gym to take your head off.
Stylistically, they both look about even in the grappling department and from there, one could say that Lombard has the heavier hands, so perhaps he expects that his fight with Okami will turn into a brawl and from there his punching power will carry the day.
But nothing is a given in this sport; Lombard was lackluster in his debut and ended up losing to Tim Boetsch in a fight he could have and probably should have won via some kind of finish.
Against Okami, he’ll be facing a tenacious grappler who’s going to be coming into their bout with good conditioning and a grinder’s mentality.
If Lombard doesn’t get the finish by the middle of Round 2, has he focused on his training enough to pick up the pace? Or will he prove that his attention was really on other things and grow tired and slow-footed and allow Okami to outwork him for a decision victory?
Lombard came into the UFC with a great deal of hype and much of that died when Tim Boetsch got his hand raised. Since then, he’s disposed of one opponent (in great fashion) and done a lot of talking.
Getting the public invested in a bad-blood feud has proven to be one way to lead the UFC matchmakers in the direction they want to go, but none of that means anything until you finish the meal that’s in front of you.
UFC title shots don’t come easy, and no one knows this better than perennial middleweight contender Michael Bisping.The longtime UFC star has hovered around the top of the middleweight division for years, but he has yet to earn a title shot.It isn’t li…
UFC title shots don’t come easy, and no one knows this better than perennial middleweight contender Michael Bisping.
The longtime UFC star has hovered around the top of the middleweight division for years, but he has yet to earn a title shot.
It isn’t like the UFC hasn’t given him every opportunity to get over the hump.
After losing to Chael Sonnen in January 2012, Bisping received his second title eliminator bout in a year against Vitor Belfort at UFC on FX 7. The name was different, but in the end, the result was the same.
Bisping saw another title opportunity slip from his grasp after a second round knockout loss.
“I have no excuses. I had a fantastic training camp, and I felt very confident that I was going to win this fight,” Bisping told UFC commentator Jon Anik after the fight. “He caught me, and he was a better man than me tonight. You win some, you lose some. I am not going away. Trust me, I’m going to be back. I’ll be back at the top of this pile before you [expletive] know it.”
No one questions Bisping’s ability to come back strong and make another run at the UFC title. He is a proven world-class fighter with the skills needed to oust any middle of the pack hopeful looking to break into upper-echelon territory.
The problem for Bisping lies in a tendency to shrink in the spotlight. For whatever reason, he can’t seem to overcome the hurdle of defeating upper-echelon UFC opposition, and he certainly isn’t alone.
Here are 10 UFC fighters who never got over the hump to earn a title shot.
Brock Lesnar burst onto the scene. He was the most feared man in the UFC, he was the future of pay-per-view and everyone in the world was waiting to see what would happen next. Then, he lost, got injured and faded away.There comes a time every year whe…
Brock Lesnar burst onto the scene. He was the most feared man in the UFC, he was the future of pay-per-view and everyone in the world was waiting to see what would happen next. Then, he lost, got injured and faded away.
There comes a time every year where we find ourselves wondering, “What the heck happened to so-and-so?”
Were they outmatched in their fights? Did they get banged up? Or like Joe Pesci in Goodfellas, was it just their time to go?
It seems like all fighters fall victim to at least one of three things at the end of their career: time, injuries or a string of bad luck. Regardless of which one of the three it is, it’s inevitable that every year we unofficially have to say goodbye to fighters who run the risk of no longer being relevant in a division. Sure, we’ll catch them on an undercard again and maybe even the first fight of a UFC PPV, but their days of headlining are over.
Here are the top seven fighters that could fade away in 2013.
Going into UFC on FX 7, the odds weren’t exactly favorable for Michael Bisping. Bisping had the daunting task of being the underdog against not only a raucous crowd, but also an intimidating opponent in Vitor Belfort—in Belfort’s home…
Going into UFC on FX 7, the odds weren’t exactly favorable for Michael Bisping. Bisping had the daunting task of being the underdog against not only a raucous crowd, but also an intimidating opponent in VitorBelfort—in Belfort’s home country nonetheless. Furthermore, all of this was with the current middleweight champion, Anderson Silva, sitting ringside.
What was expected by many to be an exciting slugfest between two of the UFC’s toughest, most high-profile middleweights turned out to be a stunning knockout victory for the Rio deJaneiro native. After a first round filled with solid strike exchanges, the fight was ended with 1:27 left in the second round by a thunderous head kick from Belfort.
Classily, Bisping had this to say after the fight:
Congratulations to Vitor. I had an amazing training camp. I felt fantastic. It was a beautiful kick. He caught me and he was a better man than me tonight. You win some; you lose some. I am not going away.
While Bisping may not be going away anytime soon, his chances of being considered “elite” are certainly starting to dissipate. Sure, his overall record (24-5) is impressive, but Bisping will be 34 years old in February and it is starting to look like his recent up-and-down MMA career is on the verge of decline.
Consider this: Seven of Bisping’s 13 wins in the UFC have come against fighters who are no longer associated with the franchise, meaning that he is 6-5 against fighters of his degree—a much less impressive statistic.
After a hard-fought victory over “The All-American,” Brian Stann, on UFC 152, many thought that Bisping was well on the road to a title shot, and UFC President Dana White later promised that the Englishman would get his chance with a win over Belfort. Well, obviously, Belfort and his left leg had a much different plan.
“The Count” is 1-2 in his last three fights after a four-fight win streak dating back to May 2010 with his victory over Dan Miller. After a 14-0 start to his professional MMA career, it is evident that Bisping is not the fighter he used to be, and it looks like his glory days may be over and done with.
It leaves one wondering how and if a win over Belfort would have changed the general public’s opinion of Bisping’s career. While it is unlikely that he would’ve beaten the dominant champion, Anderson Silva, a win against a fighter the level of Belfort would have made a strong case for the argument that Bisping is an elite MMA fighter.
While Bisping may not get another title opportunity, he will likely have a couple of more big fights in his career, largely due to his infamous trash-talking. His always opinionated mouth has recently cooked up a bit of beef with two other middleweight standouts in the UFC, Chris Weidman and Tim Boetsch.
With Weidman out with an elbow injury and Boetsch recently losing to Costa Philippou, the race to be considered the top contender in the UFC’s middleweight division was wide open for Bisping, but it is clear that he just was not quite good enough. This opens the door for a potential matchup between Bisping and one of his fellow middleweight counterparts, Boetsch and Weidman, which would certainly make for an exciting middleweight showdown.
As I said earlier, Bisping will probably have a couple of more big fights in his career, but I believe it is more because of his persona and ability to get under people’s skin, rather than his skill level as a fighter.
Don’t get me wrong, Bisping is still an above-average fighter and is one of the better fighters in the UFC today, but I am not sold on him as an elite fighter. He will likely go down as a very good fighter, but not an elite one.
It’s hard to see a good man turned away, but in the world of combative sports, it’s something we just have to accept. After all, MMA is a sport based on men being turned away; one day you’re the hammer, the next day you’re the n…
It’s hard to see a good man turned away, but in the world of combative sports, it’s something we just have to accept. After all, MMA is a sport based on men being turned away; one day you’re the hammer, the next day you’re the nail.
Before we go any deeper, yes, I think Michael Bisping is a good man. Cocky as hell and one of the louder purveyors of smack-talk, but overall he seems to be a good guy in a tough sport, fighting to get what all fighters want: a title shot.
After another setback last night, at the hands of Vitor Belfort, we are left to wonder just how many angles Bisping can approach this from before he finds the formula that’s going to see him win a crack at the belt.
Thus far he’s developed a style that plays to his strengths, and it’s allowed him to win far more than he loses, but if it can’t push him into title contention, then it’s time to mix things up a bit.
Bisping has got a solid base to rebuild from, but what direction is he going to go?
The list of suspended fighters (via MMAweekly.com) includes headliner Michael Bisping and co-main event fighter Daniel Sarafian.