(Kelsoburn.gif via Kennedy’s twitter.)
For what has felt like years now, middleweight contenders Michael Bisping and Tim Kennedy have been locked in a (revolutionary?) Twitter war, throwing petty and occasionally hilarious insults at one another like the sweet burn seen above. For a while, the dispute held about as much credibility as your average internet argument, as neither man seemed truly willing to sign on the dotted line. With Bisping out nursing an ironic eye injury and Kennedy busy picking off Brazilians like they were members of Al Qaeda, the digital back and forth quickly began to lose steam amongst MMA fans with Twitter accounts and unlimited free time.
Earlier this month, however, Bisping was cleared by his doctor to resume fighting and was immediately offered a bout with Kennedy. Yesterday morning, Fox Sports broke the news that Kennedy and Bisping have finally set a tentative date for their grudge match: April 16th, at the TUF Nations finale (no, I don’t know what the fuck a TUF Nations is either). Kennedy confirmed the matchup via his Twitter, and barring the results of Bisping’s upcoming tests with the UFC’s doctors, this fight is all but a lock. At the risk of sounding jingoistic…(*clears throat*)…USA! USA! USA!!
As previously mentioned, Bisping has been out of action since picking up a technical decision win over Alan Belcher in *their* grudge match at UFC 159. As is typically the case in a Bisping grudge match, the fight featured its fair share of eye pokes, taunts, and probably a loogie or two. Kennedy, on the other hand, recently scored a first round knockout over Rafael Natal at Fight for the Troops 3 back in November, improving his UFC record to 2-0. Natal has yet to confirm or deny whether loogies were hocked during the main event matchup.
Will this be a slugfest for the ages, Nation? Or will Kennedy vs. Bisping suffer the same fate as the last great supposed grudge match, MacDonald vs. Ellenberger, and suck beyond all belief?