UFC 148 will feature a bout between Michael “The Count” Bisping (22-4) and Tim “The Barbarian” Boetsch (15-4) when it takes place at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas this coming July 7.
Here’s a short primer on the two fighters courtesy of Tristen Critchfield in his article for Sherdog.com:
Boetsch left the light heavyweight division following a submission loss to Phil Davis at UFC 123. He defeated Kendall Grove via unanimous nod in his middleweight debut at UFC 130 and followed that performance with a three-round triumph against Nick Ring last September. The AMC Pankration representative achieved the signature victory of his career in earning a technical knockout over Okami at UFC 144, overwhelming the Japanese fighter with a third-round flurry to force a stoppage.
Bisping saw a four-fight winning streak come to an end when he was outpointed by Chael Sonnen at UFC on Fox 2, with the loss costing him a shot at middleweight king Anderson Silva. “The Count” parted ways with his longtime gym Wolfslair Academy shortly thereafter. The Englishman’s 12 victories inside the Octagon puts him 11th on the UFC’s all-time wins list.
The two fighters’ respective last fights showed contrasting results.
Boetsch was beaten up by Okami in the first two rounds until he lived up to his nickname and went barbaric and finished the Japanese fighter for a dramatic come-from-behind victory.
Bisping, on the other hand, was in a close fight until he got taken down in the pivotal third and last round, spending most of it on his back fending top man Sonnen’s attacks inside his guard, eventually losing by decision.
The Count, despite the loss, impressed fans and gained more support—even earning the begrudged respect of his critics—for keeping it a close, competitive fight against Sonnen.
What was also significantly remarkable was Bisping’s dramatic improvement in the wrestling department, both in defense and offense.
He even took down Sonnen inside the last minute of the third and final round. (It should be noted, though, that he already showed improved wrestling versus Jorge Rivera, but giving Sonnen a hard time should give Bisping’s sharpening skill a much higher appraisal.)
Bisping’s superiority in the striking aspect and his still underrated (?) wrestling skill will teach Boetsch a thing or two about elite MMA fighting—as long as The Count doesn’t get overconfident and count the always dangerous Barbarian out.
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