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Belfort vs Bisping: Does Michael Bisping Deserve a Title Shot with a Win?

Michael Bisping has a title shot awaiting him if he can defeat Vitor Belfort at the UFC on FX 7 event. Dana White has made it very well known that Bisping is only one win away from securing that elusive UFC title shot.But does Bisping even deserve a ti…

But does Bisping even deserve a title shot if he defeats Belfort?

Let’s start by examining Bisping‘s quality of opposition in his last few fights. The Englishman holds wins over Brian Stann, Jason Miller and Jorge Rivera in his last four fights. Stann is certainly a quality fighter, but he’s been a fringe top-10 middleweight during his UFC tenure. Miller clearly wasn’t ready to fight in the Octagon and Rivera should’ve never been competing against Bisping in the first place.

Bisping also has a loss to former middleweight contender Chael Sonnen mixed in as well.

Based on his resume alone, it’s hard to claim Bisping deserves a title fight after beating the aforementioned names. Still, a win over both Belfort and Stann gives Bisping two quality wins in his last few outings along with an admirable performance against Sonnen last year.

What will help Bisping‘s cause the most is the lack of credible challengers in the 185-pound division. Anderson Silva has rampaged through the division for years and at this point it’s hard to see anyone as having a chance to dethrone “The Spider.”

With Chris Weidman on the shelf due to a shoulder injury, both Tim Boetsch and Alan Belcher losing at UFC 155, and Yushin Okami (who was already destroyed once by Silva) managing to sap the excitement out of any arena, the door is wide open for Bisping to move into the No. 1 contender spot.

If we are going just on fight resume alone then you’d have to say Bisping hasn’t beaten enough quality opposition to slide into a title shot, but with a lack of challengers and putting two-straight credible wins in a row, it would be hard for the UFC to justify a title shot to anyone else.

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UFC on FX 7 Prospect Watch: Five Things Fans Must Know About Lucas Martins

Lucas “Mineiro” Martins flies under the radar as a prospect, but does the kid hold promise as a name to watch in the lightweight division? You better believe he does.Martins will present his skill set to the MMA world on the Fuel TV portion of UFC on F…

Lucas “Mineiro” Martins flies under the radar as a prospect, but does the kid hold promise as a name to watch in the lightweight division? You better believe he does.

Martins will present his skill set to the MMA world on the Fuel TV portion of UFC on FX 7, when he combats 10-1 phenom and fellow Brazilian prospect Edson Barboza. The bout marks the first of 2013 for both fighters, and we already know plenty about what Barboza brings to the table.

However, aside from B/R Featured Columnist Levi Nile’s expert breakdown of the fight itself, what should we know about Martins?

“He’s fighting Barboza” won’t suffice, folks, so let me educate you, if I may.

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Power Ranking Michael Bisping’s UFC Performances

Michael Bisping has had a respectable UFC career, picking up 13 wins in six full years with the organization.That being said, the Englishman is still in search of his first shot at UFC gold, which he could earn with a win over Vitor Belfort at UFC on F…

Michael Bisping has had a respectable UFC career, picking up 13 wins in six full years with the organization.

That being said, the Englishman is still in search of his first shot at UFC gold, which he could earn with a win over Vitor Belfort at UFC on FX 7. UFC president Dana White recently said that Bisping would likely be middleweight champion Anderson Silva‘s next opponent with a win on Saturday (via MMAFighting.com).

Whether he wins or loses against Belfort, Bisping has been one of the most successful fighters to emerge from The Ultimate Fighter reality series. As one of the biggest fights of his career approaches, let’s take a look at how Bisping‘s UFC performances stack up.

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UFC on FX 7: Odds and Predictions for Main Card Fights

If the fights on the main card of Saturday’s UFC on FX 7 are nearly as close as the odds would indicate, fight fans are in for a quality night of fights.Whether you enjoy a friendly wager on fight night or not, the odds often give us a good indication …

If the fights on the main card of Saturday’s UFC on FX 7 are nearly as close as the odds would indicate, fight fans are in for a quality night of fights.

Whether you enjoy a friendly wager on fight night or not, the odds often give us a good indication of what we can expect come fight night. With every line on the main card hovering around even odds it’s evident that Joe Silva did a great job of ensuring we have some intriguing matchups to watch.

Here’s a quick look at each of the four main card fights for Saturday’s action complete with the latest odds from Bovada and predictions for each fight. All odds via Bovada.

Khabib Nurmagomedov vs. Thiago Tavares

Odds: Nurmagomedov -190, Tavares +155

Khabib Nurmagomedov made his debut in 2012 and showed a lot of promise in a submission victory over Kamal Shalorus and followed it up with a decision victory over Gleison Tibau.

With six knockouts and seven submissions to his name, Nurmagomedov is capable of finishing the fight from anywhere and is a well-rounded fighter.

He’ll face his toughest challenge yet when he steps into the octagon against Tavares, though.

Tavares has plenty of experience in the UFC and has been in the organization since 2007. He racked up plenty of submission victories early on in his career but has developed a much better striking game in recent fights.

Prediction: Nurmagomedov by TKO

Gabriel Gonzaga vs. Ben Rothwell

Odds: Gonzaga -120, Rothwell -120

The oddsmakers see this fight about as evenly as you can. Neither fighter is that strong of a favorite.

Gonzaga made his return to the UFC a little over a year ago with an impressive submission victory over Ednaldo Oliveira but hasn’t fought since. At 33 years old, a win will be crucial if he wants to make this run in the UFC mean anything.

Ben Rothwell is coming off of a huge upset victory over Brendan Schaub that earned him knockout of the night honors. His wrestling has always made him a difficult opponent for anyone but his latest win showed that he is dangerous in the striking game too.

This is an interesting clash of styles as the wrestling-heavy Rothwell could look to go to the ground against a very dangerous jiu-jitsu practitioner in Gonzaga.

Prediction: Rothwell via Decision

Daniel Sarafian vs. C.B. Dollaway

Odds: Sarafian -175, Dollaway +145

Daniel Sarafian will be making his anticipated UFC debut against veteran C.B. Dollaway.

Safarian was suppposed to make his UFC debut at UFC 147 in a fight for The Ulimate Fighter: Brazil title but ultimately had to pull out due to injury. Instead he’ll go against a fighter in Dollaway that has plenty of experience with a record of 6-4 in the UFC.

Sarafian is a dangerous prospect. He’s a compact middleweight for a penchant with submitting opponents and could find the notoriously suspect chin of Dollaway.

Prediction: Sarafian by TKO

Vitor Belfort vs. Michael Bisping

Odds: Belfort -110, Bisping -120

Fans should love that this is the main event for a free card, it’s a pay-per-view worthy fight.

Belfort will make his return to middleweight after a failed attempt to capture the light heavyweight title against Jon Jones. Belfort is known for his ability to put opponents away early with his aggression so it will be interesting to see how the technical Bisping deals with Belfort from the opening bell.

Bisping catches a lot of flak for his brash personality, but he’s done a good job of backing it up lately. His fight with Chael Sonnen was much close than most anticipated and he defeated Brian Stann soundly.

Belfort fought admirably against Jon Jones and scored a solid win over Anthony Johnson recently, but Bisping appears primed for a title shot and continues to improve.

Prediction: Bisping by Decision

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UFC on FX 7 Live Results and Play by Play

UFC on FX 7 will kick off the UFC’s 2013 campaign. It has taken until the third Saturday in January, but the leader of the mixed martial arts world is back.The main event of the evening has title implications as Michael Bisping tries to earn himself a …

UFC on FX 7 will kick off the UFC’s 2013 campaign. It has taken until the third Saturday in January, but the leader of the mixed martial arts world is back.

The main event of the evening has title implications as Michael Bisping tries to earn himself a title shot against Anderson Silva by defeating Vitor Belfort. The main event fighters have been chomping at the bit to get at one another, and Belfort showed his emotions at the pre-fight press conference earlier in the week.

In the co-main event of the evening, The Ultimate Fighter: Brazil finalist Daniel Sarafian finally makes his Octagon debut against C.B. Dollaway.

All fighters tipped the scale on Friday and made weight. UFC on FX 7 is now official.

Vitor Belfort (185 lbs.) vs. Michael Bisping (186 lbs.)
C.B. Dollaway (186 lbs.) vs. Daniel Sarafian (186 lbs.)
Gabriel Gonzaga (255 lbs.) vs. Ben Rothwell (258 lbs.)
Khabib Nurmagomedov (155 lbs.) vs. Thiago Tavares (155 lbs.)
Godofredo Castro (145 lbs.) vs. Milton Vieira (146 lbs.)
Andrew Craig (185 lbs.) vs. Ronny Markes (186 lbs.)
Nik Lentz (145 lbs.) vs. Diego Nunes (145 lbs.)
Edson Barboza (154 lbs.) vs. Lucas Martins (154 lbs.)
Yuri Alcantara (135 lbs.) vs. Pedro Nobre (136 lbs.)
Ildemar Alcantara (201 lbs.) vs. Wagner Prado (206 lbs.)
C.J. Keith (156 lbs.) vs. Francisco Trinaldo (154.5 lbs.)

Live blog coverage will begin at 5:35 p.m. ET as the Facebook preliminary fight kicks off the action.

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UFC on FX7: Simulating Michael Bisping vs. Vitor Belfort with UFC Undisputed 3

The card for UFC on FX 7 is pretty impressive for a non-pay-per-view event. It is highlighted by a high-stakes middleweight clash between Michael “The Count” Bisping and Brazilian MMA legend, “The Phenom” Vitor Belfort.Many have weighed in with predict…

Many have weighed in with predictions: B/R’s Hunter Homistek, and Chael Sonnen (via The Telegraph) believe “The Count” will earn his title shot in the clash to determine the No. 1 contender to Anderson Silva’s middleweight crown.

I happen to agree, but as usual, I thought it would be fun to see what the premier UFC simulation video game would predict.

THQ won’t be producing UFC games moving forward, (EA Sports and the UFC agreed to a multi-year licensing deal in June, per MMA Junkie) but for now, UFC Undisputed 3 is still the most current sim-style MMA game available.

Apparently, Bisping is the favorite of man and machine.

In the simulation, he out-boxed and out-grappled the popular Brazilian en route to a third-round knockout. Belfort was dazed on more than one occasion in the simulation before he was put to sleep in the third.

The simulated fight was pretty exciting, and Bisping was in control for most of it.

You may notice, the simulation was done for only three rounds—which isn’t on par with the five-round main event standards—but a hard left hook from “The Count” made the round specification a moot point.

Both men looked like they had been in a fight afterwards, but Belfort was bloodied a bit more, and surprisingly, Bisping controlled him on the ground.

Could this be an example of the game underestimating Belfort‘s grappling skills? We’ll probably find that out on Saturday night when the men meet in real life.

I’m not sure Bisping will knock out Belfort on Saturday, but a unanimous decision victory would still get the job done for him.

Check out UFC on FX 7 live on Saturday, January 19 at 9 PM ET.

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