Suffering a shoulder injury in November may have been a blessing in disguise for UFC middleweight contender Chris Weidman. Since then, fellow top 10 middleweights Tim Boetsch, Alan Belcher and now Michael Bisping have all lost, preventing a t…
Suffering a shoulder injury in November may have been a blessing in disguise for UFC middleweight contender Chris Weidman.
Since then, fellow top 10 middleweights Tim Boetsch, Alan Belcher and now Michael Bisping have all lost, preventing a true No. 1 contender from emerging at 185 pounds.
The Serra-Longo Fight Team member feels that it is no coincidence that both he and middleweight champion Anderson Silva are looking to return to the Octagon this summer.
Ill be back in summer and that’s when Anderson wanted to fight..coincidence? I think not : )
“The All-American” is a perfect 9-0 inside the cage, most recently scoring a vicious knockout over Mark Munoz at UFC on FUEL TV 4 this past July.
UFC president Dana White said Bisping would get a title shot with a win over VitorBelfort at UFC on FX 7 last night, but “The Phenom” clearly had other plans, scoring a vintage TKO finish in the second round.
Silva has been the most unstoppable champion in UFC history, successfully defending his belt 10 times while also boasting a perfect 16-0 record inside the UFC banner.
However, Weidman‘s strong wrestling and submission game makes him an interesting matchup for “The Spider.”
Weidman has claimed before that Silva is ducking him. Is now the time to book this matchup given the recent developments in the middleweight division?
Saturday night proved to be an interesting aesthetic journey. Fans witnessed a few shining moments on the undercard as well as a few snooze fests and an Academy Award-worthy performance. The main card, however, did yield some wild action and impressive…
Saturday night proved to be an interesting aesthetic journey. Fans witnessed a few shining moments on the undercard as well as a few snooze fests and an Academy Award-worthy performance.
The main card, however, did yield some wild action and impressive performances.
UFC on FX 7 offered a number of lessons, but in case you were too preoccupied with your Budweiser (almost guilty!) to learn anything, I’ll provide a little recap for you.
After baffling “Big” Ben Rothwell on the feet and submitting him with an arm-in guillotine choke, Gabriel Gonzaga announced to the MMA world that he will not take his second chance with the UFC for granted.The win marks the second submission victory fo…
After baffling “Big” Ben Rothwell on the feet and submitting him with an arm-in guillotine choke, Gabriel Gonzaga announced to the MMA world that he will not take his second chance with the UFC for granted.
The win marks the second submission victory for Gonzaga since returning to the organization that made him famous. Last January, “Napao” needed little more than three minutes to dispatch of then-undefeated EdnaldoOliveira.
Now that the former title contender is making waves in the heavyweight division, we’ve got to think about what comes next.
Gabriel has a world-renowned grappling game which has led to nine submission wins. However, with dynamite in his hands and feet, he is a well-rounded threat who can finish opponents anywhere that the fight goes.
Based on these skills, there aren’t many challengers who are particularly daunting, short of the division’s elite. With 14 trips into the Octagon under his belt, I think that it’s important to pit Gonzaga against another longtime UFC veteran.
Luckily for the big Brazilian, there are a couple of options who lay at his feet, in need of an opponent this Spring: Cheick Kongo and Roy Nelson.
Cheick Kongo is the French kickboxer who has terrorized the heavyweight division throughout 17 UFC appearances. Like Gonzaga, the biggest win on Kongo’s resume came in a 2007 victory over Mirko Cro Cop.
Unlike his Brazilian foe, Kongo has never been able to parlay his momentum into a UFC title shot. Currently, Kongo has only one loss in his past six fights.
When you consider how long that these heavyweights were on the roster, it is fairly surprising that they have yet to square off at any point in their careers. A bout with Gonzaga could be exactly what Kongo needs to finally earn an elusive crack at the belt.
Roy Nelson has eight UFC appearances of his own, and like Gonzaga, has an unannounced allergy to winning by decision. Between the two fighters, they have 14 victories while fighting for Zuffa and not one of them went to the judges scorecards.
“Big Country” is also a well-rounded mixed martial artists who possesses incredible punching power to supplement his killer grappling skills. A fight with Gonzaga is the step up he deserves after wins over Dave Herman and Matt Mitrione.
The fight with Nelson was scheduled for UFC 146 after the Overeem/Mir/Bigfoot switcharoo shifted the entire card. However, the fight didn’t take place after Gonzaga was forced out due to an injury.
Personally, I feel that Roy Nelson is a more dangerous matchup for Gonzaga, however both fights would make for a solid addition to any card.
The UFC returned to Brazil on Saturday, holding an underwhelming card that was so destined to be full of barnburners. From Pedro Nobre winning an Oscar for faking an injury to guys fighting tentative, UFC on FX could have been a lot better than it actu…
The UFC returned to Brazil on Saturday, holding an underwhelming card that was so destined to be full of barnburners. From Pedro Nobre winning an Oscar for faking an injury to guys fighting tentative, UFC on FX could have been a lot better than it actually was.
That being said, there were six stoppages on the card. This includes a head kick knockout by VitorBelfort on Michael Bisping that derailed the Brit’s chances at getting a title shot in the near future.
Here is a power ranking of the submissions and knockouts from Saturday night.
Michael Bisping headed into UFC on FX 7 with a chance to earn a title shot against Anderson Silva. With a knockout loss to Vitor Belfort, Bisping’s hopes of making that fight come to fruition were shattered.Instead, Belfort is once again one of the top…
Michael Bisping headed into UFC on FX 7 with a chance to earn a title shot against Anderson Silva. With a knockout loss to Vitor Belfort, Bisping’s hopes of making that fight come to fruition were shattered.
Instead, Belfort is once again one of the top contenders in the middleweight division, though he asked for a rematch with light heavyweight champion Jon Jones in his post-fight interview during the FX-aired event.
With two losses in his past three fights, Bisping will have to work his way back up the 185-pound ladder. So, let’s take a look at who he and the rest of the UFC on FX 7 fighters should compete against next.
If Michael Bisping’s trash-talking mouth didn’t write checks that his fists couldn’t cash so often it’s very likely he’d be known as a British MMA pioneer with incredible work ethic and who improved greatly over the course of his career. Instead, Bisping has done his darndest to mask his real accomplishments by playing up imagined ones.
He’s campaigned, with his mouth, for a title shot for years despite losing to every top-tier fighter he’s faced and being gifted wins over less than top-tier ones. Coming into Saturday’s fight against Vitor Belfort in Sao Paulo Brazil, UFC President Dana White said that Bisping would earn a title shot against Anderson Silva with a win.
At that point, Bisping had a one fight win “streak.” Before that win, a decision against Brian Stann last September that could have easily been scored instead for Stann, Bisping lost to Chael Sonnen – who’s twice been beaten by Silva. Not long before that, Bisping walked away with a win against Jorge Rivera in a fight that he should have, in fact, lost by disqualification for his blatant and repeated fouls. His break-out UFC fight was a ludicrously bad decision win over Matt Hamill.
Every time the UFC has pushed Bisping into a fight with a fighter he’d given no indication he should be in the ring with, he’s lost. He’s said it is his destiny to be a world champion and insulted almost everyone else in his division, yet Bisping has lost to every fighter that had been or would go on to be a world champion that he’s faced.
Rashad Evans, Wanderlei Silva, Dan Henderson and now, Vitor Belfort. Bisping’s win streak is back down to zero after getting TKO’d by Belfort in the second round of their main event Saturday.
Hopefully the talk of him getting a title shot any time soon has also been knocked out.
(Now that we’ve settled our differences, Michael, I’d like to tell you about a friend of mine)
If Michael Bisping’s trash-talking mouth didn’t write checks that his fists couldn’t cash so often it’s very likely he’d be known as a British MMA pioneer with incredible work ethic and who improved greatly over the course of his career. Instead, Bisping has done his darndest to mask his real accomplishments by playing up imagined ones.
He’s campaigned, with his mouth, for a title shot for years despite losing to every top-tier fighter he’s faced and being gifted wins over less than top-tier ones. Coming into Saturday’s fight against Vitor Belfort in Sao Paulo Brazil, UFC President Dana White said that Bisping would earn a title shot against Anderson Silva with a win.
At that point, Bisping had a one fight win “streak.” Before that win, a decision against Brian Stann last September that could have easily been scored instead for Stann, Bisping lost to Chael Sonnen – who’s twice been beaten by Silva. Not long before that, Bisping walked away with a win against Jorge Rivera in a fight that he should have, in fact, lost by disqualification for his blatant and repeated fouls. His break-out UFC fight was a ludicrously bad decision win over Matt Hamill.
Every time the UFC has pushed Bisping into a fight with a fighter he’d given no indication he should be in the ring with, he’s lost. He’s said it is his destiny to be a world champion and insulted almost everyone else in his division, yet Bisping has lost to every fighter that had been or would go on to be a world champion that he’s faced.
Rashad Evans, Wanderlei Silva, Dan Henderson and now, Vitor Belfort. Bisping’s win streak is back down to zero after getting TKO’d by Belfort in the second round of their main event Saturday.
Hopefully the talk of him getting a title shot any time soon has also been knocked out. Bisping is well-rounded, fights hard, always comes in shape and promotes fights loudly and well.
The first three traits are admirable but don’t separate the Brit from dozens of other fighters in the middleweight division. It is his name recognition and nation of origin, a country that the UFC is aggressively trying to make establish itself in, that have put Bisping in title contention.
That’s unfair to the fighters who win more often and against better fighters, guys like Chris Weidman. Bisping losing to yet another person that has been starched by division champion Anderson Silva should make it impossible for even the UFC’s fantastic promotion machine to sell the world on Bisping vs. Silva fight.
The Orange County transplant landed a number of nice jabs to the face of Belfort in the first round as the Brazilian measured him up. By the end of the first, however, “The Phenom” had figured out Bisping and stalked him until he landed a head kick flush and staggered “The Count.”
Bisping, with his excellent conditioning, managed to surive the first round. Belfort came right back with another left head kick early in the second, though, and put Bisping down for good.
Post fight, Bisping exhibited the type of humility and class that he never shows leading up to fights. “Congrats to Vitor,” Bisping said afterward. “I have no excuses. I had a great training camp. He’s the better man than me tonight.”
The win was the first time Belfort has won a UFC fight that went longer than five minutes, and he showed that he’s still got some life left in his remarkable career.
Belfort is not, however, a very good trash talker. He’s a horrible one, actually. At the pre-event press conference last Thursday he shouted out, “I’m mad!” convincing no one that he was, in fact, angry.
After beating Bisping Saturday, Belfort put on the ill-fitting smack talker hat and called out light heavyweight Jon Jones, who submitted him this past summer.
“Tell that punk Chael Sonnen, get out,” Belfort said, referring to the two-time title contender that is coaching the next season of TUF opposite Jones and then fighting the champ in April. “Take him out. I want to fight Jon Jones. I need that rematch. Take that clown away. Go home.”
Sure, Sonnen has a hard-earned reputation of being a clown, on the mic and in the ring with shrill screams and submission denials, but Belfort calling out the much larger, younger, quicker champion who just made him say uncle is a bit…well, Bisping or Sonnen-like. Nontheless, Belfort is likely happy with his $50,000 Knockout of the Night bonus.
C.B. Dollaway and Daniel Sarafian earned $50,000 each for their Fight of the Night as well. Dollaway walked away with the split-decision win.
Ildemar Alcantara made his UFC debut extra sweet with a rare knee-bar submission win over Wagner Prado, earning Submission of the Night honors and a bonus check.
After baffling “Big” Ben 