Give Bisping a shot!

I am getting really annoyed with the lack of UFC rankings! Bisping is chomping at the bit to fight Silva, he's 24-4, he has 11 stoppages, he's won 3 out of his last 4 fights and he only narrowly lost to Sonnen (former No 1 contender) taking the fight at short notice. He's also been a successful coach on TUF recently as well not to mention winning TUF 3. But for some reason he's now fighting Belfort this January for what? Is this a title eliminator? I don't think there is much desire for a Silva/Belfort II, besides Belfort recently stepped up to LHW against Jones and lost. So he would only be on a 1 fight win streak technically, if he were to beat Bisping. If Bisping wins he should definitely get a title shot against Silva but I think the UFC have really screwed Bisping over with this one.

I'd consider him to be on a 4 fight win streak - he clearly beat Sonnen in their fight - I cant see Bisping winning this one which would mean he's back down the pecking order at MW

This fight should be an eliminator for me. Belfort doesn't deserve to have the loss against Jones put against him in his quest for rematch with Silva, same for Bisping and his loss to Sonnen.
Both took the fights on short notice, and Bispings' was very close to call.

I cannot understand why Bisping hasn't had a shot yet, it screams money. If it was held in England they could easily sell out any arena.

I fear for Bisping - he's 33 now and I can't see him ever reaching title contention again (at least not against Silva) should he lose to Belfort, unless the UFC and Dana are feeling particularly kind to him but I doubt they would. Bisping deserves his shot now in my eyes, shame the UFC don't agree!

I thought it was more like 5 out of 6 for Bisping & for me I'd have scored the Sonnen fight a draw at best for Sonnen. But lets face it Bisping had to ko the guy to get the win, no way would the UFC give him the win & let him fight Silva, there was to much money involved & the potential for a US champion.

I agree Bisping is due a title fight & this fight doesn't really make sense as far as an eliminator but it would be a decent win for either fighter. Bisping is going to have to be at his very controlled best, as we all know Belfort is very heavy handed & has better BJJ than Bisping, I think I'd favor Belfort for this.

All this aside I don't see Bisping having the beating of Silva, I think Silva is better in every department & possibly the powers that be see it this way as well & don't want to give him the opportunity, being British may go against him as well.

sohotnot wrote: being British may go against him as well.

You know I'm beginning to wonder!?

I don't think Bisping could beat Silva either, but Bisping always comes to fight and he's proven his dedication and passion for achieving in the sport by relocating to California from England for the facilities. A title shot is the least he deserves and as he's said in interviews before even if he can't beat Silva at least he can say he was in the Octagon with potentially the G.O.A.T.

Bisping will have a hard time beating Belfort - I don't see him TKOing Belfort, so if he wins its by decision. Bisping does throw and land many significant strikes, he has one of the highest percentage in the UFC so he needs to stay busy against Belfort. He also has great strike defence at 70% avoided, which is a very good thing against Belfort. But nevertheless this is a very tough fight for him.

He's a value for money fighter & one of the fighters I enjoy watching. I didn't like him at first on TUF when he was a coach but I think he was a decent coach & since then I've got to quite like him.

With regards to the Belfort fight I feel Dana is looking to feed him to the lions so to speak. He fancies a Belfort win & if that happens then its bye bye title shot for Bisping. If he wins though it'll probably be an eliminator against weidman or whatever his name is, he's meant to be a hot prospect at the moment.

I think Bisping has the highest percentage of significant strikes landed in the entire UFC! I didn't know about his defence but I know he's a cardio machine so its not out of the question for him to win but he must be fully focused because one mistake & Belfort will KO him or submit him.

I know what you mean about him on TUF, he acted like an idiot at times but he was a great coach, who knew what he was doing. I thought it clear he was passionate about what he did. Bisping has grown on me too, both as a fighter and as a person.

Whilst he big news in Briatin Americans still view him as a joke who has a couple of contentious points decisions and no wins over real top tier fighters....not to mention getting absolutely turked by Hendo.


Its shows how heavily deserted the middlewieght division is that hes managed to get ranked top 5 in most lists by losing his only recent fight against a genuinely good fighter(yes he did lose).

I guess if he does beat the aging juicer (himslef witha similar record of failure against top opponents) then there is a strong case for him to get a shot..who else is there?

Most people would much rather see Silva fight a catchweight against Jones or St Pierre (yeah I know wont happen)

I cant imagine Bisping Silva being a terrbily exciteing fight either, Bisping is the kind of numbers fighter that would bring out the defensive worst in Silva who would happily sit back and pick off his limited game all night. He has to fight someone though.
It certainly isnt one most people would give him a chance in.

I think Silva vs GSP will happen. Silva vs Jones is less likely.

Whilst he may be deserving of a title shot i can understand why he hasn't had one yet. Whilst i respect bisping as a fighter he would be embarrassed by silva much like stephan bonnar and forest griffin were.

Bisping lacks knock out power and whilst he has amazing cardio and great all round skills he doesn't have the firepower to win that fight, nor do the american public want to see bisping given that shot. The fight with the phenom is perfect for the ufc, people love vitor belfort and pay to watch him fight, Bisping is unlikely to beat someone of that calibre therefore the ufc bisping title shot problem goes away, however if bisping surprises everyone and wins then he has really earned his shot at silva and the bisping haters can't argue he has earnt his chance.

He'll beat Vitor and get blasted out by Silva.

I think he could beat Belfort as long as he can survive the first round in which I expect Vitor to come out viciously looking to KO him infront of his home crowd.

I don't think Bisping has to beat Belfort to get title shot anyway but if he wins he must get the shot after.

If he wins he should sit out until he can get his shot.

He'll more than likely lose but so will most against Silva. He just wants his shot, which he'll fully deserve witht he win and when he retires he can say he fought the best and had a title shot.

I agree that the 1st round is key and if Bisping survives I expect he'll pick hits shots from a safe distance to win a UD.

Apparently Bisping does get a title shot if he beats Belfort but should he lose then he's back to building a winning streak again. I watched an interview with him where he confirms this he also made some interesting comments regarding Belfort, saying yes he's dangerous but also he's a great on top fighter with a bit of a bully mentality ie if the fights not going his way he can become a little disalusioned & lost. I'll post it if its still availible.

He lost. A nearly man it seems. Took the loss very well though.

very gracious in defeat - a good sport.

Disappointed he lost, looked composed in the first round bar the end when Belfort applied the pressure. Maybe it was nerves, maybe he had too much respect for Belfort, maybe he just simply choked.

I'm sure Bisping will bounce back but would be very surprised if he ever gets his title shot now.

He's always been a good loser, and always come up short against decent opposition. He's the only British fighter to have had a long career at this level, but never title holder material. The American fans really laugh at how much the brits FATG over him

there's never been a British UFC champion so I guess it's only natural for us to support our most promising/hopeful fighters. Brad Pickett could earn a title shot this year possibly, he seems our next best hope but I don't think we've got any real championship material yet. UK MMA is producing better fighters now and with the expansion of the TUF overseas could see more earning UFC contracts. But sadly our talent pool is always going to be dwarfed by America and Brazil's.

talkingpoint wrote:very gracious in defeat - a good sport.

Disappointed he lost, looked composed in the first round bar the end when Belfort applied the pressure. Maybe it was nerves, maybe he had too much respect for Belfort, maybe he just simply choked.

I'm sure Bisping will bounce back but would be very surprised if he ever gets his title shot now.

I don't agree with that if anything he may have underestimated Belfort. There were a few saying if Bisping survived the 1st he would win on points, even Bisping was saying Belfort crumbles mentally & has a bully mentality. I feel, & i said before, he lost to the better stronger fighter a ko was always on the cards. The commentator pointed out that with Belfort being a southpaw Bisping was open to the left roundhouse kick with the 2nd kick basically ending the fight. I think Belfort was also composed in the 1st & fought a good fight, biding his time, waiting for the opening.

Yes I don't see Bisping getting his shot now, as I said before Dana was feeding him to the lions with this fight, lose & forget about a title shot.

Expecting a title challenger to have actually beaten a good fighter in his career (even and aging one) is hardly feeding them to the Lions. Getting that shot now is a virtual impossibility, theres surely only so many times a fighter can be built up only to fail?

Brad Pickett is surely a few wins off a title shot (even if the division is a bit light in both senses), his UFC record is 2:2 and its hardly as if hes been fighting the top names (OK the last fight was a step up). But still who really has he ever beaten to prove hes worthy or capable? Till he does that lets not get carried away. Hes fun and exciting so will no doubt continue to get good exposure, but the top 5 is still distant.

A few years back things looked a lot rosier with the Roughhouse chaps tearing things up ... but its seems they got thoroughly found out.

The Americans have a huge advantage with so many fighters getting what amounts to a professional upbringing in high school and college wrestling prior to taking up MMA. Even those not from that background have access to far better training and wrestling culture, not to mention BJJ/submission schools vastly outnumbering (and outqualitying ( yeah its a word)) the ones here which still mostly seem to involve taking wooden knives off compliant pajama wearing adverseries interspersed with bowing to photos of beardy and now rich japanese men,.

Bisping deserves credit for being the only Brit to forge a long career at a decent level, but that says more about how depressingly far behind the game we still are than how good he is.
Its a pity that so many people still choose boxing, which has become a farce of a sport, or bullshido. Many one of those chaps we poured millions into to screw up the olympic judo will make the switch over and become the English Yoshida, but I doubt it.
Or perhaps people will be content to keep paying to watch Alex Reid make a mockery of them.

Maybe feeding to the lions is a bit strong but i really felt Dana didn't want to give Bisping a title shot, a fight Bisping had no chance of winning & I think he felt Belfort would ko him. Bisping was told beat Belfort & you have your shot, unfortunately he didn't.

You make some good points about the possible advantages the Americans have with MMA over the brits, we do have to many old school traditional martial arts schools/teachers but hopefully this will change. One of the problems I think we still have is amount of gym rats/local hardman who are getting involved, guys employing that roughhouse technique you mentioned, seems to work at low level but they hit a wall the moment they step up a level. As for boxing its always been popular in the UK & what with the successes in the last 3 olympics its only going to rise, not such a bad thing but any guy not quite cutting it can always switch to MMA or kickboxing.