The idea that Bisping was "an easy fight" for GSP is revisionist nonsense

[Only Here for Attachments]

I think the implication is that Bisping was the top-ranked MW fighter GSP would have the easiest time with

 

[Ozze]

I think people were more like "it's the easier fight", not "it's an easy fight".

 

[markg171]

I would love to know which of these posters who think Bisping was an easy fight called ahead of time for GSP to drop a former LHW in the pocket and choke him unconscious after a 4 year layoff and surgery.

 

[Alcibiades007]

I would love to know which of these posters who think Bisping was an easy fight called ahead of time for GSP to drop a former LHW in the pocket and choke him unconscious after a 4 year layoff and surgery.

None

 

[Mga223]

I think people were more like "it's the easier fight", not "it's an easy fight".

It was the easiest mw champ for him since Silva reign.

The fact he gave it up ASAP and didn't fight Whittaker proved that.

Now he calls out khabib and Conor lmao.

 

[NGute87]

I'm not gonna lie man, as soon as the fight was announced I picked GSP to completely rape Bisping. I gave Bisping no chance at all, not even a fluke chance. I couldn't wait to bragg to my brothers about how GSP was going to be the new MW Champion.

 

[AIGOD]

Just out of curiosity - are you a Conor fan? Because Conors double belt win is glorified, while he never defended his belt once and beat a champ that never defended either. Bisping had a defense.

absolutely not. his dbl div 'champ' is even less legit. champs that want to go 2x div, it's whack. The only legit one would have to be cormier, at his age beating the best, its legit. conor and gsp are manufactured dbl champs.

 

[OmegaRugal]

Granted, Bisping was in all likelihood not the best MW in the world, even if he was the legitimate champion and #1 ranked fighter in the division, with a remarkable streak against Rockhold, Anderson, and Henderson. Granted, probably Weidman, Rockhold, Romero, Whitaker would have been favorites against Bisping had the latter defended against them.

But the idea that this entails GSP was taking an "easy fight" challenging Bisping for the MW belt is simply ridiculous. It is very easy to retrospectively say Bisping was never a credible challenge for GSP, while forgetting that in fact Bisping was the favorite in most odds.

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It wasn't only that GSP was coming from a four-year layover: he was competing for the first time at MW against a considerably larger opponent, after a second ACL tear. Bisping had not only been active and was the champion, but had notoriously very good takedown defense (see fight with Chael), and was for most the superior striker, with a significant reach advantage, and high durability. The last time GSP couldn't take someone down who also gave him problems with his hands was his last fight, against Hendricks, which many thought he lost. There were many very good reasons to think Bisping was the favorite in that fight.

It is easy to pretend as if everyone knew all along what would happen so as to say GSP was avoiding challenging himself and that he would win.

Of course, had GSP fought Romero or Rockhold, being dwarfed in the process, he would have most likely been an even bigger underdog. But to pretend Bisping wasn't an incredible challenge, which he overcame impressively, is absurd, and betrays the evidence in the odds.

People then accuse him of fleeing the division right after, so as to avoid harder competition, even going as far as saying that his colitis and sharp weight loss immediately after the fight, not to mention the well-documented problems he had trying to bulk up, were fabrications or excuses. At this point, I think people simply lose rational credibility.

It wasnt an "easy fight" for GSP but it was for sure the easiest he could ever imagine trying to get the MW belt.

Which is why many people said he will NOT defend the belt IF he wins BEFORE he won.

What ended up happening? He didn't defend the belt.
He claims he got sick but many of us called it.

Now he is healthily and he is not going back to MW nor does he want to fight the dominant current WW champion either.

GSP is INDEED cherry picking his fights.

He has every right to do so if he wishes at this point of his career but lets not pretend he is truly challenging himself. GSP is going for the biggest reward fights that offer the least risk.

Losing to Bisping .... he can blame it on size and layoff.
Reward was 2 weight champion.

Losing to Whitaker or Romero after that would undo his MW title win since many didn't consider Bisping a true champion or a strong champion.

Facing Woodley and losing to him, GSP risk his all time best WW status.
If he wins ... just keeps his all time best WW status which he already has.

Reward vs Risk.

That is what GSP is looking for.

 

[Nueman43]

Exclamation point on the career of GSP. People said for a long time he could never finish anyone. He takes 4 years off and fights in a class he never competed in before, and finishes the legitimate champion. Suck on that.

I have a theory about why he didn't finish more. I think the refs just got used to watching fighters survive his ground and pound. So they ceased stopping his fights, where if it was a different fighter they would have been stopped.

 

[Senzo Tanaka]

Betting-wise it might have been closer but everyone knew why GSP picked the fight.

It wasn't that he was surely going to win but more that he picked the easiest fight on paper for him to win. He ducked Middleweight his entire career and instead of coming back and fighting an actual challenge in Woodley, he saw an opportunity with Bisping being champion.

GSP himself is pretty honest about managing risk vs. reward. He saw Bisping as the easiest fight possible at MW with a good chance of winning. What do you know, not only does he go in there and win but he also finishes someone which he hasn't done in 8 years. Would he have come back and moved to MW if Whittaker, Romero or Rockhold were champion? I can say without question the answer is no.

GSP is a business man. He's not going to take any fight where the odds are not in his favor. He has admitted this. It's like a math problem to him.

 

[Calipwnia]

Bisping was ducking legit challengers for 2 years while they all fought each other. That’s the problem with it. Fine if GSP wants to go up and fight Bisping but there is a reason that belt is now in the trash and Whittaker is wearing the legitimate top one.

 

[PeacePipe]

Exclamation point on the career of GSP. People said for a long time he could never finish anyone. He takes 4 years off and fights in a class he never competed in before, and finishes the legitimate champion. Suck on that.

I was impressed by his performance

 

[Blond]

It wasn't easy, in fact, I favored Bisping to win. But it was a cherry picked fight on both ends. Bisping got himself a money fight and avoided more dangerous opponents in Yoel or Whittaker, meanwhile GSP jumped on the easiest opportunity in years to get the MW belt.

 

[King of Fists]

I just posted evidence that proves the exact opposite in the opening post, which you simply refuse to even acknowledge. Good job proving how bias works.

You posted evidence that it was basically a pick em fight, considering that GSP was going up in weight with a 4 yr layoff and got basically even odds tells you all you need to know about the bookies' respect level for Bisping

 

[JoshR86]

No. GSP was never the underdog on the lines against Bisping. Do not paint him as one, that is very disingenuous of you to do so. He would have been a dog against others but he was not against Bisping. Who moves up a weight class after a 4 year layoff and is still the favorite on the betting lines?

Because Bisping was the betting favorite ya goof

 

[JoshR86]

You posted evidence that it was basically a pick em fight, considering that GSP was going up in weight with a 4 yr layoff and got basically even odds tells you all you need to know about the bookies' respect level for Bisping

Or how much respect they have for GSP??

 

[VAfan]

GSP is my favorite fighter, but - stylistically, bisping was the most favorable matchup he could have had at MW (esp for a beltholder). there was a reason he waited to come back until mike took the strap (and then vacated).

 

[NoSmilez]

Because Bisping was the betting favorite ya goof

He opened as an underdog.... The line changes but he remains the underdog. Think about this. If gsp opened as the favorite and I bet on him early as the line was negative vs you who bet on him fight night when the line is positive. Who bet on the favorite?

 

[King of Fists]

Or how much respect they have for GSP??

You think GSP would have been a basically a pick em vs Romero, Whittaker, Jacare, Weidman?

 

[TheAmericanGazelle]

If you want to be taken seriously, stop pretending the central claim is "Bisping is a scrub".

The central claim is that GSP was attempting to optimize risk/reward tradeoffs, which is why he jumped at the chance to fight the MW champ when the absolute level of fighter in the champion seat moved down a notch (although yes, Bisping was a rightful champion. So was Serra at 170 for a period.), but never fought Anderson in his prime, and immediately abandoned the belt when the top fighters at 185 started floating around him for fights.

The problem is when people say "he beat the MW champion", but given him status of someone who beat "the best" at MW. Since those two ideas usually correlate to a fair degree, some people just kind of skip past it. But it's dead wrong in this case.

That's not to insult the guy or downgrade the accomplishment. But we shouldn't upgrade it either.

Replace "He won the MW belt" with "beat Michael Bisping", and you calibrate the accomplishment more appropriately.