Bisping as top contender

[OnlyTheTruth]

I don't think Bisping has been protected, but he has lost to every top tier fighter he has fought save Stann.

Rashad, Hendo, Wand etc.

& in how many of those losses has he been stopped? One!!! Sonnen and Rashad were extremely close to call and could have gone either way. The Wanderlei fight wasn't a total mauling by Silva by a long shot. The Henderson fight was the only one where a decisive loss was put on the record.

Belfort's record against top tier competition isn't that good either. The only fighter he beat who was at the top of their game at the time was Randy, who beat him in the rematch. Vitor then went on to lose against Tito, Overeem x 2 & Henderson in his next 6 fights and this was when Vitor was supposedly at the top of his game. Since 2006, Vitor hasn't beaten anyone of any note other than Franklin who was anywhere near the top of their game. "Rumble" isn't someone I would class as top of his game, and Akiyama was coming off a loss to Bisping.

How many fighters out there have a record like Bisping's that could have easily be the other way round for the majority of their losses? Even Shogun's record is nowhere near that and he is regarded as being one of the top fighters.

 

[benbadman]

i will pay to see silva knockout bisping twice a month

 

[TicoMMAfan]

I just don't see Bisping as a elite fighter, honestly. I don't say that with anger or with hate. When I look at what he's done, I would have to stand by the thought he is the quality gatekeeper of A-level.

If you beat Bisping, you must be an elite fighter, becuase that's who beats him. If you lose to him, you're likely on FX prelim or not in the UFC anymore.

Dennis Kang: 1-2 in UFC
Miller: 0-2 in his stint in the UFC
Dan Miller: 3-5 since 2009
Akiyama: 1-4 in UFC
Jorge Rivera: Illegal knee, but solid fighter who is never a quality Top 10
Stann: Ranked somewhere between 8-10 during the fight, who is in the same league as Bisping as far as I'm concerend (gatekeeper).

In the end I just have no interest in seeing him against Ando, as I see no facet of the game he's quality enough in.

 

[76Knockout]

& in how many of those losses has he been stopped? One!!! Sonnen and Rashad were extremely close to call and could have gone either way. The Wanderlei fight wasn't a total mauling by Silva by a long shot. The Henderson fight was the only one where a decisive loss was put on the record.

Belfort's record against top tier competition isn't that good either. The only fighter he beat who was at the top of their game at the time was Randy, who beat him in the rematch. Vitor then went on to lose against Tito, Overeem x 2 & Henderson in his next 6 fights and this was when Vitor was supposedly at the top of his game. Since 2006, Vitor hasn't beaten anyone of any note other than Franklin who was anywhere near the top of their game. "Rumble" isn't someone I would class as top of his game, and Akiyama was coming off a loss to Bisping.

How many fighters out there have a record like Bisping's that could have easily be the other way round for the majority of their losses? Even Shogun's record is nowhere near that and he is regarded as being one of the top fighters.

Did i say he got stopped in every loss?

Yes some of his losses were competitive, but you don't make a career or become a top contender by always losing the big fights. No matter how close they are.

 

[asmodai59]

You conveniently forget to mention his wins over Leben and Stann. Also a lot of people thought he got robbed against both Rashad and Sonnen. Bisping is quite clealy a top 3 185'er. However I am definitely favouring Belfort in this fight.

 

[TicoMMAfan]

You conveniently forget to mention his wins over Leben and Stann. Also a lot of people thought he got robbed against both Rashad and Sonnen. Bisping is quite clealy a top 3 185'er. However I am definitely favouring Belfort in this fight.

Well he did not get robbed against Sonnen. I can't even recall the Rashad fight. And there's honestly no way he's Top 3 IMO.

Mayhem, DMiller, Akiyama, Rivera, Stann does not make a top 3. I makes a top 10, sure.

 

[OldBoy91]

I just don't see Bisping as a elite fighter, honestly. I don't say that with anger or with hate. When I look at what he's done, I would have to stand by the thought he is the quality gatekeeper of A-level.

If you beat Bisping, you must be an elite fighter, becuase that's who beats him. If you lose to him, you're likely on FX prelim or not in the UFC anymore.

Dennis Kang: 1-2 in UFC
Miller: 0-2 in his stint in the UFC
Dan Miller: 3-5 since 2009
Akiyama: 1-4 in UFC
Jorge Rivera: Illegal knee, but solid fighter who is never a quality Top 10
Stann: Ranked somewhere between 8-10 during the fight, who is in the same league as Bisping as far as I'm concerend (gatekeeper).

In the end I just have no interest in seeing him against Ando, as I see no facet of the game he's quality enough in.

Hmm, Kang was beating the sh!t out of Belcher in his ufc debut before he shot in for a lazy takedown and got caught in a guillotine, he is a lot better than what his record suggests. Before the untimely death of his gf he was one of the top 185ers in the world.

Mayhem is still a solid fighter, he had a bum knee in the Dolloway fight, but he has victories over Kang, Lawler, Tim Kennedy and almost beat Shields, he is far from the bum people make him out to be.

Dan Miller, whilst not great is still a solid fighter. If you look kn depth at those five losses you will see the names Chael Sonnen- Demian Maia- Rousimar Palhares- Nate Marquardt and... Michael Bisping. You have to be a pretty good fighter to get a win over Dan Miller.

Akiyama, again his losses are all to very good fighters, Leben, Vitor, Shields and Bisping. Whilst he holds a victory over (no it wasn't a robbery!) Alan Belcher.

Rivera was a solid gatekeeper, who was riding an impressive 3 fight win streak at the time and called Bisping out, at the time Bisping was campaining for the Marquardt fight. Which the ufc inexplicably gave to Akiyama (the guy Bisping had just beaten) who then had to pull out.

Stann has a limited skill set, but is very good at what he does well, he holds a first round stoppage over Leben, and ko wins against Sakara and Santiago, whilst his only other loss at 185 is to Chael Sonnen.

 

[ncboy]

I favor Bisping today. But to say he has the best chance to beat Anderson is absurd. He has a terrible style match-up, Anderson will knock him out.

Yes, he's improved, but he'd still lose to Hendo. Rashad has improved far more and would absolutely dominate him.

 

[bat_country]

Since th Wandy loss Bisping has:
Gone 5-1 with his only loss being a very close fight with the number 2 MW (which was taken on short notice).
Beaten top ten Stann

If he can beat #6 Vitor, sure he deserves a title shot.

Also. I would happily pay to see Andy tool Bisping

 

[GuiSilva]

I never called you a hater, I just stated that the whole "uk poster boy" bs is what all of the haters say to try and justify why Bisping gets as you put it so well, "spoon fed opponents" which isn't really the case.

So far in his career he has fought Matt Hammill, Rashad Evans, Chris Leben, Dan Henderson, Denis Kang, Wanderlei Silva, Dan Miller, Yoshihiro Akiyama, Mayhem Miller, Chael Sonnen, Brian Stann and now Vitor Belfort. Do you really want to make the "he's been protected because he's the British cash cow" argument?

The fact that people in the uk don't pay for cards should tell you a lot as well, he got that big ass contract because he makes the ufc a lot of money. Money from those who do pay for cards.

As I stated, Day was a late replacement for Chris Leben, And hindsight is a beautiful thing. At the time he had just beaten Belcher and was seen as a promising up and comer. Just because we know now that he turned into a flash im the pan sort of fighter doesn't make it as relevant as you seem to think.

But the fact is, Bisping IS UK poster boy. Ufc was very interested in the UK market, and always did this : invested a lot on marketing on fights against Jason Day, Jorge Rivera, a main event Bisping vs Leben ? that was something I wouldn't pay to see and I buy most events.

He was protected by the UFC no doubt, and now he is at the turning point of his career, if he gets past Belfort, he will go against all odds vs Anderson and if he loses wich is very likely what happens to him ?

To get a second shot this time he will have to face the top, no more Jorge Rivera, Akiyama, Jason Miller.

And I believe he loses decisions and maybe knockouts to guys like Okami, Lombard, Jacare and strong wrestlers like Weidman and good for him Chael and Hendo moved cause that would another roadblock.

In my opinion he's a mid tier fighter who will stay around putting on great fights forever but never good enough to be champion or one of the greatest middleweights ever.

 

[GuiSilva]

Bisping has gotten better as a fighter, no question, and his pre-fight antics are both entertaining and effictive. He is a very solid fighter with no real outstanding skill set other than a great motor, much like the Diaz brothers. He is very servicable to the UFC, and we all either love or hate him (emotional investments in fights is a good thing.) All of that being said he is never going to be a championship level fighter, he lacks both the athleticism, skills, and power to beat top competition. I like watching his fights though.

This also pretty much defines Bisping.

 

[minicooper99]

If you are going to make the case he was robbed in either the Rashad or Sonnen fights you have to conceed he was clearly dominated in the Hamill fight and was awarded a terrible decision victory.

 

[TicoMMAfan]

Hmm, Kang was beating the sh!t out of Belcher in his ufc debut before he shot in for a lazy takedown and got caught in a guillotine, he is a lot better than what his record suggests. Before the untimely death of his gf he was one of the top 185ers in the world.

Mayhem is still a solid fighter, he had a bum knee in the Dolloway fight, but he has victories over Kang, Lawler, Tim Kennedy and almost beat Shields, he is far from the bum people make him out to be.

Dan Miller, whilst not great is still a solid fighter. If you look kn depth at those five losses you will see the names Chael Sonnen- Demian Maia- Rousimar Palhares- Nate Marquardt and... Michael Bisping. You have to be a pretty good fighter to get a win over Dan Miller.

Akiyama, again his losses are all to very good fighters, Leben, Vitor, Shields and Bisping. Whilst he holds a victory over (no it wasn't a robbery!) Alan Belcher.

Rivera was a solid gatekeeper, who was riding an impressive 3 fight win streak at the time and called Bisping out, at the time Bisping was campaining for the Marquardt fight. Which the ufc inexplicably gave to Akiyama (the guy Bisping had just beaten) who then had to pull out.

Stann has a limited skill set, but is very good at what he does well, he holds a first round stoppage over Leben, and ko wins against Sakara and Santiago, whilst his only other loss at 185 is to Chael Sonnen.

These are a lot of words that say "Yeah, he isn't really a Top 3 unless we start calling all the top 10s #3."

He's a solid fighter.... but Kang, Akiyama, Rivera, D Miller, Miller, and Stann, when you look at them in the careers of top fighters.... are not amazing wins. They are solid that often lead to his losses against top-10ers.

Like I've said in other threads, I'm not sure how I feel about Belfort bieng a top-10 either. He's dangerous for sure, but I see only Akiyama and Johnson in recent years.

 

[OldBoy91]

If you are going to make the case he was robbed in either the Rashad or Sonnen fights you have to conceed he was clearly dominated in the Hamill fight and was awarded a terrible decision victory.

Nobody disputes that, it's the other way around. People usually rage on about how the Bisping Hammill fight was the worst decision in mma history (whilst a clear 29-28, it was far from it) but refuse to admit that the Rashad fight was even close let alone an arguable robbery.

 

[OldBoy91]

These are a lot of words that say "Yeah, he isn't really a Top 3 unless we start calling all the top 10s #3."

He's a solid fighter.... but Kang, Akiyama, Rivera, D Miller, Miller, and Stann, when you look at them in the careers of top fighters.... are not amazing wins. They are solid that often lead to his losses against top-10ers.

Like I've said in other threads, I'm not sure how I feel about Belfort bieng a top-10 either. He's dangerous for sure, but I see only Akiyama and Johnson in recent years.

I agree, but if you break down the wins of most of the division you will see that Bisping hasn't done substantially less than the other contenders have.

 

[minicooper99]

Nobody disputes that, it's the other way around. People usually rage on about how the Bisping Hammill fight was the worst decision in mma history (whilst a clear 29-28, it was far from it) but refuse to admit that the Rashad fight was even close let alone an arguable robbery.

Agreed; I guess my point is there is no reason to bring either up...it's a wash IMHO.

 

[OldBoy91]

Agreed; I guess my point is there is no reason to bring either up...it's a wash IMHO.

Yeah I agree with you.

 

[TicoMMAfan]

I agree, but if you break down the wins of most of the division you will see that Bisping hasn't done substantially less than the other contenders have.

Hey, I'm not saying he shouldn't be considered a Top-10, heck you might even make an argument for Top-5. But I just can't see him as a #2-#3.

 

[OldBoy91]

Hey, I'm not saying he shouldn't be considered a Top-10, heck you might even make an argument for Top-5. But I just can't see him as a #2-#3.

Yeah, I think he's ranked so highly because he did so well against the clear #2 Sonnen. That and everyone else besides Weidman has lost decisively in recent history. Okama and Munoz got knocked out, Boetsch got stopped by a guy ranked outside the top 10 etc. Bisping's only loss in recent memory is a close decision loss to Chael.

 

[Jonny Ninja]

A lot of people consider Bisping a great fighter and a top contender, here is my view of Bisping as a fighter and I like to know yout thoughts about it :

Bisping is UFC poster boy for the UK market, if you look at his record he has a lot of wins over spoon fed opponents : Jason Day, Jason Miller, Jorge Rivera, Dan Miller Akyama, and a few others.

None of these fighters were close to being champions or top contenders, AND he got rocked on most of these fights.

Everytime he has faced top competition or close to top fighters, he lost.

All of his fights with the exception of Hendo, Sonnen and maybe Wandy, were spoon fed to him.

Anyone here noticed the amount of marketing the UFC invested on his fight against Jason Day. People in my view get caught in the Bisping hype without looking at his record and performances.

Don't get me wrong, he is a good all around fighter, but good, not great. I think almost EVERYTIME he faces top competition he'll lose.

He has a pretty good chance against Vitor on the later rounds, but just you imagine Bisping, primarily a kickboxer without a single knockout on his record, and packing very litle knockout power facing Anderson should he get past Vitor. Anybody see any chance Bisping has via Wrestling or Submission ? I don't, standing up, joke.

I'm placing my money on Bisping though against Belfort.

It always makes me Laugh when bisping haters say he has been spoon fed/protected? He's fought hendo, wand and Stann who are all killers. Sonnen and evens (both have been avoided by other contenders in their respective divisions)who are both outstanding wrestlers and fighters and have both been around the top of their devisions for years now. And now he is matched with vitor. Look at who wiedman has fought to get to the top of the tree, why don't fans give him shit for being protected???

As for this uk poster boy bollox, do people actually realise that we don't pay ppv in this country. What exactley do the UFC gain from pushing and protecting bisping? Many British fans don't like him (though most do in all honesty), where as everyone loves hardy, Pickett and Pearson, so why don't the UFC push these fighters, surely that would make more sense. It is something that lazy posters/sheep state because that are unable to form their own opinions on a fighter, just copy what other unintelligent poster write. If you can come up with a relevant reason that the UFC is protecting mike then I'm happy to consider it.

The fact is he's fought nearly 20 times for the company(lost only 4), fought some of the greatest mma fighters of all time (I'm including Belfort in this) and still has yet to fight for the title. People who think he is getting special treatment from the UFC are fuckin idiots!