Michael Bisping's ability to take a punch is the talk of the media before every Bisping fight. Today we look at the defensive flaws which leave Bisping's chin so exposed in his bouts. The chin is a vague term in combat sports - most use it to refer to a fighter's ability to take punishment to the head in general, but other times it is about the durability of the jawline alone. The truth is that while the temple is an excellent target - or vital point (depending on your martial art of choice) - it is surrounded by plain old skull, which is much, much denser and sturdier than the many bones which make up the human hand. The jaw on the other hand is full of nerves and contains moving parts - it is not built for taking punishment and a great many men have been knocked out with punches landing on their jawline or chin. To this day professional athletes are taught to protect their jaw at all costs - keeping it behind the gloves or the shoulders at all times. One only needs to listen to Bernard Hopkins or James Toney discuss their philosophies on taking punches to understand how much more affecting a blow to the jaw is than a blow to the skull. A bad chin - in the sense of an inability to take punishment - is not a particularly common thing, and the same is true of a remarkably study chin, but there hasn't been a single fighter who developed a reputation for being chinny that couldn't have benefited from some solid lessons in defense. More.. By Jack Slack.
great post TS. I love the video. Someone posted a thread with Gif's of Bisping taking right hands and it almost showed me that he has a decent chin. He has been knocked out ONCE lol That Video is inspiring to be honest. Bernard Hopkins is living proof of longevity. He is articulate , intelligent and well spoken. I can't help but believe it is because of the fact he doesnt take alot of damage and has great defense. Awesome Stuff
damn, bernard hopkins is an intelligent guy. he should be training guys. you can see how he is still competitive in a young man's game because he knows the fight game.
Nice to see people posting his articles for him since he no longer posts them here himself. Thanks to TS and TSG
Thank You for posting. Always enjoy The Striking Guy's in-depth analysis; on a recent thread about Vitor and Bisping, I wanted to quote the article about Vitor's striking (powerful but very basic), but couldn't find it. Bisping is not a knockout artist, but his footwork and stand-up is actually more technical than many of his peers, including Vitor "Blitz" Belfort.
Bisping and MANY if not most MMA fighters often break the first law you learn in boxing as a 12 year old backing up in a straight line. Hitting pads does not make you a boxer... Kampmann did this exact sillyness vs Hedricks and I believe Bisping did it and paid as well vs Hendo.
