...then what's the point of making this a title shot? Rematch Bisping not for the belt, and we won't have a mess if he wins... Agree?
Out of respect for Hendo and his amazing career and because Bisping has been a company man for over a decade and asked for this fight specifically. The only reasons I can think of.
Because Dan said so lol, he was probably just as surprised as the rest of us that he got a title shot for his last bout.
^ this Gives Bisping a shot at closure, gives Hendo a shot at repeating one of the most glorious knockouts in MMA history, gets both guys (and the UFC) paid, and gives the fans something to watch. Lots of marketing angles as well. People are acting like a seemingly imperfect title match is the end of the world and are smearing their sandy vaginas all over sherdog. Welcome to MMA, ya goofs. Put up your feet and stay awhile.
Bisping as a champ is already a mess. He's clearly not the best in the division, and the ACTUAL best middleweights are gonna have to sort that shit out sooner than later--and Bisping won't be part of that. Hendo is the one guy he could beat before the shit-storm descends upon him. This way, Bisping can be part of something truly special in MMA: an all time great's career walk-off. That's a pretty good way to go out, even if you are on the losing end.
I mean, ideally you wouldn't have a title challenger announcing he's going to retire immediately even if he wins the belt, but the title shot was already essentially a lifetime achievement award for Hendo anyway, so I'm not really too upset about it.
I welcome it. A tournament to determine the new MW champion would be incredible. I know they fall apart and plenty can go wrong. But let's be honest Mma fans have always been incredibly excited by tournaments. Bisping, rockhold, weidman, jacare, gayjesus, vitor, machida, and Anderson silva in a mw tourney would be absolutely incredible. It does create problems for contenders after a champion is crowned. But I don't care
He doesn't have to be. Being the "best" is just some subjective bullshit anyway. He beat the guy that had the belt. That's all that matters.
It's one of those fights where hendo doesn't deserve the shot it kind of holds up others getting their shots and a lot of the top guys who could have fought for the title are getting up their in age so this wastes their time... That being said I'm so excited for I it I dgaf
It's a BS match and I will not buy this PPV no matter who else is on it. I have no problem with fights made for interest but not when the title is is held up for it. There are 4 deserving fighters, I favor Jacare but wouldn't bitch about Chris, Luke, or Romero. Henderson isn't top 10 anymore.
A vacant belt is never a bad thing, for the promoter and for the fans. It introduces excitement that can be missing when you have a dominant champ for a long time. One way or another, you know there's going to be a new champ. I can't think of a better way to retire than by winning a belt as the oldest guy in the division and then leaving it for the other guys.
