After dismantling Charles McCarthy in the first round in Montreal at UFC 83, Michael Bisping seemed to be on his way to a battle against middleweight champion, and one of the best pound-for-pound fighters in the world, Anderson Silva.
Bisping recently moved down to middleweight after a recent split-decision loss to Rashad Evans and a disappointing victory over Matt Hamil in a bout that most observers thought he really lost. With the victory over McCarthy, he's now 1-0 in the UFC as a middleweight.
Silva is running out of contenders for his 185-pound strap after going through Rich Franklin (twice), Travis Lutter, Nate Marquardt, and former Pride 183-pound champion, Dan Henderson. But that doesn't mean they should put Bisping on a platter for him.
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Bisping is very valuable to the UFC as it continues to expand internationally. Probably the most popular UFC fighter in England, Bisping means much more to them than just any old middleweight. If he's thrown in there with Silva because there isn't anyone left for Silva to face, they risk hurting the name value of their number one ambassador in Europe.
Also, he's not ready for Silva. In his short UFC career, which only goes back to 2006 after winning The Ultimate Fighter Season 3, he has never faced a striker close to the level of Silva.
Who should be next for Silva? Who knows? But according to Dana White, it won't be boxer Roy Jones Jr., who Silva wants to face in a boxing match.
Right now, Jones might be the only one who could beat him.
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8 months ago
what a joke! Silva v jones jr????
good luck Silva.. Roy would tear him apart in a boxing match. who does this clown think he is to believe he could step into a boxing match with one of the worlds greatest boxers and have a hope in hell of scoring anything against him??
from 8 months ago
MMA...interesting comment. I think we can all agree that Silva would destroy Jones Jr about 500% harder in an MMA match then Jones Jr would destroy Silva in a boxing match. Lets be real here. Im not saying that Silva would win such a boxing match but he would have a much better chance of surviving in Jones Jr's world...
there is no way in hell Jones Jr could come even close to surviving the cage with Silva. So you need to balance yourself out a bit with what your commenting on. Dont let your personal opinion or bias affect the comments you post too much...
8 months ago
Supposedly Silva's people have told him that with several months of straight boxing training, he can hang with Jones Jr.
Thankfully, Dana White is smart and will never let it happen.
8 months ago
Jones Jr. isn't next and Bisping isn't either. It's going to be Okami
8 months ago
Bisping beat a guy who's strategy was to cover up until Bisping got tired/lazy. Other refs would have stopped that fight...let's not get crazy, Bisping has a lot of work to do before he goes after Silva.
8 months ago
Agree with both Joshua and Tim. I can see Okami getting the next fight. But it's not going to do any business on it's own. It'll have to be a semi-main.
I hope they don't feed Bisping to the wolves. He still needs work.
8 months ago
I'd like to see quarry get a chance, but not until he redeems himself for that dismal fight with starnes
from 8 months ago
Devin, did you watch Quarry's fight? Its hard to make a good showing when someone is running from you for 15 minutes.
8 months ago
I think that Bispings next fight should be Rich Franklin. I agree that Bisping needs keeping away from Silva, however, I don't think he should be spoon fed either. The way I see it is that if he loses to Rich Franklin he will not lose too much credibility since Franklin is probs 2nd best in the middleweight dvn.
It makes a solid fight with 2 big names. Also I don't what else Franklin can do, he needs to beat every other possible contender if he is to ever get a chance again
8 months ago
Charles McCarthy was barely competition for Bisping, although he does have sick Jiu Jitsu. While Bisping's striking game looked much improved, as did his submission defense, he's still nowhere near ready for Silva.
8 months ago
Devin,
I wouldn't blame that on Quarry. If he could've chased him on a bicycle, maybe he could've caught him. I actually want to see Quarry and Leben. I think that would be fun. Both guys would just come out swinging.
Fgfgb,
I'm with you. I think that would be the best test you could give Bisping. You could also pair up MacDonald with Bisping. That would be a good challenge as well.
Holli,
McCarthy seemed to figure that Bisping couldn't hit hard or something. I'm not sure what his game plan was.
8 months ago
I agree, Quarry fought his ass off. The man to blame is Starnes and that's what the UFC did this morning by releasing him from his contract.
from 8 months ago
Yep, that's what I just wrote about last night. Thanks for the comment.
8 months ago
Bisping isn't ready nor has he proven anything. There isn't much debate necessary. He beat a guy in Charles McCarthy who has now lost 3 of his last 5 fights. Bisping has largely been untested. He lost his only high profile match against Rashad Evans.
He needs to beat henderson, franklin, or marquardt before he deserves to be mentioned in the conversation for a title shot.
from 8 months ago
I'm with you Derek.
Throw Okami in with the three you just stated and I might think he's worthy. I just hope they don't go with him because he's the newest sexy name for Silva.
8 months ago
Bisping will have a hard enough time getting past Leben, let alone Silva or a top contender. Honestly, I see Leben testing Bisping's chin and winning by tko or decision.
from 8 months ago
It's definitely an interesting fight. Leben just puts his head down and swings, which also means that a technical striker should be able to beat him. I think Leben can win, but I think Bisping probably takes the fight to the ground after the first round or so and wins the fight.
But it should be one of the more exciting fights that night.
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