UFC 127: Michael Bisping's Foul on Jorge Rivera Warrants Greater Penalty

After flagrantly fouling Jorge Rivera at UFC 127, it appears likely that Michael Bisping will walk away scotch free.

In fact, if you consider how his notoreity will probably actually boost his drawing power, he may indeed have benefited.

Bisping has defended himself by saying that the illegal knee wasn't intentional.

We can't get inside Bisping's head to actually truly understand the thought processes behind his actions, but when a foul is so blatant, the action itself should speak loud enough.

Unfortunately, it seems that there are few options for punishment available.

Bisping was penalized on the scorecards, with a point deduction, but such measures are hardly enough deterrence. Knowing that he was winning the round, Bisping could have calculated that he could afford the point deduction and still win the fight.

The UFC could suspend Bisping, but a suspension of four to six months would hardly be more than symbolic, as fighters only fight about once every four to six months anyway.

Yet at the same time, a longer suspension might be too great a punishment.

At the present time there may be no other recourse, but in the future, there should be another punishment option available for such outrageous fouls.

The most obvious solution to me is a monetary one.

If Michael Bisping was forced to hand over 20 percent of his fight purse to Jorge Rivera, on threat of a longer suspension, fighters might think twice about whether committing such flagrant fouls is really worth it.