UFC on Fox 2 Predictions: Chael Sonnen vs. Michael Bisping
Ever since Chael Sonnen nearly defeated UFC middleweight champion Anderson Silva in August 2010, fans have been hoping that the two fighters would meet again to continue the rivalry.
At UFC on Fox 2, Sonnen will get his chance to earn another shot at Silva. With a win over Michael Bisping in Saturday's co-main event, Sonnen would be named the top contender in the 185-pound division, meaning a probable clash with Silva in the champion's home country of Brazil.
Sonnen has certainly shown holes in his submission defense over the years, suffering every single one of his UFC losses via submission. Nonetheless, Sonnen will likely implement his usual game plan by attempting to take Bisping to the ground.
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A perceived striker with an underrated ground game, Bisping will look to threaten Sonnen with submissions to get the fight back to a standing position.
Unfortunately for the Englishman, because he took this fight as a late replacement for Mark Munoz, Bisping has probably not spent much of his training camp working on his submissions. Instead, since he was previously scheduled to fight jiu-jitsu ace Demian Maia, Bisping likely focused more on defending submissions.
If Bisping is unable to attack with submissions off of his back, it is going to be a long three rounds for the Brit.
Sonnen has taken Yushin Okami and Nate Marquardt to the ground with ease. Those fighters possess better takedown defense than Bisping, so it is tough to see a scenario in which this fight stays standing for a long period of time.
Come Saturday night, this fight should resemble most Sonnen fights. Look for the former University of Oregon wrestler to take this fight to the ground quickly in every round and work his ground-and-pound for nearly 15 minutes.
Prediction: Sonnen defeats Bisping by unanimous decision.
Sean Smith is a Featured Columnist for Bleacher Report MMA. For the latest insight and updates on everything MMA, you can follow Sean on Twitter @SeanSmithMMA.
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