UFC 127 Results: Michael Bisping Evens the Odds; TKOs Jorge Rivera

There's a valuable lesson that some guys learn more quickly than others when they call Michael Bisping out, and that lesson is "don't talk trash about Bisping unless you can back it up in the cage."

Jorge Rivera learned that lesson the hard way at UFC 127 tonight, though he probably wouldn't have learned that lesson if he didn't have the guts to fuel the fire in the first place.

Plenty of harsh words were exchanged, and on a night in which the only real surprise prior to the BJ Penn-Jon Fitch battle came in the second fight on the card, my pick for "shocker of the night" would have gone to this fight, but only if Rivera and Bisping shook hands or touched gloves before they battled.

In any event, Bisping did fight a smart fight against Rivera, who did manage to stun his foe a few times during the fight.

Bisping landed two takedowns and even with the two takedowns he scored, he was able to catch Rivera on the way back up, but the story of the fight wasn't the takedowns by any means.

Instead it was an instance in which, one minute, a takedown resulted in Rivera eating elbows, and then the next, Bisping loses his cool and throws a deliberate knee to a kneeling Rivera.

Whether or not Rivera cracked an orbital bone or damaged his eyesight in the long term is definitely a question, but Rivera did have the option to not continue, which meant replays would repeatedly confirm that the knee appeared intentional and therefore it warranted a disqualification.

Instead, he chose to fight on, though it was clear that Bisping had in fact done the damage.

He would pay for it in round two, where Bisping would tag Rivera multiple times against the cage and eventually knock him down, which in turn led to two more necessary shots landing and the ref finally calling a halt to the fight.

Bisping would apologize for the knee, stating that he threw it in a fit of blind rage but many would argue that the knee was throw intentionally, with even more believing it to be a form of payback for Bisping after having to deal with Rivera's derogatory remarks for the past few weeks.

At day's end, however, the history books only show that in the second round of an intensity-fueled battle between two electrifying Middleweights, it was Michael Bisping that got the job done against Jorge Rivera.

Bisping no doubt has worked his way back up towards the rankings, but a title shot has still yet to loom for the scrappy TUF 3 winner.

Where he goes from here is up to Dana White, and the same goes for Rivera.

Depending on how Dana looked at Rivera's performance, maybe it's not destined to be "back to the undercards" for Rivera after all.

Does the loss set him back?

Of course it does, but don't be surprised if he gets one more shot at the main card in his next bout.

UFC 127: Penn vs. Fitch Results, News and More