Michael Bisping on the verge of title shot

All he has to do to ensure that middleweight title shot is defeat Dan Henderson (read as: actually beat someone). Not an easy to task for a fighter that has looked impressive against decent talent but has never been tested against the top-echelon. Not that I blame the UFC for protecting their U.K. investment but that will all change when Bisping fights (and loses to) Dan Henderson. 

Let's do a quick recap of Bisping's UFC career. He wins arguably the weakest season of TUF, then puts on two really sloppy light heavyweight wins in England. Then he is handed a gift wrapped victory over Matt Hamill, a fight Bisping lost. That was followed up by Rashad Evans beating him in New Jersey. 

Then Michael Bisping made the smartest decision of his career and dropped to middleweight. The plump handle bars disappeared and 'The Count' looked like he could be a great middleweight. The problem is that his three fights at middleweight have been against bottom talent like Charles McCarthy, Jason Day and Chris Leben. Does that look like a legit middleweight resume? Nate Mardquardt, Thales Leites, Demian Mai, Yushin Okami are all above him in talent; hell Bisping hasn't even fought TUF gatekeepers like Jason MacDonald and Ed Herman. 

So while I am pleased that the UK poster boy is finally being allowed to flourish -- did the UFC hold him back for monetary reasons?-- but that doesn't mean he has earned this position through victories.