WKR called it, Michael Bisping fighting for a title shot

by Zak Woods on Jun 2, 2009 12:00 PM EDT Comment 7 comments

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Not to gloat or anything but we are very rarily right (just read our gambling advice, ugh).

According to the Manchester Evening News,

Michael Bisping is aiming to be the first Briton to win an Ultimate Fighting Championship world title - and he could do it in front of a sell-out MEN Arena crowd. The 30-year-old from Clitheroe has been promised a shot at the mixed martial arts organisation's middleweight crown if he comes through his clash with Dan Henderson in Las Vegas on July 11. "Michael will fight Henderson at UFC 100 in Vegas, and the winner will get a world title shot," a UFC spokesman said. "And if that winner is Michael, we intend to take the fight to Manchester, just down the road from where he lives.

And what WKR wrote back in April,

If Michael Bisping defeats Dan Henderson at UFC 100 he will be given a title shot against Anderson Silva in England this fall.

But wait a second, isn't Demian Maia suppose to be next in line for a title shot? Indeed, Maia is rumored to be next in line but after the Thales Leites debacle will make the UFC be cautious before putting another Jiu-Jitsu specialist against Silva. Would they play that card a second time?

Now it should be said that the UFC has declared fights for title shots before only to rescind the offer if they didn't like what they saw, e.g. Arlovski-Werdum.

But WKR is still confident that if Bisping wins he will be fighting for the middleweight title later this year.

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Yushin Okami on the backburner again. So is the winner of Marquart/Maia. It’s kind of a shame since Hendo already had his shot and I don’t believe Bisping would beat any of those three guys.

by Steve W on Jun 2, 2009 1:01 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

There is always room to rescind an offer and part of this is just building hype/meaning for a fight.

A proposed title shot to the winner gives credibility as oppose to some guy with a blog (read as me) speculating about said title shot.

Now the UFC was never going to give Okami a title shot as his first fight back from injury.

watchkalibrun.com

by Zak Woods on Jun 2, 2009 1:13 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

I don’t believe Bisping is world class. He’s a decent striker with average power. His grappling is sub-standard imo. Okami, Marquardt, Maia, Hendo, Silva could all beat him handily i’d say.

" Man is not made for defeat. A man can be destroyed but not defeated "
- Hemingway

by Hellsing on Jun 2, 2009 1:39 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

agreed

But you forgot one thing, MARKETABILITY

If Bisping beats Hendo his stock will never be higher. Especially if he has to go through a meat grinder of Nate Marquardt, Demian Maia and Yushin Okami. No if Bisping wins the UFC will have a major UK fighter prepped for a title shot which they can hold in the U.K.

Remember Franklin-Silva II was in Rich’s hometown of Cincinnati and the UFC hasnt returned to the Nati since then.

watchkalibrun.com

by Zak Woods on Jun 2, 2009 2:00 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

I don’t see why everyone (sic) is down on Bisping. Dude has one loss and it’s to Rashad Evans at 205.

Does he have the most complete and dominating game around? No, but neither does Demian Maia, but we all (myself included) love him to death.

The biggest part of this is as Zak said – Marketing. Imagine the turn out the UFC would get putting Bisping in the cage with Anderson Silva for the Middleweight strap at, say, I dunno, any of the monstrous venues in London… HUGE!

As for the complaining about Yushin Okami ALWAYS getting passed over: Stay healthy, string together another couple wins and enjoy your title shot. Just because he was due one two years ago doesn’t mean he gets it now that he can’t go three months without injuring something.

by E. Spencer Kyte on Jun 2, 2009 3:02 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

I think what a lot of ppl (including me) are confused about when it comes to Okami is that he could be a legitimate opponent for Silva (maybe not a legitiamte draw tho).

If Anderson needs motivation to fight at a high level then wouldnt avenging a loss that happened due to DQ be a big motivating factor?

Also Okami is consistently ranked high in the middleweight division and consistently wins.

The counter argument is that Okami is boring. But Machida was broing two weeks ago and now the UFC is his oyster

watchkalibrun.com

by Zak Woods on Jun 2, 2009 3:13 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

I honestly believe that if he could ever stay healthy for more than one fight, he would get his shot.

Yes, avenging a loss would be a motivation for Silva, who clearly needs something to motivate him and you’re right about the boring issue in regards to the current LHW champ and Okami – wins make people more marketable regardless of style…

Okami is rated highly because he is a great fighter. He’s 7-1 in the UFC with his only loss being a UD to Ace at UFC 72. The problem is that every time he gets a win under his belt and is ready to challenge Silva, he gets hurt. Cote filled in for him due to injury and then he was supposed to go with Dan Miller at 98, but tore a ligament. Had he made and won that fight, he’d be getting his title shot.

Instead, he’ll have to fight someone decent again once he’s healed and go from there.

by E. Spencer Kyte on Jun 2, 2009 8:08 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs