Bisping TKO

So sadly for our boy mike he has added another knockout to the highlight reel, after the press conference i really did want him to beat belfort but its not to be. If Mike had somehow pulled off the win he would have been taken apart by spider (no suprise or shame in that as endless fighters are on the list) but where does he go from now?

Does he accpet his fate that when fighting top tier opponents he just cant cut the mustard and be happy with his position on the upper midard picking up pay cheques and being a gate keeper to younger fighters to make a name?

or will he retire if not now after one more fight? he is still a draw for the ufc they can have him headline the uk shows and add a bit more name power to them but realistically bisping has had a great run winning TUF but he will never be champion even if Silva retires

I don't think he'll retire, he enjoys fighting and working for the UFC. I think Bisping is doing what he loves and he won't want to give that up just yet. It's a shame he couldn't of beaten Belfort but it wasn't meant to be. I don't think Belfort could beat either Jones or Silva in a rematch so I don't think anything much will come of Belfort's victory over Bisping and that is the biggest shame of the fight. Bisping needed the win more than Belfort.

I think the UFC will keep him on for the time being, firstly hes good for tapping into the UK market and secondly hes still a good name to pitch up and coming fighters against as a stepping stone toward the top 10.
The other option is headlining UK promotions.

He's still top 10 in any reasonable person's list at MW so he's certainly relavant. problem is he comes up short to the very best.

He earns more than most due to him being a UK fighter and won't be turning down that money any time soon.

The UFC will have no idea at all to get rid of him and they cry out for stars from countries without many names, much like Kongo for France plus he doesn't mind being the mouthy guy to talk fights up.

Sonnen will surely not beat Jones and Weidman wants a shot at Silva soon so maybe Belfort vs Sonnen is a good fight as the foundations of a feud are already in place.

I'd match up Bisoing to face Munoz next.

I cant believe he got caught with Belforts high kick TWICE! Its like he had never seen him fight before. Victor always does this move, feint the right used the left high kick. Bisping only has himself to blame. It was as bad as circling on to Hendo's right hand. Its going to be another long road back again.

Agree about the long road back. The main critism about Bisping is that he falls short against the top guys which again happened and thereofre he is going to beat 3 top guys minimum to be considered for a shot. The problem is the UFC feed him a lot of lower tier guys in between so it'll take a long time to build up the CV again.

i posted this a while ago, well before this fight and it appears i was right

"the fight i was most looking forward to was lombard v palhares, always enjoy watching palhares trying to grab a leg, but lombard took him out with ease, then called bisping out. which would be a good fight, although i still have my doubts about bispings chin and getting knocked out, hendo obiviously did, thought wandi shaked him alot and since then he hasnt been in with many big punchers (bar perhaps stann). i think lombard might be bad news for him as he really is a explosive puncher."

i cant see bisping getting a title shot with silva, as the ufc will want some super fight in the usa to make the money. you only have to look at the adverts of the JDS and cain fight to see there really trying to get cain back in, they were so pro cain, using plenty of excuses and building him back up. having an amercian heavyweight champ means so much more $ to the ufc

Brazil aside USA is the biggest audience out there so stands to reason they'd want more champions & I think Bisping being English didn't help his chances. Many have disected Bispings record & said he doesn't deserve a shot at Silva as well as he would stand little chance against him. When the Belfort fight was made, beat Belfort you get your shot, I was convinced they didn't want to give him his shot and felt he'd been stitched up, I also felt this would be a win for Belfort. Win or lose made no real difference to Belfort, he was sure he would'n't get another shot at Silva. Now say what you want about Bisping but has any other mw got a considerably better record than Bisping or more deserving of a shot? As you say i don't think Bisping will ever get a shot now, its a long road back & Dana clearly doesn't want him there.

the booking was clearly biased and you're right, American audiences want American champions and quite frankly, Brazil have shown USA up over the last few years with almost cleaning up every title. Now talent must be appreciated no matter what country it comes from and for the neutral the talent that has come out of Brazil is a joy to watch, but I bet the Americans are jealous.

talkingpoint wrote:the booking was clearly biased and you're right, American audiences want American champions and quite frankly, Brazil have shown USA up over the last few years with almost cleaning up every title. Now talent must be appreciated no matter what country it comes from and for the neutral the talent that has come out of Brazil is a joy to watch, but I bet the Americans are jealous.

I totally agree & as a neutral I never 'lose' lol! But generally I find fight fans are less patriotic than in other sports, fans always have a favorite fighter for various reasons, we all have a different criteria for what makes a fighter special for us, we have preferences ground game over stand up for example. I do sometimes find it a little odd the chants of USA USA although I do understand it, even if the US fighter has no chance or is not great to watch.