BEHIND THE SCENES MMA ARTICLES & INTERVIEWS
01/23/2012
It’s Time to Make it “Count”… Bisping
By Christopher “sLapDatSuCKa” Jester
It’s time to make it count, literally. Michael “The Count” Bisping has now gotten his most elusive prize – an opportunity to become the #1 contender in the UFC’s middleweight division. Tuesday afternoon, January 17th, it was reported that Mark Munoz would not be able to fight against Chael Sonnen in their title elimination scrap due to an injury. Instead, UFC President Dana White announced that Michael Bisping would take Munoz’s spot.
Although the bout is scheduled to be hosted just a week away on the January 28th UFC on Fox event, Bisping has stepped in comfortably. Usually short notice fights put the fans in a worrying state as fighters may not have been properly conditioned for a fight. However, Michael Bisping was already scheduled to fight on that card. He was originally slated to fight Demian Maia, who now will face the undefeated Chris Weidman.
This fight may garner a lot more excitement for the fans as Sonnen and Bisping have already hinted at fighting one another a bit earlier. During the earlier stages of the last season of the Ultimate Fighter, it was rumored that Chael Sonnen and Michael Bisping would coach opposite one another. While that did not pan out, the two did have a few choice words for one another along the way. However, Jason “Mayhem” Miller would become the coach in Sonnen’s stead who at the time was facing his own legal disputes.
Bisping, currently boasting 22 wins and only 3 losses, is the Ultimate Fighter season 3 winner. Despite a short stint in the UFC’s Light-Heavyweight division, his most important fights were in which he won a controversial decision victory over fellow TUF 3 cast mate Matt Hamill and a split-decision loss to fellow TUF alum Rashad Evans, Bisping’s career did not begin to soar until he dropped to 185 lbs. (the UFC’s Middleweight division).
Since dropping to Middleweight, Bisping has rattled off 8 victories and only 2 losses. The losses coming from a now famous knockout from Dan Henderson and a closely fought decision loss to Wanderlei Silva. His victories included wins over Charles McCarthy, Jason Day, Chris Leben, Denis Kang, Dan Miller, Yoshihiro Akiyama, Jorge Rivera, and most recently Jason Miller.
This is not unfamiliar grounds for Bisping, however. After defeating McCarthy, Day, and Leben – Bisping was one fight away from a title shot. A proposed title eliminator came into fruition when he was set to coach opposite of Dan Henderson. Despite losing that fight, Bisping has soldiered on quite well and is now on a tear again since dominating Denis Kang and his loss to Wanderlei Silva; a fight many feel like Bisping had in the bag before he was knocked down in the last seconds of the match. A rematch with Wanderlei Silva has also been a match he’s wanted for quite some time, but has not yet developed.
Now on a four fight winning streak and going into what is likely the biggest match of his career, Bisping is ready to remove Chael Sonnen from the title picture so he can get an opportunity to fight the pound-for-pound king and UFC Middleweight Champion Anderson Silva. However, according to a tweet posted by the UFC’s official twitter account from Chael Sonnen, Sonnen said, “I am going to knock the teeth out of this snot nosed Brit who calls himself Royalty, who calls himself a Count. I am MMA royalty and America will tune into the Chael Sonnen show next Saturday on FOX.”
But Bisping would not be Bisping if he didn’t have something brash to counter back with. Bisping’s response was, “He’s been kicked out of politics, kicked out of real estate, and I am going to kick him out of the middleweight division.” Come next Saturday January 28th at UFC on FOX 2, the MMA world will definitely see who will become the next contender for Anderson Silva’s middleweight title.
Follow Christopher “sLapDatSuCKa” Jester on Twitter @sLapDatSuCka
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