MICHAEL BISPING WAS one of the first fighters to represent Britain in the UFC having graduated from the school of “The Ultimate Fighter” in 2006.
Under the tutelage of Tito Ortiz, Bisping impressively became the second light heavyweight winner of the TV series and has since embarked on successful UFC career.
Next weekend he takes on the veteran middleweight star Vitor Belfort with the promise of a long awaited title shot if he can overcome the dangerous Brazilian.
Having been so close on numerous occasions before, has the time finally come for “The Count” to dispel the doubters and have his say at the top end of the middleweight division?
Early UFC career
Bisping started out in the light heavyweight division and had some success early on winning his first three match-ups before succumbing to a split-decision loss against Rashad Evans that prompted him to drop to middleweight. He had always seemed a little small for the light heavyweight division and he thought it was best to drop down where the weight cut might be a little more gruelling, but he would be the bigger man against most opponents.
His base in kick-boxing meant that Bisping possessed a very technical striking game that was backed up by a surprisingly solid ground game, which was somewhat unusual for UK fighters.
Having got three wins under his belt he was given the chance to become a coach in the series where he made his name and was pitted against Dan Henderson in season nine of TUF. The rivalry between the two fighters was evident throughout the season and Bisping cemented himself as one of the most polarising characters in the UFC with a series of petty arguments and childish pranks, which all made for good TV.
By the time the two came to fight at UFC 100 it was clear that there was no love lost between them and Henderson inflicted the Englishman’s first ever KO loss with a brutal right hook followed up by a hammer-fist on the ground for good measure.
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The Count bounced back
He recovered from that devastating loss by beating Denis Kang in front of his home fans in Manchester before being overawed by Wanderlei Silva’s aggressiveness in his next fight. Bisping seem doomed to be forever in the lower doldrums of the middleweight division until he put together another three fight win-streak and once again got the chance to coach on TUF.
This time it looked as if he was selected for marketing reasons rather than being a well-respected fighter but his demolition of Jason Miller edged him towards the latter. He was then paired against Chael Sonnen in a number one contender fight and despite the fact that he lost via a very close unanimous decision, his performance showed that he was actually a very accomplished fighter and helped earn him a new found respect.
He again showed his genuine credentials by beating Brian Stann in his last fight and that has left him in the position of being only one-fight away from that much coveted shot at Anderson Silva.
Having failed at this point a number of times in his career already, Bisping seems determined to prove that he is a threat at middleweight but faces a very tough opponent in Vitor Belfort. This could be the biggest fight of Bisping’s career as it could determine whether he will be thought of as a top ranking UFC middleweight or someone who was simply known for being a big character in MMA.
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