Belfort vs Bisping is almost set for UFC 120?
Posted on July 6, 2010, 10:12 AM by Daniel CassidyWith today's news from UFC's UK representative Marshall Zelaznik confirming that UFC 120 will take place in London, it seems a headline could be close to being announced.
MMabay.co.uk are citing "an exclusive source" as being behind stories of a headlining Middleweight match up between Michael Bisping and Vitor Belfort. It was originally believed Bisping would fight the winner of Wanderlei and Akiyama, but with Wanderlei out of the picture due to injury and Akiyama losing to Chris Leben these bouts aren't really viable. MMabay.co.uk also went on to state that one of the fighters had signed the agreement for the bout.
Bisping's last bout saw him win a decision over Dan Miller at UFC 114, while beofre this the Brit lost a unanimous decision to PRIDE superstar Wanderlei Silva at UFC 110. His record is currently 19-3. A win over a high calibre opponent such as Belfort would catapult him straight inot Middleweight title contention.
Belfort was last seen in action last September, knocking out Rich Franklin in a catchweight bout. Both a veteran of PRIDE and UFC, the Brazillian was set to be the next challenger for Anderson Silva's Middleweight belt, but an injury put a stop to this. His record currently stands at 19-8. He is a former Cage Rage, a former UFC Lightheavyweight champion, and at just 19, a winner of the UFC 12 tournament.
On the card, Dan Hardy is expected to face either Martin Kampmann or Carlos Condit, and John Hathaway is likely to meet Don Hyun Kim.
UFC 120 will take place on October 16, 2010 at the O2 Arena in London.
Comments
If this is true bisping is going to get KTFO just like ufc 100.
yea i completely agree vitor's hands are too fast bisping is gonna hit the canvas
lol I guess UFC doesn't like Bisping, first Hendo then Wand and now Belfort, Bisping is getting KO'd for sure
hahaha, he'll eventually disappear or become a serious badass huh?
It seems like they dont like him, but I think its really how thick that division is.
love or hate bisping, he fights the best fighters out there that he can.
LMAO, true dat
it's not that they don't like him they know most fans in the us hate on brits. plus bisping has clearly proved b level dudes are no issue for him so he will no longer get 2 b level dudes in a row. The UFC want him to beat a top opponent he's failed thus far but he's still better than people give him credit for he was a postman before TUF and bear in mind there is 0 wrestling in the uk and the bjj level in the uk doesn't compare to the us yet he's done well against wrestlers. Bisping actually wanted Nate the great but he's expecting or was expecting a baby. Also bisping has become less aggressive lately and less exciting lately he was finishing fights before not so much now. The winner of this will be Anderson Silva last opponent at MW. Belfort is the clear favorite but if Bisping caused and upset, then that fight will 100% in Manchester England and the gate will be at least 3-4 million in us dollars.
I hope this turns out to be true im planning on going to this event! Belfort was the first fighter that really got me into MMA!! OLD SKOOL PHENOM BEATDOWN
Wasn't Belfort soppose to get a title shot vs Anderson Sylva?
This fight shouldn't be allowed.
will he have that stupid ass look again...man i hope so
why not ?
Bisping is not qualified to fight Belfort.
Having a mismatch this big could lead to a serious injury.
Bisping is okay for UK fans, but he has no business with Belfort.
Agreed. And I'd love to see it. One of my favs against one of my least favs. War Belfort!
I just want to laugh, when I read this. What could Mike Bisping possibly offer in the way of an answer to Vitor Belfort''s world class skills?
If true, this is just a bad fight for Bisping. I couldn't see MB making it out of the first and he's a hard guy to run away from. Belfort has true power, timing and is probably the best pure boxer in MMA; James Toney, aside (lol).
Vitor is a champ in waiting. Bisping is just a points fighter, who likes to stay away from more talented, powerful fighters. He was crushed by Hendo. Had there been a fourth round against Wand, Wand would have finished him. He pointed out a victory against Chris Leben; one, I doubt he'd get, today.
Bisping is, at best, a mid-level fighter, whose success and stature in the UFC is based on one thing - he's British. He has a following and the UFC is trying to grow the brand in the UK and Europe (in general)
Vitor Belfort - is a top level, world class MMA fighter. Vitor is a champ in waiting.
Surely, the thought behind this must be a tune-up fight for VB and...hopefully, Bisping's swan song out of the UFC - he's boring.
I fail to understand how a guy like Bisping stays, when a guy like Jardine, is cut.
"I fail to understand how a guy like Bisping stays, when a guy like Jardine, is cut."
... maybe cause Bisping hasn't had 4 straight losses
@slickrick
He also hasn't had four exciting victories in a row. And any fight that is exciting, that he's part of, it's always staring as "the guy who got beat".
I'd rather watch a Jardine loss (any day) then a Bisping victory. He can't beat anyone that's any good. He hasn't beaten anyone that was any good.
Hes still entertaining,,,his fight with Leben.....his fight with Hendo,,,,Wandi I enjoyed the all.
both good stand up games, should be an eplosive fight.
dunno who to call on this one, i think they both excellent in the stand up. may just be a case of who gets the cleanest shots off.
the hendo ko could happen to anyone, bisping is a good fighter.
i like bisping, got to support the uk guys but i cant honestly see anything other than a belfort win. unless belfort turns up totally out of shape and gasses after round 1 then its belforts. He hits harder, has faster hands, is more of a technical striker, better jj, fought higher level fighters. I think most people would say that belfort had a chance against anderson before the injury but nobody would say bisping had a chance against anderson. i cant really see why belfort has gone from title fight to fight bisping.
the Hendo knockout could have happened against any1, and Bispings stand up is good but in my opinion it's not comparable 2 Vitor's, he's a step above I think if Bisping wants to stay awake he needs to stay on the ground... Vitor is 2 fast strong and crisp for Bisping... IDK who Bisping pissed off in the UFC but he's getting BAD fights
bisping did last the distance with evans and was a close fight, evans is top 3 lhw so gotta give the guy some credit. i think cos of the hendo fight he being underrated.
this may be the end of bisping
Bad match-up for Bisping!
Bisping is gonna get ko for sure. I wonder if Bisping did somthin to piss dana off!!!
Bisping has a problem with power and Vitor is too powerful for Mike.
Why are people acting like Bisping is getting punished? This is a huge opportunity!
A huge opportunity to get KTFO.
Bisping doesn't deserve a shot at vitor. Vitor should fight spider or another top contender. He's way out of Bisping's league. Dana must want rid of him that's all i can think
I actually like Bisping, but can see how this is a bad fight for him. For a while now (Even before Hendo), he has been "scared" to stand and strike. He want's to stay on the outside and box, but he doesn't want to get a few good combinations going. He stays light on his feet (bouncing in and out), and that means he never gets any power behind his shots.I find he is easily overwhelmed when someone charges at him.
The closest thing I can picture it to, was when Carwin came in for Brock , right at the start when they were standing. Brock kind of just wilted on his feet for a bit.
Bisping does the same, only he just sticks out his hands infront of him. With someone like Vitor, who overwhelmed Franklin, and let's be honest, it aint easy. Liddel came forward with everything he had and Franklin took it then gave a awesome KO.
i really hope im going to watch this at o2 arena
Wow, this is one of the worst possible matchups i've seen in the UFC in a pretty long time between two fighters that are actually known.
I'm gonna try and think of another matchup thats as bad as this......................................................maybe if coleman fought machida? But coleman is gone. Maybe if kongo fought brock? But kongo can take a good pounding and has decent standup...
Yea if anyone can think of a worse match let me know
overeem vs james thompson. just a silly match up and it was over in under 1minute. if i remember rightly it was standing guillotine aswell!!!
cans don't count
Bisping very technical and smart fighter
Belfort vs Bisping actually not a bad match.
so do you really think UFC put up a fight to killed Bisping and destroying UFC reputation.lmao
dunno bout the killing rep bit, but i think this will also be a great stand up fight. both are great on their feet and it makes for an excellent fight i feel. i expect bisping to actually outclass belfort with the boxing for a while, but i do expect belforts power to tell somewhere in the fight and get the finish.
Are you serious about the boxing part? id say bisping was good on his feet but not great and i really cant see bisping outclassing belfort. We will have to wait and see i suppose cos everybody sees it differently.
Why would that destroy the UFCs reputation.
I think people hate Bisping so much they don't give him enough credit for his skills. I don't even foresee him being the champion but he's more than a punching bag.
I would expect a fight similar to Bisping vs. Wandy rather than Bisping vs. Henderson.
Bispings forum support gives him motivation hahahah
If Bisping can win in dramatic fashion, a title shot will be his next fight. If he gets ktfo'd, then he'll cement his legacy as the man to beat for all up and coming fighters. Technique and heart has always been his strong points, but power, speed and accuracy has always been lacking for him. He really needs to step up in his training and/or possibly bring in different coaches with fresh perspectives.
I think this match is for 3 reasons
A) It's known that Dana believes in ring rust, so he doesnt want to bring him right back in to fight Silva immediately after an injury.
B) He wants to keep Belfort fresh so he doesnt have to sit out even longer before he has to fight Silva.
C) It gives Bisping an opportunity to see where he is standing. Even though I'm not a very big fan of his, he has put in work since his loss to Henderson, and he really didnt look very bad when he was in there with Wanderlei (who has been at a questionable part of his career lately).
He ought to just fight silva instead, can't remember silva getting hurt too much from his fights anyways
Belfort will badly KO Bisping. Worse than what Henderson did. I think this is a really bad match-up and I picture Bisping being out for a bit and needing help to recover, not unlike what Belfort did to Lindland.
Perhaps with this hard beating, Bisping may realize that he has gone as far as he is going to in MMA without being badly hurt.
belfort will destroy bisping
the only real problem with bisping aside from his attitude is that he lacks ko power, guys just walk through his best shots. he has great hands and solid wrestling defense if he had more power he would be a force to reckon with at middle weight.
As much as I would like to see Belfort put Bisping's lights out again, I'm not entirely sure that Bisping deserves this fight. He is a good fighter, and who knows, he could pull it off, especially after a Belfort injury and layoff. Who knows how Belfort is going to come back? And if Bisping does pull it off, it would surely put him right up there in title contention, and truthfully the last really good fighter he beat was Leben, by decision. I think someone like Wandy or another top MW deserves this fight more.....
Bisping could win...if he fights extremely smart. The hendo KO happened because he was circling towards dans power hand..don't know why..wasnt smart.
Because he sometimes does dumb things the chances are less for him than they were for franklin who is also a pretty smart fighter.
And ya alot of people hate on him cos his team made the US team look bad.
One more Loss for Bisbing