Michael Bisping vs. Demian Maia confirmed for UFC on FOX 2
Posted on December 7, 2011, 08:56 AM by Anton GurevichUltimate Fighting Championship announced a stacked triple-headliner for its upcoming UFC on FOX 2 event, with Michael Bisping (LK: 6) vs. Demian Maia (LK: 9) being the latest addition to the card. "The Count" will look to extend his winning streak to 5, facing what many consider as his toughest test to date.
The event will be headined by the Light Heavyweight division bout between "Suga" Rashad Evans and Phil "Mr. Wonderful" Davis, while after all the speculation Chael Sonnen (LK: 2) will take on Mark Munoz (LK: 3) in the co-main event attraction of the night. The fight between Michael Bisping and Demian Maia will complete the card that is expected to deliver MMA at its best to the multi-million mainstream FOX audience.
All three fights have a potential to significantly change the title contention picture in their divisions; Rashad Evans solidify his position as the #1 contender for the UFC Light Heavyweight title, while Chael Sonnen (if defeats Mark Munoz) and Michael Bisping (if defeats Demian Maia) would find themselves on a collision course with equal rights to challenge the eternal champion Anderson Silva for his UFC Middleweight title.
With a different turn of events, MMA fans around the world could see fighters like Phil Davis, Mark Munoz, and even Demian Maia, get themselves into a title shot mix.
UFC on FOX 2 will take place on January 28th at the United Center in Chicago, Illinois. The card will also feature high quality preliminary action, with fighters such as George Roop, Cody McKenzie, Evan Dunham and Paul Sass all testing their skills inside the UFC Octagon.
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Comments
Is it just me or does it appear that Bisping always gets the "easier path"? Not that Maia is a pushover by any means, but the only way he will beat Bisping is by getting him to the ground, and I do not think he is strong enough to do that.
He will most likely be abke to keep this one standing, dart in and out as per usual, and score another boring UD.
I'd rather see Bisping fed to Sonnen now and watch Sonnen rag doll his ass like he did to Stann.
And Silva gets a pass while all the other top MW's duke it out? Sounds kind of fishy to me. Nothing like giving the champ whatever he wants.
I don't agree with you regarding Maia's take downs. His past few fights he was trying to work his striking in order to approve, he was winning the fight so he kept with it.
With Bisping he'll need to get that take down and he will get it, if you don't think he can see his fight with Chael who is a much better wrestler than Bisping.
maia ragdolled sonnen into a triange so hes not an easy opponent but its still a strange figt to give bisping on a streak
i would have preferred to see bisping vs palhares which makes sense because theyre both on a streak and palhares last loss 3 fights ago was that strange one to marquardt. palhares is a real threat to any1 in the middleweight division but has been given mike massenzio which should be easy work
Bisping get another boring UD? His last two fights where TKOs
arguably yes but he pays the price for that. He beats Maia he's still behind the Sonnen/Munoz winner in the queue. I think maybe Okami would have been a better match up but i don't think this is a ludicrous match by Joe Silva at all
This is the easier fight to push Bisping to a title fight, their back up for Chael losing is a Bisping win. That would be Silva's next oppenent, also they could have the loser of these two fights match up in the future. Palhares needs to be in this mix.
@cagerage
Yea dog i totally hate how silva makes all the matches in the organization. He's the reason all the pride superstars get beat and aren't champions like they should be.
Everyone knows that silva can't be hurt so if he's not faking once again to avoid people he already beat then neither of us is a genius. GSP isn't faking becuzz, so its a compleetly different sitch dog!
Daaan why can't everyone be as smart as uz?
you know nothing about this sport but yet you comment on everything quit talking out your ass. think before you comment you sound like a ****ing idiot
Yeah it's still an easier path but what im saying is that the price he has to pay is a longer waiting time, and he's getting old.
Improve not approve
I agree with whitey. Maia's stand up has really improved and IF Bisping is bettering him there they they'll clinch, go down and Maia will pull his arm off.
Yep, thats the way I see it.
CageRage64
Completely agree with everything you just said.
we knew what u mean, Maia has to take Bisping down for him to win n sub him ..Bisping will out strike him, if he wins hes no match for Silva Bisping is to slow..even tho Chael or Munoz will take on Silva
Silvas hurt. Although this match up kinds puzzled me at 1st, there no other top MW for Bisping to fight right now. Once these match ups are done & Silva heals, it's going to be something to see who gets the title shot. And lets not forget Belforts fighting Rumble too.
I'm surprised that they're muddying the waters with the possibility of Munoz AND Bisping contesting the #1 contender spot now with these fights. Seems like they're doing anything they can to lessen the chances of Chael getting this rematch. Almost like, "Quick - let's get Bisping another win while Anderson is still out." Also doesn't hurt that Anderson is nursing his shoulder and will come back when it's most convenient for him.
I'm not trying to be an A-hole, but you, sir, have submitted one of the most ludicrous comments I've seen in months on Lowkick
lol ok. Happy holidays, mate.
Well, if you follow MMA for awhile, you must have watch how easily Maia taped out Sonnen and on the other hand, you must have watched the decisive victory that Munoz had against Maia - what does this records tell us...? You could draw some linear conclusion and say that Sonnen < Maia < Munoz.
MMA is not linear thou nor are the rankings! The truth is that styles make fights and that is the reason this are good match ups and its the reason Sonnen had some success against AS (he eventually got choked but he was clearly winning until that point). AS kryptonite seems to be precisely Sonnens style of fighting, a powerful move forward not let you breath wrestling style!
IMO, Sonnen and Munoz is a excellent match up since they are both great wrestlers and probably will have to stand and bang! Maia and Bisping is interesting as well since Bisping has good take down defense and Maia will most likely have to stand and bang with him! Good match ups that surely deliver good fights! If any of this 4 goes against Anderson, I would say only Munoz or Sonnen has a shot at winning thou, doesn't mean they are better than the other 2, just means their styles are better for fighting AS.
The clear conclusion is that styles do make fights!
Decisive victory? I suggest you watch again. Munoz done a fair bit of LnP to squeak a close decision. Bulla judging I thought as Munoz lost.
Maia is a beast. Can't wait to see this card. I got maia via flying armbar sonnen via donkey kong smash and davis via hump fest. I do like the poster as well!
I agree Oscar. But on the issue of the poster - does it look like Evan's head is getting bigger/fatter?
Hahahaha that dudes head is almost as big as titos and that dude has a HUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUGE head
What a card. 3 incredibly relevant fights!
As soon as I saw the title I was disappointed.
Nice to see Bisping keeping busy
NICE ! So happy this fight happens, very interesting matchup. AMAZING card overall !! Now let's pray no injury happens...
They should just give Miller the title shot because the loss to Bisping was a total fluke. Skip all of these other chumps.
Bisping will need a new arm after this one....
Maia beat Munoz IMO and his stand up has improved quite a bit. Bisping will have his hands full and cannot start slow like he did against Miller. Should be a good scrap.
All the Bisping haters again! What has this guy got to do? I'm sure that even if he did ever get the belt he would still be criticised and told he wasn't good enough. At the end of the day Bisping always has amazing cardio, he has fantastic takedown defence, always has a great team with good tatical gameplans and i believe is an all rounder. You just gotta get your heads around that he is British! :)
Bisping got clowned by Wandy and destroyed by Hendo. He is good but he is not top ten and is a pretender to the #1 contender slot. On top of that he is an a$$ hole. None of that has anything to do with him being British. I love the Brits. Doctor Who, Primeval and Top Gear are some of the best TV there is. They give us amazing music. They make the best moderately priced sports cars in the world (Lotus Exige IMO). They're great. Bisping is a Douche.
The key for Bisping here is to keep it standing where he will definately have an advantage, even though Maia has been working his stand up it's still not quite up to Bispings level yet. But by the same token even though Bisping is no slouch on the ground his jiu jitsu is not yet up to Maia's level either. Bisping does have good TDD despite what the "haters" say and he has never been submitted so he obviously has adequate submission defence. If he isn't careful though and the fight does hit the floor Maia has the ability to change all that. I'm convinced though that even if Bisping does get taken down he will be able to work his way back to his feet quite quickly, or before Maia can take advantage of it anyway. I see Bisping out striking Maia and either getting a decision or another TKO stoppage. If Bisping was to plant his feet, like he used to, before throwing his punches, i'm sure he would get more KO's, but now he throws punches while on his toes so he gets no torque or core strength into them anymore. This is why he lands many punches and does a lot of damage but doesn't get the KO. He has only suffered this problem since he came to the UFC too which i find strange but i wish he would address it because he does possess KO power........
I wouldn't have taken this fight if I were Bisping,not after fighting in Dec,and not with Maia,at least that's what I think.
I wasn't impressed with Bispings stand up really. I thought Miller looked absolutely horrible and it took Bisping forever to put him away if thats what you want to call it. It reminded me of the Rua VS Coleman fight. It's one thing to win a fight and to make it lopsided but the skills that he showed against miller aren't at a championship caliber. I think Maia is a good fight for him but asking for silva right now is a death wish.
Finall! I've wanted to see Bisping put up against a good grappler that is dangerous on the ground and might be able to keep him there, just so his ground game could be properly tested. I was hoping Miller would give him a good test, but ring rust has affected his cardio something awful. I was left hoping to see Bisping vs. Maia or Sonnen, and now I might be able to see both! Looking forward to this ^^
Finally! I've wanted to see Bisping put up against a good grappler that is dangerous on the ground and might be able to keep him there, just so his ground game could be properly tested. I was hoping Miller would give him a good test, but ring rust has affected his cardio something awful. I was left hoping to see Bisping vs. Maia or Sonnen, and now I might be able to see both! Looking forward to this ^^
Bisping has good TDD but not as good as Sonnen's. I don't see how he wins this. Maia via first round sub.
Let the boos begin!!Everybody wants Sonnen vs Bisbing,how stupid.
now this is going to be a good one. for 1: Maia is head and shoulders above mayhem on the ground, and mayhem is a great submission grappler. 2: Maia's stand up has improved enough to at leat hang in their with Bisping. I see it being a 2 round sub for Maia.
Looking over the entire flow of this blog, it seems that Bisping has won the grudging respect of many more people... It seems like this scenario has been well thought through, it puts Bisping two fights away from a shot at AS.
I believe that Munoz has what it takes to beat Sonnens brilliant fighting style but Bisping doesn't, and Bisping will beat Maya...
I'm going to have to watch a lot more Munoz fights before commenting on whether Bisping has a chance... as I've only viewed him in relation to his chances against Sonnen.