Michael Bisping: I'll fight Chris Weidman if I have to
Posted on September 26, 2012, 02:30 PM by Mike Drahota
UFC Middleweight contender Michael Bisping is no stranger to running his mouth, and with a win over Brian Stann at UFC 152 it appears that he will calling for his long-awaited title shot. Bisping has been in the discussion for the next crack at champion Anderson Silva's belt for some time, but many believe that undefeated contender Chris Weidman is the next man to challenge him. Still, Bisping has much more experience and believes he should be next in line for the title shot. However, Bisping is willing to fight Weidman if need be, which may come to fruition:
"I was doing this when Chris Weidman was probably getting bullied out of his lunch money in school. He's undefeated, but he's only had nine fights. Listen, the guy's an incredible talent, and he's a great prospect, but he's still young in his career. Weidman's got the youth and potential and all the tools to have a great career. I've got nothing against Chris Weidman. It certainly seems that I do, because of I've been talking a lot of trash about him. I'm just trying to sell myself. I'm trying to provide for myself, and Chris Weidman's a competitor against me. I wish him all the best. But, I think I deserve it, and my time's now. If I've gotta fight Chris Weidman in the meantime? So be it." -via MMAMania.com
It appears that Bisping is willing to meet Weidman in the Octagon for a chance to find his title shot. He thought that the win over Stann would get him close enough, but with Silva set to face Stephan Bonnar at UFC 153 and Weidman facing off against Tim Boetsch on December 29th at UFC 155, his shot may be some time off. Bisping will remain undeterred regardless of what situation plays out:
"There was talk of it. Before the fight between Anderson Silva and Georges St. Pierre was spoken of, Joe Silva said that if I put on a striking clinic and did a good job against Brian Stann, that a title fight with Anderson Silva was something they could sell. Whether it's my turn next or my turn in two years, I'm gonna keep training."
Bisping won last weekend, but was it impressive enough of a performance to get him a title shot?
Comments
Not as impressive as bringing Bonnar out of retirement. No. Not as impressive as that.
bisping is right about everything.........more gsp vs silva talk!
Bisping should fight Lombard oh yeah!
How does Lombard deserve a fight against 'arguably' the no1 contender, considering hes coming of a loss? Even if some think he won the fight(against Boetsch) it was by no means impressive enough to fire him up the MW ladder
i really think weidman will take care of silva, his striking n reach are good enough to stay out of the danger zone, and his ground seems pretty awesome, and if silva lost, there's a good chance he might fight at 205 for the remainder of his career to get that belt... think about how many dream matches there are at 205 for him... so yeah, i REALLY wanna see weidman get the shot and win so that anderson can go fight shogun, hendo at 205, rampage, jones (if it comes down to it, they'd fight if no1 and no2 in the division)rashad, gustafson, pretty much any lhw would be entertaining..
I like the fight between Weidman and Bisping. I don't know why Tim Boetsch is in the mix to be honest.
Is it not because he has an invincible cinder block head that can stop moving trains and still be just about functional?
It's because he beat Hector Lombard in a very contentious decision. Lombard got robbed in my opinion.
Because he KO'd Yushin and Lombard shat the bed.
Not really robbed. But he should of won IMO also.
Whatever man - he looked terrible. If they gave him the win what would he have done with it?
He had the foot work of an old Irish boxer.
He should drop a bunch of muscle, a few weight classes, work on his foot work than go after it.
Baby mummy foot - AKA Rampage foot work.
Don't you even try to argue that - or at least go watch the fight again and watch how he is just watching the fight happen from within the octagon.
Why on earth is Weidman fighting Boetsch? Surely the fight that makes sense next is Bisping-Weidman?
Agreed.
The fight has already been signed for a while right?
nope Weidman vs Boetsch makes perfect sense. The winner of that fight can take on the winner of Silva vs Bisping.
The fight was signed only a couple of weeks ago if I remember right and weidman has only just got back to training after his surgery. That being the case, they could have waited for the outcome of this fight before announcing weidman's next opponent.
he probably will have to fight weidman. if he cant beat weidman than he certainly wouldnt be able to defeat silva. if he is truly the number one contender his experience should shine through in the weidman fight, and then he will get his shot.
silva will probably wait like 6 months before he fights at middle weight again because of bonnar though. silvass a smart guy and will most likely want to wait for chris and michael to fight again so he can learn more about them and gain confidence, kinda like when he waited for chael to fight some more so he could see him get beat up a little by bisping before the rematch.
i would feel bad for bisping if he got destroyed by weidman, he certainly has been campaigning and earned it.
...the title shot.
and then he can "unload all over his face" so to speak...
It'd be nice if somehow they could drop Okami, and set up Boestch-Belcher and Bisping-Weidman on the December 29th card.
Boestch is on a nice roll no matter how the Lombard fight lacked excitement. Belcher has been on a tear for a few years now. Weidman and Bisping are the clear #1 and #2 guys besides Silva in the division now.
Silly move Bisping. Shouldn't put ideas in Dana's head when you might have had a title shot next anyways
Bisping and Weidman makes the most sense a thtis point in time......
Bisping stepping up to the plate, challenging and taking on all comers.
I want to see this fight right now more than either one of them vs Silva. Plus that way there would be no controversy to who the #1 guy was.
the deal was to look more impressive than weidman but he didnt he got another decision i garuntee if chael can submit brian chris can do it in half the time
mma math doesnt worth that way, we dont know that at all... i would of assumed that Stann wouldn't of even been worried about being submitted by Sonnen. It was kind of a shocker to see him do that in the first place.
the deal was go out there and look more impressive than wiedman and that he is not chris weidman is thenext champ forreal who actualy has bisping beating silva?????
Bisping vs Weidman....makes sense considering Silva is already fighting the number 2 contender (stephanie Bonner)
Come on guys............Bisbing deserves the next shot at Anderson Silva! Hes been around for years and has only really only been beaten one time( the Hendo KO) The other losses were all really close decisions. He has put in the time and desrves a shot. So what if it isnt until next year? How about a fight in March, in the UK!! That would sell out a soccer stadium man!! Lets go Bisbing!!
The Wandy fight was in no way close. Wandy tossed him around, put him in a number of dangerous spots and came very close to finishing him. He got robbed in the Sonnen fight though.
Bisping has had a decent career so far, but his win against Stann is arguably the biggest of his career. Stann is a good fighter, but I wouldn't put him in the top 5 at 185.
Bisping other wins since 2008 have been against Jason Miller, Rivera, Akiyama, Dan Miller, Denis Kang and Leben. None of these guys are elite opponents.
The loses have come against Sonnen, Silva, Hendo and Rashad.The rap against Spitsbing has been he can't beat top tier guys, and comparing his wins and loses, you can see why.
When he beat Mark Munoz, Weidman in his short career, has already done something the Count has never managed, beat the #1 contender.
Bisping came close against Sonnen, and you could argue he might have done enough to win. But in comparison, Weidman destroyed Munoz.
So realistically, Bisping should "have to" fight Weidman to get a shot at the belt.
There are not many elite fighters in the mw division. That said he won the Sonnen fight, lived with Evans and the Hendo punch could have happened to anyone, just ask Fedor.
PS: If you thought Munoz was #1 contender you need your head looking at.
There are always "elite" fighters in any division, since elite means the guys at the top. No one was comparing them to other divisions
The top 10 at 185, accordining to MMA weekly are....
1. Anderson Silva 2. Michae Bisping 3. Vitor Belfort
4. Chris Weidman 5. Tim Boetsch 6. Mark Munoz 7. Alan Belcher
8. Brian Stann 9. Yushin Okami 10. Luke Rockhold
As you can see, Bisping has beat exactly one of these fighters, the guy in the number 8 slot.
And before Munoz fought Weidman, he was considered the #1 contender and next in line for a shot at Silva, so maybe you better look at your own head.
Take the LW division and there's loads of elite fighters. LHW has several elite fighters. WW has lots too. Belfort at #3? How many losses does he have? And you expect people to take this list seriously???? Weidman has the looks of being an alite fighter also but time will tell.
Elite does not mean guys at the top of any made up list it means you are a superb MMA fighter. Not good, not average to good, but superb. I rate Bisping very highly but don't even class him as elite.
Of course this is subjective same as p4p debate and a futile exercise trying to clarify but that top 5 you have listed doesn't compare to the top 5 of the LHW/WW or LW divisions.
PS: Put another way, go back a few years when Couture, Sylvia and Arlovski were top of the UFC HW pile. That did not make them elite fighters by default only the best the UFC had at that time. Dos Santos is now top of the pile but also worthy of the title elite because of how superb he is in the majority of his outings not because he is the best of a bad bunch.
We can split semantic hairs all day on what elite means. I agree that 185 is one of the thinnest divisions in the UFC.
But rankings are a snapshot of the division at any given moment. If you get on a roll and beat some tough opponents, you will climb the list, regardless of your overall record.
While you can argue about Vitor being #3, he is an elite opponent. He took a fight on short notice, went up a weight class and came far closer to beating one of the top p4p fighters than any ever has.
And in context of my argument, the guys Bisping has beat certainly aren't elite, where as the guy's he lost to, Silva, Henerson, Rashad, and Sonnen are,or were elite opponents.
give Bisbing the shot!! even though it would be an easy prey for silva...
its Bisbing or Weidman who deserves it but Weidman is fighting in december and silva is fighting in october, so bisbing/silva could be set jan/feb.
if Weidman wins in december he should get the next shot...
and Weidman could really give silva some problems...
Why is bisping so eager to get his ass beat by silva? Anyways like it or not the guy makes sense he has been fighting and beating guys, but I do think he should fight Chris, that makes sense and would b a good fight.
weidman is the next champ watch and see! im sure of it
Yup. Right after Andy retires.
Bisping is overdue his shot at Silva. Should he get it I expect many of the but huggers to be surprised win or lose as Bisping is a far better match up against Silva than many give him credit for. And if he takes it to the later rounds it wouldnt surprise me if he out worked Silva for a close decision.