Daring Prediction... Michael Bisping will get a title shot in 2011

DrPhilG

The UFC are itching to see GSP vs Silva now to cash in on the biggest superfights ever. There are 2 issues though.

1 - GSP doesn't fight Shields til April and if he loses, DW has confirmed that the Silva fight will not happen. If he does win, he has said that he won't just go up to 185 by simply not cutting weight, he will do it slowly and add the muscle mass to compete properly at MW. I'd guess that he wouldn't fight at MW until the end of the year at the earliest. DW also confirmed that the "superfight" would happen sooner than 9 months.

2 - Silva just destroyed his latest MW opponent in less than a round but I can't see him wanting to wait until December 2011/January 2012 for GSP. He would need another MW defence in the meantime, or a LHW fight although that carries an increased risk of defeat.

The solution? (Here begins my theory)...

The UFC are desperate to see the GSP vs Silva fight. Not only would it crown a P4P legend but if Silva wins the fight, and Machida isn't in the LHW title picture, they can do Jones/Rua vs Silva to potentially crown a 2 division champ and cement the legacy that Silva is always talking about.

To do this, they need GSP to beat Shields, (likely IMO) and would also prefer to have another routine MW defence for Silva first. The most deserving contender at MW by a long way is Yushin Okami. The problem is, that Okami is pretty dull to watch, not good at marketing himself like Sonnen, and most importantly because of his size, power and wrestling he is a real threat.

So my conspiracy theory? Bisping will beat Rivera in Oz and get a title shot at Silva in the summer, to be held in England. Bisping is marketable, will allow the UFC to appease UK fans with that big title event, sell out a big arena and maybe even attempt a PPV model in the UK. And the other up side for the UFC is that Bisping has little to no chance of winning so it doesn't disrupt the plans for GSP vs Silva.

The most likely flaw in that plan is if Shields wins so my money is on the UFC saying nothing until GSP is victorious in April, then announce Silva vs Bisping for July and the winner to face GSP at the end of the year show.

DW has apparently said that if Silva doesn't fight until GSP, Okami will have to fight someone else in the interim. I'll bet they book Okami a fight, then GSP beats Shields, Silva decides to take a fight and Bisping will be waiting.

Ush1

Bisping shouldn't be anywhere within 100 miles of Silva.

I do agree though that Silva should fight Okami before GSP as Silva is having the luxury of not having to switch weights.

But IMO, GSP will defo beat Shields and Silva will DEFO beat Okami. Although in a wierd way, Okami Silva is interesting. Okami seems the type that is hard to knock out. Dull but tough.

SanoVitae

Ush1 wrote: »

Silva will DEFO beat Okami. Although in a wierd way, Okami Silva is interesting. Okami seems the type that is hard to knock out. Dull but tough.

People are very quick to dismiss Okami's chances against Silva. Okami is learning a lot from training with Sonnen and it's not like he'd be subbed as easily as Chael was.

riffmongous

I want to see Okami fight Bisping before he get's the title shot. Now I'm Okami's biggest fan but he's gotten too defensive in his last few fights, he's been relying too much on his striking and td defence and that's not going to work with Silva. He needs a fight to get his wrestling grove back as that will have to be his plan for Silva, and I think Bisping would be perfect.

dave1982

Who else is the in the MW division worthy of fighting Silva.I hope Riveria send the Bisping crashing off the tracks:D

Although i would like to see Bisping fall at the feet of Anderson

MrStuffins

I kinda like your theory. My thoughts are:

UFC still REALLY wanna see Bisping fight for a title and bring the fight to the UK. They aren't even pretending to give him contenders to fiht anymore. Who has he EVER beat to give him Main event or Co Main Event status? The best I can think of is a past-it Denis Kang (Rivera? Really? and it was gonna be headline until they put Penn v Fitch together).

I think Okami will be next in line, but if Silva was to beat GSP and move up, they'd jump at the chance to give Bisping a shot at a vacant title! No matter who was ahead of him in line. Okami and Belcher No1 and No2? They'd have Bisping fight either guy, with the other next up!

He's much more marketable than anyone else at MW. And its sick because he's a VERY average fighter who gets paid a shed load more and gets so much more exposure than a lot of really tough guys who deserve better.

Tones69

Put it this way, Bisping or Okami wont do any worse than Vitor did. Simple as that, I dont think Vitor deserved the shot really but he still got it, im not saying bisping is as good as vitor but someone has to fight silva and if he keeps winning then why not? Should do bisping vs okami first though

Tones69

MrStuffins wrote: »

I kinda like your theory. My thoughts are:

UFC still REALLY wanna see Bisping fight for a title and bring the fight to the UK. They aren't even pretending to give him contenders to fiht anymore. Who has he EVER beat to give him Main event or Co Main Event status? The best I can think of is a past-it Denis Kang (Rivera? Really? and it was gonna be headline until they put Penn v Fitch together).

I think Okami will be next in line, but if Silva was to beat GSP and move up, they'd jump at the chance to give Bisping a shot at a vacant title! No matter who was ahead of him in line. Okami and Belcher No1 and No2? They'd have Bisping fight either guy, with the other next up!

He's much more marketable than anyone else at MW. And its sick because he's a VERY average fighter who gets paid a shed load more and gets so much more exposure than a lot of really tough guys who deserve better.

He might not be knocking out or submitting people but hes not A VERY AVERAGE fighter to be fair, hes doing quite well in the UFC and is looknig better each time, beating leben, kang, akiyama etc, very close loss to silva and id love to see a rematch, but yeah cmon dont be hatin on the guy

MrStuffins

Tones69 wrote: »

He might not be knocking out or submitting people but hes not A VERY AVERAGE fighter to be fair, hes doing quite well in the UFC and is looknig better each time, beating leben, kang, akiyama etc, very close loss to silva and id love to see a rematch, but yeah cmon dont be hatin on the guy

I'm not hating at all, it's a simple opinion. Who has he beaten that isn't average? Which contenders has he beaten? Leben, Kang, Aliyama, all also rans i'm afraid! Tough guys, but also rans!

He's never going to compete against the creme de la creme, look at his record. This will be his 15th UFC fight, and the only times he's stepped up against the top guys, Evans and Hendo (I can't include this current incarnation of Wandi), he's been found out.

scudzilla

Can see where the OP is coming from, i also think the lack of announcement of any UK card is due to UFC waiting on the results from Bisping and Hardy's upcoming fights.

Wasn't Bisping going to get a title shot if he had beaten Hendo, look what happened there. IMO Bisping will be getting his arse handed to him by Silva in the UK in the summer, if he beats Rivera. Can also see Hardy having a huge fight on the same card if he beats Johnson.

As for Bisping, i see him only as a slightly better than average fighter, who has been hyped up by Zuffa so much, he seems to beat 2/3 below average fighters then can't handle it when he steps up to fight a top guy. That's always the way he'll be i think, never quite breaking into the Top 5.

Another interesting thing is that with UFC using that Rogers Centre in Canada, woulld they use an indoor stadium in the UK for any Bisping Title Fight? Makes Sense, and the perfect venue would be the Millenium Stadium in Cardiff as that's already hosted some huge boxing events

Ush1

SanoVitae wrote: »

People are very quick to dismiss Okami's chances against Silva. Okami is learning a lot from training with Sonnen and it's not like he'd be subbed as easily as Chael was.

Yeah, he'd certainly be more of a challenge than Vitor anyway.

p to the e

I can't see such a title shot (if it were to happen) being held in the UK as it would lose a lot of revenue from US viewers.

MrStuffins

p to the e wrote: »

I can't see such a title shot (if it were to happen) being held in the UK as it would lose a lot of revenue from US viewers.

Maybe, but what Americans are gonna wanna pay to see Bisping v Okami/Belcher/anyone else if the title was vacant? Nobody.

But they'd pack out the Millenium Stadium or The O2 for this!

scudzilla

p to the e wrote: »

I can't see such a title shot (if it were to happen) being held in the UK as it would lose a lot of revenue from US viewers.

If they held it at the Millenium Stadium they'd get 40,000+ in there, doubling the normal gate reciepts, plus i think they'd put it on PPV in the UK/Ireland on Sky.
Anything taken as a PPV in U.S then would be a bonus

the_doctor199

scudzilla wrote: »

plus i think they'd put it on PPV in the UK/Ireland on Sky.

Surely their ESPN UK deal would block it being shown on Sky?

I'd love to see a title fight in the UK again so hopefully Bisping gets past Rivera.

SDTimeout

I do think Bisping will become a UFC Champion. It may well be this year depending if Silva drops the belt. He's a very well rounded fighter and i think a lot of guys are unfair on him due to his attitude.

DrPhilG

SDTimeout wrote: »

I do think Bisping will become a UFC Champion. It may well be this year depending if Silva drops the belt. He's a very well rounded fighter and i think a lot of guys are unfair on him due to his attitude.

:eek:

Never IMO. He's a solid well rounded fighter but he excels at nothing offensive. He's very good defensively on takedown defence and submission defence but his inability to finish a fight against top opposition will always cost him at the highest level. It's true that he gets a lot of stick because of his attitude and the fact that he seems to believe the hype that the UFC have spewed about him.

Regarding the possibility of the fight being on PPV, I'm sure the UFC have their bases covered in terms of the ESPN deal. They've always wanted to get on PPV here so I'm sure any ESPN contract allows them to put an event on PPV in certain circumstances.

Wouldn't bother me, I'd be there live for sure, with a big poster to wave from the crowd showing this...

ScareGilly

DrPhilG wrote: »

Wouldn't bother me, I'd be there live for sure, with a big poster to wave from the crowd showing this...

I'd prefer this one

Kerikosan

DrPhilG wrote: »

The UFC are itching to see GSP vs Silva now to cash in on the biggest superfights ever. There are 2 issues though.

1 - GSP doesn't fight Shields til April and if he loses, DW has confirmed that the Silva fight will not happen. If he does win, he has said that he won't just go up to 185 by simply not cutting weight, he will do it slowly and add the muscle mass to compete properly at MW. I'd guess that he wouldn't fight at MW until the end of the year at the earliest. DW also confirmed that the "superfight" would happen sooner than 9 months.

2 - Silva just destroyed his latest MW opponent in less than a round but I can't see him wanting to wait until December 2011/January 2012 for GSP. He would need another MW defence in the meantime, or a LHW fight although that carries an increased risk of defeat.

The solution? (Here begins my theory)...

The UFC are desperate to see the GSP vs Silva fight. Not only would it crown a P4P legend but if Silva wins the fight, and Machida isn't in the LHW title picture, they can do Jones/Rua vs Silva to potentially crown a 2 division champ and cement the legacy that Silva is always talking about.

To do this, they need GSP to beat Shields, (likely IMO) and would also prefer to have another routine MW defence for Silva first. The most deserving contender at MW by a long way is Yushin Okami. The problem is, that Okami is pretty dull to watch, not good at marketing himself like Sonnen, and most importantly because of his size, power and wrestling he is a real threat.

So my conspiracy theory? Bisping will beat Rivera in Oz and get a title shot at Silva in the summer, to be held in England. Bisping is marketable, will allow the UFC to appease UK fans with that big title event, sell out a big arena and maybe even attempt a PPV model in the UK. And the other up side for the UFC is that Bisping has little to no chance of winning so it doesn't disrupt the plans for GSP vs Silva.

The most likely flaw in that plan is if Shields wins so my money is on the UFC saying nothing until GSP is victorious in April, then announce Silva vs Bisping for July and the winner to face GSP at the end of the year show.

DW has apparently said that if Silva doesn't fight until GSP, Okami will have to fight someone else in the interim. I'll bet they book Okami a fight, then GSP beats Shields, Silva decides to take a fight and Bisping will be waiting.

Well written

And your theory seems quite plausible!

DrPhilG

ScareGilly wrote: »

I'd prefer this one

Hmm, nice. But it's the eyes closed and tongue lolling out that gets me in the first pic...

DrPhilG

Kerikosan wrote: »

Well written

And your theory seems quite plausible!

And a little more plausible now?

http://www.abs-cbnnews.com/sports/02/25/11/ufc-127-count-wants-title-shot-after-rivera

preddy

Silva has said he wont step up in weight.


What happened Condit? Knocks out Hardy and then doesnt get a step up.

DrPhilG

preddy wrote: »

Silva has said he wont step up in weight.

What do you mean about Silva? He's a MW, so is Bisping?

preddy wrote: »

What happened Condit? Knocks out Hardy and then doesnt get a step up.

Condit was supposed to face Lytle this weekend and the winner would likely have got the next shot at the title, or against the winner of Penn vs Fitch for the vacant title if GSP moves up.

Condit got injured, so it's kinda up in the air now. Penn/Fitch gets a title shot, but not sure if it's against GSP, Shields, Lytle or someone else.

ScareGilly

DrPhilG wrote: »

Condit got injured, so it's kinda up in the air now. Penn/Fitch gets a title shot, but not sure if it's against GSP, Shields, Lytle or someone else.

Give Serra another shot! :cool:

SDTimeout

ScareGilly wrote: »

Give Serra another shot! :cool:

Even if just for his Video blogs on the week

ScareGilly

SDTimeout wrote: »

Even if just for his Video blogs on the week

To JDS "You stole my walkout song, it's mine" :pac:

scudzilla

Take the words 'A TITLE' out of the title of this thread and you're gettin me excited :D:D

DrPhilG

Love it Scud.

I'd get banned for fighter bashing if I gave my true feelings on his showing at 127.

SanoVitae

Anderson Silva vs Michael Bisping would be fun - it would look a lot like this -> http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u1aO7l2uB4I

scudzilla

DrPhilG wrote: »

Love it Scud.

I'd get banned for fighter bashing if I gave my true feelings on his showing at 127.

Now there's one of my (only) problems wit this forum.

On Sat night Bisping acted like a total prick and came across as a total scumbag, yet we can't slag him for it in here as it's deemed fighter bashing.

When a fighter does something good/great then they get the praise, yet when they act the complete twat like Bisping did out hands our tied

DrPhilG

scudzilla wrote: »

Now there's one of my (only) problems wit this forum.

On Sat night Bisping acted like a total prick and came across as a total scumbag, yet we can't slag him for it in here as it's deemed fighter bashing.

When a fighter does something good/great then they get the praise, yet when they act the complete twat like Bisping did out hands our tied

In saying that, there's been a ton of abuse over Bisping, from accusing him of the deliberate knee to outright name calling and I've not seen any infractions or warnings. Maybe the Mods agree with us?

preddy

DrPhilG wrote: »

What do you mean about Silva? He's a MW, so is Bisping?

He wont step up to LHW for any Shogun/Jones fight.

MrStuffins

In fairness, I think if you're "bashing" a fighter for something that has actually happened, it shouldn't be considered bashing.

Fighter bashing: "That guy's a dick. I just don't like him. I've no real reason not to really, he's just a cock-faced f*ck-stick!"

Not fighter bashing: "what kind of man spits on another man? A scum-bag that's what! The fact that this fighter did such a thing leads me to believe that he is a scum bag and bit of a dick"

But that's just my opinion of course