The Lowdown 07.04.09: Michael Bisping

Posted by Frank Fedele on 07.04.2009

Last week we looked at one of the veterans of the Heavyweight division, UFC Hall of Famer Mark Coleman. This week we look at one of the challengers for Anderson Silva in the Middleweight division, Michael Bisping. Join us in the Lowdown as we discus Bisping and his upcoming fight with Dan Henderson in UFC 100 next weekend.

Last Week Roundup

Mark Coleman is one of the original ground and pound wrestlers and was dominant in the UFC in its early years. Unfortunately for Coleman, his game has not changed with the times and he has fallen behind. He can control a fight and smother his opponent, but his lack of good submissions from the ground hurt him in ending the fight quickly and his lack of submission defense has cost him also. He can strike from his feet, but is not dominant there and if he can't gain dominant position on the ground, he can't close the fight. I will still continue to root for him in his fights, but we may not see too much more of him in the Octagon.

This week we look at one of the up and coming Middleweight fighters, Michael Bisping.

Background

Michael Bisping grew up in Lancashire, England and took to martial arts at a young age. He began training in Jiu Jitsu in his early years, even competing at age 15 in no holds barred fights as an amateur. Bisping left the sport for awhile in his later teens, but came back to train in kickboxing and karate. Bisping competed in kickboxing in his early 20s, even winning the Pro British Light Heavyweight title on two occasions.

Bisping quit MMA again and worked a variety of odd jobs until he went back to training in 2003. Bisping then began to fight in England in 2004 under his coach Paul Lloyd Davies.


Michael Bisping

Previous Fights

Bisping made his professional MMA debut in April of 2004 in Pride and Glory2: Battle of the Ages. He won in just 38 seconds with an armbar. Bisping continued to fight in England, even winning the Cage Rage Light Heavyweight championship in Cage Rage 7 with a victory over Mark Epstein. Bisping continued to be dominant in England, fighting in Cage Rage and Cage Warriors promotions. Bisping switched gyms to the Wolfslair MMA Academy in 2005. In early 2006, Bisping got his first break in the UFC, joining the Ultimate Fighter program.

Bisping training under Tito Ortiz on the program and eventually won the Light Heavyweight title in the finals over Josh Haynes. Bisping continued to fight in the UFC, picking up wins over Eric Schafer, Elvis Sinosic and Matt Hamill. The Hamill decision was controversial as it looked as if Hamill won the fight, which I tend to agree with. Bisping fighting in England might have swayed the decision over to his side. The win over Hamill allowed Bisping to gain a chance to fight Rashad Evans in UFC 78. Bisping lost a decision to Evans, his first loss in the UFC. After the fight, Bisping decided to move down in weight class to Middleweight.


Michael Bisping versus Rashad Evans

Bisping's move to Middleweight has been a success thus far, notching wins against Charles McCarthy, Jason Day and Chris Leben. Most of these matches have been in England, with Bisping even main eventing in UFC 89 against Leben. Bisping next moved to a coaching role on the Ultimate Fighter against Dan Henderson. The Ultimate Fighter theme this year was England versus the United States, with England winning both championships. That coaching job set up his fight in UFC 100 with fellow coach Dan Henderson.


Michael Bisping

Michael Bisping's MMA Record
Light Heavyweight
2004
Pride and Glory 2: Battle of the Ages – Win versus Steve Matthews via Submission (Armbar)
UKMMAC 7: Rage and Fury – Win versus John Weir by TKO
Cage Rage 7: Battle of Britain – Win versus Mark Epstein by TKO
Pride and Glory 3: Glory Days – Win versus Andy Bridges by KO
Cage Rage 9: No Mercy – Win versus Mark Epstein by KO

2005
CWFC: Ultimate Force – Win versus Dave Radford by TKO
FX3: Xplosion – Win versus Alex Cook by Submission (Choke)
CWFC: Strike Force 2 – Win versus Miika Mehmet by TKO
CWFC: Strike Force 3 – Win versus Jakob Lovstad by Submission (Strikes)
CWFC: Strike Force 4 – Win versus Ross Pointon by Submission (Armbar)

2006
UFC: Ultimate Fighter 3 Finale – Win versus Josh Haynes by TKO
UFC 66: Liddell vs. Ortiz II – Win versus Eric Schafer by TKO

2007
UFC 70: Nations Collide – Win versus Elvis Sinosic by TKO
UFC 75: Champion vs. Champion – Win versus Matt Hamill by Decision
UFC 78: Validation – Loss to Rashad Evans by Decision

Middleweight

2008
UFC 83: Serra vs. St. Pierre II – Win versus Charles McCarthy by TKO
UFC 85: Bedlam – Win versus Jason Day by TKO
UFC 89: Bisping vs. Leben – Win versus Chris Leben by Decision

Bisping's game is striking. He is very solid on his feet from his kickboxing background and has knockout power. He does have decent skills on the ground and has won fights with submissions. His move to Middleweight is 2008 was a good move as he was a small Light Heavyweight which worked against him in his striking game. He also could be overpowered by the larger fighters.

His match against Henderson will be interesting as wrestlers have caused him issues. He barely survived Matt Hamill, winning by controversial decision and lost to Rashad Evans in UFC 78. Henderson brings world class wrestling and ground and pound, so it will be interesting to see how the match goes. Bisping has the advantage on his feet and it will be to his best interest to keep the fight there.

Final Thoughts

UFC 100 stacks up as one of the best cards in awhile. The Frank Mir/Brock Lesnar bout will decide the Heavyweight belt and we will also get to see if Lesnar has learned since the last time they had fought. St. Pierre is always an exciting fighter and Thiago Alves brings knockout power to the match. The undercard is solid with Henderson/Bisping and Jon Fitch. Very much looking forward to the fights.

That is all for this week everybody have a safe and happy 4th of July and please come back next week where we will get the lowdown on another MMA fighter that will be fighting soon and look forward to UFC 100. Please take the time to bookmark 411mania.com. One quick step and all the news you need is but a click away.