SCRAPP! FIGHT MAGAZINE
March - 2016
19
Despite nabbing the decision win at Fight
Night 84, Michael “The Count” Bisping took
an incredible amount of damage from Silva
during the fight – including the aforemen-
tioned flying knee and a brutal front kick to
the face.
The Silva win is an impressive feather in Bisp-
ing’s cap, but it wasn’t quite enough to have
fans and media unanimously campaigning
for Bisping title fight. It does, however, se-
cure his seat at the middleweight “Top 5”
table. In an ideal world where fighter safety
comes first, he would now take a nice 6-8
month vacation with little-to-no sparring
before the UFC considers booking his next
fight.
But who are we kidding? Unless Bisping sus-
tained a significant injury that prohibits him
from fighting, the UFC will probably look to
leverage the Brit’s momentum by booking
another high profile fight sometime in mid-
2016.
That being said, Bisping’s next opponent will
primarily be a game of timing, as the top
of the middleweight division is more of a
crowded lobby than a single file line-up. A
title fight rematch between Luke Rockhold
and Chris Weidman is being teased – al-
though not formally announced – for UFC
199 in June, so those two are off the table
for now. Similarly, number twomiddleweight
Yoel Romero is, for the time being, out in-
definitely while he tries to clear his name of
allegations surrounding inconsistent USADA
test results that surfaced last month.
Two top five 185-ers happen to be fight-
ing at UFC 198 in May, and the winner may
emerge as a prime target for Bisping. Ronal-
do “Jacare” Souza and Vitor “The Phenom”
Belfort are currently ranked 2nd and 3rd,
respectively, in the middleweight standings,
just behind former of champ Chris Weid-
man. “The Count” is currently at number
seven, but this will certainly change once
the UFC releases its updated rankings, post-
UFC London. The May timeline would give
Bisping time to recover and, depending on
who wins the UFC 198 headliner, he would
be equally happy to have an opportunity to
avenge his 2013 loss to “The Phenom” or
derail “Jacare’s” plans for a title run. Further
to that, a convincing win over either Belfort
or “Jacare” would be undeniable proof that
Bisping deserves a crack at middleweight
gold.
If Bisping is miraculously cleared to fight
sooner rather than later, another potential
opponent is fellow Fight Night 84 contender
Gegard Mousasi. The Dutch fighter earned
a strategic, if not particularly inspiring, deci-
sion win over Thales Leites in the night’s co-
main event, and alluded to his desire to fight
Bisping at the post-fight press conference.
Mousasi appears to have ended the night
more or less healthy, so he may be ready to
return to action before Bisping. If, however,
their timelines match-up, a fight between
the proud Brit and the well-rounded Dutch
fighter would, at the very least, give the win-
ner some ammunition to demand a number
one contender bout, if not a shot at the title.
Bisping survives flying knee, wins close decision over “The Spider”
Potential Opponents: Winner of “Jacare” vs Belfort, Gegard Mousasi
