"I want to fight the top guys. Whoever it is, I want to fight the best out there. I think one more win against a real credible opponent, I think that should get me a title fight. ... Ultimately, that's up to the UFC, but I feel I'm growing as a fighter. I said it leading up to the fight. I feel like I'm really maturing now, and everything is coming together in my skillset."The middleweight division is currently lacking some new contenders, but Bisping's body of work pales in comparison to that of Nate Marquardt and Chael Sonnen, and even Yushin Okami if you wanted to stretch things a bit. All three bouts would be rematches for Silva that make more sense right now than giving a Bisping a shot.
I honestly don't know what is causing me to be so upset about the potential of Bisping as a title challenger more: The fact that he wants to be given a shot after a three wins over Akiyama, Dan Miller and a guy like Demian Maia or that I'm completely underwhelmed by his UFC tenure thus far. Don't get me wrong, Bisping is one of the best fighters to come out of the "TUF" program, but his loss to Rashad Evans at 205 lbs aside, he was left for dead against Dan Henderson and dropped a clear-cut decision to an aging Wanderlei Silva, a fight that he continues to complain about to this day while his case for a rematch continues to dwindle down. His resume at middleweight just doesn't impress me.
With that said, I'm all for Bisping receiving a title shot if he works his way up. However, he's not one fight away and I'm pretty sure the UFC brass is aware of that. Three more wins against the cream of the crop at 185 should do the trick. He's essentially in the same position as Chris Leben and Alan Belcher at the moment.. It's time to separate himself from the pack if he wants to prove his worth. We'll see what happens.
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment