With Belcher and Boetsch losing, Weidman being injured and Okami/Belfort recently fighting for the title, does winning his next fight make him number one contender in your eyes?
Dana White has already said he will fight for the belt if he wins anyway, but i wanted to see what excuses you guys can come up with seeing as there is almost literally nobody else available or qualified.
I actually think Bisping wins the fight against Belfort. Belfort relies on his speed and power, and age is going to start creeping in. If Bisping can clinch whenever Belfort unloads a flurry, Bisping stands a very good chance of winning the fight.
I'm a Bisping fan so I hope he pulls it out at against Belfort. He's obviously #1 contender if he wins. MW is kind of bad right now as I don't think Weidman has done anything CLOSE To deserving a title shot. But if Belfort won, there would literally be no worthy contenders. Silva/Bisping is a nice fight on paper although I don't like Bisping's chances of beating Silva of course.
Bisping actually matches up really well against Belfort, but I'm worried about the home crowd advantage that Belfort will have.
Silva/Bisping is a fight that's been built up for a while now. The UFC has investing too much money and marketing in Bisping to not have it happen and the timing is right, so I'm all for it..... Not that Bisping has a snowball's chance in hell of beating Silva.
I use to be a very passionate Bisping hater (and I still really enjoy the Hendo KO gif) but he's growing on me. If he puts up a good fight and wins against Belfort, I'd give him the nod to get destroyed by Silva.
I personally think Belfort is about the worst fight Mike could get at 185, so should he win... he is WITHOUT QUESTION ready for a title shot! Anyone who says otherwise is selling something.
However a part of me is hoping that Belfort gets a minor, non career threatening, injury and Bisping is fast tracked to the title shot. I'm just more interested in Bisping fighting Anderson right now than anyone else, and Vitor is the perfect guy to spoil that.
I kind of want to see Vitor fight Anderson again. Sure the first was an insane finish but outside of Chael it's about the only fight Anderson looked like he was working and not just cruising. I think Anderson would embarrass Bisping. So I want to see Vitor or Weidman.
I personally think Belfort is heaps and bounds above all of the other contenders in the MW division (aside from maybe Weidman). His striking is very dangerous and his ground game is top notch.
I highly doubt Bisping finds a way to wrestle Belfort to a decision. Although Belfort ultimately succumbed under Jones' pressure on the ground, I think he proved his worth on the ground in that fight against Jones and I expected Belfort to be Jones' toughest fight to date. Bisping couldn't keep Brian Stann on the ground for any long period of time, how on earth is he going to do the same to Belfort? Bisping is a very strong defensive wrestler and scrambler, but his offensive wrestling and top position control is not great at all and certainly not a real threat to a crafty veteran like Belfort.
Bisping is doing alright in the division, realistically he lost the first round to Jason Miller, should have been DQ'd against Rivera, Dana thought he lost to Stann, and he lost to Sonnen. His run is impressive in statistics only, I don't see him as a legitimate top ten/top five guy yet.
For me to buy him as a threat to win the title he needs a big impressive decisive victory. I don't think he needs to finish Vitor but beating him 30-27 would be good enough to grant him a title shot.
Personally I think Chris Weidman has the talent to beat Anderson Silva. Luke Rockhold seems like the guy that can give Anderson the fight of his life. I'd like to see either of those two fight for the title and have the winner of Bisping/Belfort fight Hector Lombard. That would solidify the top five in my eyes.
Right now my MW rankings are
1. Anderson Silva
2. Chris Weidman
3. Vitor Belfort
4. Michael Bisping
5. Luke Rockhold
6. Hector Lombard
7. Yushin Okami
8. Jacare Souza
9. Mark Munoz
10. Costa Phillippou
11. Brian Stann
12. Tim Boetsch
13. Alan Belcher
14. Cung Le
15. Francis Carmount
16. Rich Franklin
17. Nick Ring
18. Jake Shields
19. Rousimer Palhares
20. Riki Fukodu
I'm pretty excited to see what Sarafian, Mutante, and Markes can do against top level competition. It's a shallow nebulous division which is why Bisping is in the mix.
If he beats Belfort than he should get a shot at Silva, why not?? he has been hanging around as long as anyone else and if he truly beats Vitor than he should get the fight..He is probably as deserving as anyone else.
Plus, I would love to see silva put a boxing clinic on up side bispings head..
He's #1 contender in my eyes now, but doesnt deserve it until he fights Vitor. I say he loses but hope he wins and finally gets that shot...which he gets destroyed in lmao. Weidman needs another win to me. Hopefully they dont play the puss*y game and give him someone like Lombard so he can really prove he's as good an undefeated threat to Anderson as all of you keep banging on about, but we all know he's getting a shit and easy opponent in Okami to beat on (shit and easy for him, Okami is the man still).
I still think, and I did at the time, think vitor is the biggest threat to Anderson right now. Anderson is flashy and likes to jump around, but Vitor is rugged and lands big bombs. If Anderson dances into one of them, Vitor can finish ANY fight he gets the opperunity in. I dont see it happening and think Anderson again does what Anderson ALWAYS does, but at the same time, Vitor can do it.
I think Bisping is #1 right now, even before fighting Vitor.
It's not even about he being, on paper, less skilled than the others, it's about his time has passed already for his shot. He is being around for while doing his job. He is far from being a fantastic fighter and this time we tend to revert to the "this fight doesn't sell because he does not stand a chance", but it's the guys turn, IMO.
He lost a controversial fight against Sonnen, who had the shot(twice) and Vitor had his shot at Anderson already and another present against Jones at 205 and if Vitor wins this one he'll be granted a third title shot since 2011. Attaboy, Vitor...
I wouldnt say Vitor gets a title shot if he beats Bisping. I'd say he has at mimimum another 3 fights before a title shoot. If he beats Bisping, I'd say we'll see Weidman and Anderson fight and maybe Belfort/Rockhold.
Maybe he does but I haven't heard anything about it anyyways. I'm sure Dana/Lorz knows Lombard and Weidman are chasing shots aswell and he'd favor them over Belfort who has lost to Anderson already, and Jon Jones in a gifted title shot in his last fight.
I can't see anyone getting close to beating Silva in the MW division. It ALMOST makes title contenderships inconsequential. Almost. Mike deserves his shot though so if he truly believes he can beat Silva, more power to the guy, let him have a go.
I kind of wish Anderson would give up the title, if it wasn't for the record. At this point people want a shot at Anderson more than a shot at the belt.
Man, that is so true. The belt would be just a protocol consquence. Bonnar actually said that. Who cares about any belt if I was the one to beat the GOAT?
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