Bisping Thinks He Can Handle Hendo, Belfort, and Sonnen In A Rematch
Perennial UFC middleweight contender Michael Bisping has never been a stranger to making brash statements and letting his true feelings be known. Love him or hate him, it’s a big reason that he reached his high level of popularity within the UFC.
He’s been rumored to face off against a re-motivated Mark Munoz as the headlining bout of the upcoming UFC event in Manchester, England, but nothing has been officially confirmed on that front as of yet.
While that scrap could definitely separate Bisping from the rest of the pack at 185, he sits in an awkward position due to being knocked out by Vitor Belfort earlier this year. With Belfort himself waiting at length for a desired title shot, it’s safe to assume that Bisping has a long road to climb towards this goal.
But that isn’t stopping him from voicing his opinions on all things pertaining to middleweight. He recently spoke up in an interview with Bloody Elbow to explain his evolution as a fighter. Bisping believes that he has improved and could hand those who’ve beat him a loss:
“I would love to rematch all the guys that have a victory over me. Chael is one of them, Rashad, Henderson, Vitor … I’d love to fight them all. I’d love to get another crack. After every loss I’ve gone back to the drawing board, so to speak, figured out what went wrong, and I’ve come back as a better fighter.”
“Dan Henderson? I know I’d definitely take care of him. Chael? I beat him the first time, but I’d make it even more unanimous in the second. Vitor? I was doing very well until I got caught with a head kick, so I’ve adjusted for that as well. I believe I could beat everyone that has beaten me up until now. They beat me on the night, so fair play to them, but I would love a rematch with any of those guys.?”
Indeed, Bisping has only lost to the best fighters the UFC had to offer, but many argue that he still lacks that signature win over a top-flight opponent. He recently beat Alan Belcher, but it’s debatable whether ‘The Talent’ could truly be considered top-level.
His knockout loss to Dan Henderson is widely considered one of, if not the best knockouts in MMA history. Henderson has seen a bit of a slide as of late, losing underwhelming split decisions to Lyoto Machida and Rashad Evans in his last two.
He still plies his trade at 205, and Bisping hinted at a possible return to light heavyweight as he gets older.
But is Bisping just blowing smoke here, or could he truly avenge his losses to Henderson, Belfort, Sonnen, and Evans? I’d have to say they’d be close matches and good fights overall.
His window of getting a title shot at 185 could be closing fast, so perhaps he should make that his main focus for the time being.
