Michael Bisping responds to Stann, Belcher and Weidman

Michael Bisping is a popular person at present.

It seems like there isn’t a single middleweight in the UFC who doesn’t want to be matched with the British standout. Alan Belcher has been calling him out for a long time and has intensified that of late, while Brian Stann and now Chris Weidman also have their eye on him.

Fighters Only spoke to Bisping today as he travelled to a training session near his California home. We asked about his new found popularity…


FO: So, nice to be popular with all your colleagues? Stann, Belcher and Weidman have all called you out lately.

Yeah it seems like I am the man of the moment right now doesn’t it? That’s fine by me, I’m a professional fighter and I’ve not been busy enough lately to be honest so, I will happily fight all three of them - Stann, Weidman and Belcher can all have it. I’ve got no problem fighting and beating all three of them, either on three consecutive cards or all on one night if they want.


FO: Break it down for us - if you had a pick of one of them, who would you face and why?

“Listen, Belcher’s getting on my nerves. He keeps saying he has got the style to beat me - what style? No man with a tattoo like that can talk to anyone about style! He’s been calling me out for a while now so I’d say to him, when you beat someone other than a pure jiu jitsu guy then call me. Brian Stann I respect, fine, I think we are on collision course and we can have that fight. I’ll win.

“And now Chris Weidman is calling me out. Well, he’s on a roll but I don’t think a win over a fat Mark Munoz makes you a contender. Especially when Munoz has bounced into the Octagon like he’s at a Take That concert and with a haircut that looks like Belcher’s tattooist has switched careers. Did that distract him? It distracted me. I couldn’t take my eyes off it. What was it supposed to be, do you know?

“Everyone’s talking about Weidman today but I tell you what, we were on the same card in January and I had to switch his fight with Maia off. I was trying to warm up backstage and the fight was putting me to sleep. I wanted to get hyped up and it was like watching paint dry. He looked good last night - or did Munoz look awful?

“They all seem like nice guys, good luck to them - except Belcher, he’s been getting on my nerves so lets not include him [in the good luck wishes] - but I will happily fight them all, no problem. I want to be the champion and I think I am one more win away from a title shot. And any of these guys can be my first defences.”

FO: Speaking of titles, Anderson defended his at the weekend in the big rematch with Sonnen. What did you think of the fight?

Chael looked amazing in round one, then maybe he got overconfident. He went back to his corner they said ‘you’re amazing, its going amazing,’ then round two things deviated from the plan. Things went a bit ‘Dancing With The Stars’ when that backfist came out.

“What was all that about? I had to check what channel I was watching. Anyway, then he had a sit down and then that was it, Anderson was on him. Anderson capitalised and took him out in style, as per usual. Good finish.”

http://www.fightersonlymag.com/content/news/16755-exclusive-michael-bisping-responds-to-stann-belcher-and-weidman

Weidman should be looking to move on to bigger and better things than Bisping, For a guy who hasnt a top 10 wins in... well in his whole career I dont see the big fuss about him.

If Weidman doesnt walk into a title shot (assuming because Lombard gets the next one) then he should fight Belfort. Belfort would walk through Bisping, im sure even the biggest Bisping fan thinks this too.

Bisping vs Stann or Belcher makes sence and seeing as there is bad blood between them Id love to see Belcher vs Bisping now.

Belcher, Stann, Weidman, Franklin, Paul Harris, Munoz.

I'd back them all to beat Bisping.

Was going to say I dont know about Stann because all he has to offer is powerfull punches... thats about all Wand has to offer these days and it gets the job done. Id agree with that statment id back them all too, Id obviously back Rockhold, Belfort, Jacare and Lombard too.

Id like to see Bisping fight Okami and stop trying to talk himself into fights he hasnt earned.

Bisping is insanley overrated on here, people say you need to beat a top 10 guy to be ranked when talking about guys like Lombard when Bisping has never beaten a top 10 guy himself as far as I remember.

Bisping vs Stann at UFC 152, they've given him the easiest of the possible opponents. Stann can knock him clean out though. Hopefully he's been working on his wrestling because Bisping will try and take him down.

I'm no Bisping lover but to be fair if he TKO'd Stann you'd say Stann is one dimensional. If he then beat Belecher you say Belcher isn't that well rounded and if he got a Decision over Anderson you'd all say it was an awful decision of Silva was off from etc.

Point is Bisping may not be good enough to win any of these fights but if he did nobody on this forum would give the credit anyway.

Bisping hasn't done anything to deserve credit. Lost to all the top fighters he's ever faced.

Anfields5thKing wrote:Bisping hasn't done anything to deserve credit. Lost to all the top fighters he's ever faced.

Palhares has lost to all the top fighters he's faced as well, but that didn't stop a lot of people on this forum including yourself hyping him up beyond belief. It can't work one way and not the other.

Fancy Bisping to decision Stann via hit, run, take down repeat and this could be Bisping's first ever Top 10 win If I'm not mistaken.

Sheldan and 1972 needlessly springing to Bispings defence!

Lads none of us ever really ranked Palhares as a top 5 guy or anything, I think myself and Anfield and a couple of others saw massive potential in him quite simply because he has certain skills no one can match... Bisping doesnt.

Bisping is ranked top 5ish by a lot of you and certainly in the media they see him as a contender completley unjustly.

As Anfield said Bisping has fallen flat on his face every time he has been put in with anyone who is ranked. If he beats Stann fair enough he has chalked up a top 15 guy Buts lets not get ahead of ourselves and start calling Stann as top 10 or a contender. Anfield is right and im sure most will agree Stann is certainly the easiest fight being a very 1 dimentional fighter with a patchy record.

Ill give Bisping the credit he is due for beating a fellow top 15 but not top 10 fighter, really a guy on similar standing, IMO he sould get praised for that because he couldnt get the job done last time he was in that situation against Wand.

You boys keep saying Bisping has fallen flat on his face when he has faced top competition? The only time Bisping has been outclassed was against Hendo. Every other loss he has is via very close decision.

There is a lot of hate for Bisping on here, but you can say what you want about the guy and his personality, but he is undoubtably a top 10 middleweight. Come and tell me different after he beats Stann, because he will beat Stann.

IF he beats Stann, then he will be top 10, although it's questionable if Stann is top 10. Biggest win is Santiago. MW is the weakest division so the winner of that would prob be number 10.

If Stann lands, it's over. But Bisping could run away for 3 rounds as he did against Leben.

Sonnen vs Bisping wasn't close. Sonnen won the first easily, the second was even and the third was a 10-8 to Sonnen. Wasn't close. Rashad beat him comfortably as well, no doubt it was 2 rounds to 1. Wandi fight was close but Wandi dropped him a couple of times.

Bisping is a mediocre fighter at best. He has lost against every top level guy he's fought. I'm not sure where you get the idea that only Hendo outclassed Bisping (although not certain on the use of outclassed, as he's hardly shown himself to have much class) p4p? Rashad took him down at will, and no way was the Sonnen fight as close as some though on here.

Bisping does have good take down defence, and can be active from his back, he has good movement and quick(ish) hands, however, he has hardly any power in those hands, a suspect chin and once he's put under pressure, he runs. I would love to see him fight the likes of Weidman, surely then he'd stop this nonsense about being a 'contender'. Right now, for me Bisping would be beaten by at least the following - Weidman, Belfort, Munoz, Lombard, Belcher and Stann, I don't even think that Boetsch would have been the greatest match up for him.

p4pnumber_1 wrote:You boys keep saying Bisping has fallen flat on his face when he has faced top competition? The only time Bisping has been outclassed was against Hendo. Every other loss he has is via very close decision.

There is a lot of hate for Bisping on here, but you can say what you want about the guy and his personality, but he is undoubtably a top 10 middleweight. Come and tell me different after he beats Stann, because he will beat Stann.

What undoubtabaly makes him top 10? What win do you think moved him into the top 10?

Miller and Riviera were probabally outside the top 50, Miller too...

Akiyama was ranked where? Outside the top 20 lets just say that much anyway.

Before that he took a loss to Wanderlei who wasnt top 15 ranked before he beat Bisping so Ive no Idea where the Idea of him being top 10 comes from? Did he earn this top 10 position before the Wand fight?

By beating top 100 ranked Kang maby? Or beating Leben who has lost to the running man Kalib Starnes the year before and wasnt top 50 himself....

You have an honest look at Bispings wins and pick one good win that made him a top 10 guy. Close losses dont elevate your status as a fighter and Bisping bearly has a decent win to speak of.

I dont under rate him I do dislike him but I dont under rate him. Him and Stann are both top 15 but not top 10. They are guys on a similar level and honestly its a close fight im half expecting Bisping to win but he is clearly over rated by being refered to as top 10.

I havnt updated my rankings in a while but in No order here are 10 better Mw's

Anderson
Sonnen
Belfort
Franklin
Weidman
Munoz
Lombard
Rockhold
Mamed Khalidov
Tim Boetsch (Only because he is coming off a ranked win and Bisping doesnt have one)

Belcher has slightly better wins, Palhares, Cote after his title shot etc was ranked still..
Stann beat Leben when he was ranked so has a top 10/15 ranked win at least.
Jacare beatr Kennedy/Lawler and im sure at least one of them was ranked top 15.

You gotta be honest mate he is being rated on putting up a good fight in his losses but you cant be ranked as the worlds best looser you need wins to be a ranked fighter IMO and Bisping clearly hasnt got them. No Bios he just hasnt a big win on that record.



Stann beat Leben when he was ranked

rudeboyben84 wrote:

p4pnumber_1 wrote:You boys keep saying Bisping has fallen flat on his face when he has faced top competition? The only time Bisping has been outclassed was against Hendo. Every other loss he has is via very close decision.

There is a lot of hate for Bisping on here, but you can say what you want about the guy and his personality, but he is undoubtably a top 10 middleweight. Come and tell me different after he beats Stann, because he will beat Stann.

What undoubtabaly makes him top 10? What win do you think moved him into the top 10?

Miller and Riviera were probabally outside the top 50, Miller too...

Akiyama was ranked where? Outside the top 20 lets just say that much anyway.

Before that he took a loss to Wanderlei who wasnt top 15 ranked before he beat Bisping so Ive no Idea where the Idea of him being top 10 comes from? Did he earn this top 10 position before the Wand fight?

By beating top 100 ranked Kang maby? Or beating Leben who has lost to the running man Kalib Starnes the year before and wasnt top 50 himself....

You have an honest look at Bispings wins and pick one good win that made him a top 10 guy. Close losses dont elevate your status as a fighter and Bisping bearly has a decent win to speak of.

I dont under rate him I do dislike him but I dont under rate him. Him and Stann are both top 15 but not top 10. They are guys on a similar level and honestly its a close fight im half expecting Bisping to win but he is clearly over rated by being refered to as top 10.

I havnt updated my rankings in a while but in No order here are 10 better Mw's

Anderson
Sonnen
Belfort
Franklin
Weidman
Munoz
Lombard
Rockhold
Mamed Khalidov
Tim Boetsch (Only because he is coming off a ranked win and Bisping doesnt have one)

Belcher has slightly better wins, Palhares, Cote after his title shot etc was ranked still..
Stann beat Leben when he was ranked so has a top 10/15 ranked win at least.
Jacare beatr Kennedy/Lawler and im sure at least one of them was ranked top 15.

You gotta be honest mate he is being rated on putting up a good fight in his losses but you cant be ranked as the worlds best looser you need wins to be a ranked fighter IMO and Bisping clearly hasnt got them. No Bios he just hasnt a big win on that record.



Stann beat Leben when he was ranked

To be fair to you mate, you put up a decent argument no doubt, but I still stand by what I said. Granted Bisping may not have a huge name on his record, but there's a reason I think he's top 10: Basically, I don't think there is 10 fighters in the UFC ranked higher than him.

Also your comment saying "Close losses dont elevate your status as a fighter"... This is untrue. Look at Chael Sonnen vs Silva 1. That is the reason why Sonnen is ranked as the 2nd best in the world. If Silva had've destroyed him in that first fight, he would've been just another one of his victims. He probably wouldn't have even got a rematch. Bispings performance against Sonnen was admirable and proved he belongs with the best in the world, in my opinion. I know people that hate Bisping completely, but even accepted after the Sonnen fight that he was up there with the best.

It's interesting that, for example, you say Stann beating Leben was a great win for him... yet when Bisping beat him , he was "barely top 50..." ??

p4pnumber_1 wrote:
Also your comment saying "Close losses dont elevate your status as a fighter"... This is untrue. Look at Chael Sonnen vs Silva 1. That is the reason why Sonnen is ranked as the 2nd best in the world. If Silva had've destroyed him in that first fight, he would've been just another one of his victims. He probably wouldn't have even got a rematch. Bispings performance against Sonnen was admirable and proved he belongs with the best in the world, in my opinion. I know people that hate Bisping completely, but even accepted after the Sonnen fight that he was up there with the best.

It's interesting that, for example, you say Stann beating Leben was a great win for him... yet when Bisping beat him , he was "barely top 50..." ??

Are you really suggesting though, that Bispings performances against Evans/Sonnen and even Wandy, were on a par with Sonnens first fight against Silva? The main reason that Sonnens stock rose after the initial fight, is that he completely dominated a dominant champion, Bispings losses, however close you think they were, weren't in the same league. I honestly think that Bisping is better than some think (myself included), but nowhere near as good as others (yourself included) think.

You're wasting your time p4p, you're talking to people who openly state that they dislike Bisping, he could beat Silva and they would somehow find a way to discredit it.

Once Mohawked Pete wrote:

p4pnumber_1 wrote:
Also your comment saying "Close losses dont elevate your status as a fighter"... This is untrue. Look at Chael Sonnen vs Silva 1. That is the reason why Sonnen is ranked as the 2nd best in the world. If Silva had've destroyed him in that first fight, he would've been just another one of his victims. He probably wouldn't have even got a rematch. Bispings performance against Sonnen was admirable and proved he belongs with the best in the world, in my opinion. I know people that hate Bisping completely, but even accepted after the Sonnen fight that he was up there with the best.

It's interesting that, for example, you say Stann beating Leben was a great win for him... yet when Bisping beat him , he was "barely top 50..." ??

Are you really suggesting though, that Bispings performances against Evans/Sonnen and even Wandy, were on a par with Sonnens first fight against Silva? The main reason that Sonnens stock rose after the initial fight, is that he completely dominated a dominant champion, Bispings losses, however close you think they were, weren't in the same league. I honestly think that Bisping is better than some think (myself included), but nowhere near as good as others (yourself included) think.

That's not what I said at all. I mentioned Silva/Sonnen 1 in relation to Ben's comment about how close losses don't elavate your status. Moving on to Bispings fights was a different point. They obviously weren't in the same league. Sonnen's performance against Silva cemented his place at number 2 in the world. Bispings losses have cemented his place in the top 10 for me anyway, you boys may not agree.

I've said on numerous occasion that i'm not particularly a Bisping fan, but the amount of stick he gets on here is just outrageous. He gets no credit at all.

For the record, I have stated that he has decent TDD, good movement and very good cardio, but you cannot disguise the fact that he has very little punch power, hardly any BJJ threat and a suspect chin, but, TBH mate, there's I'm a bit sick of discussing him, those that have defended him, think that anything negative said here, is coming from Bisping haters and therefore has no justification, I'm prepared to let time be the deciding factor here, let's see whether he ever beats a top 5 fighter.

Sonnen was number in 2 in the world before he fought Anderson the first time. He was number 2 after he fought Silva this first time.

He was number 2 before he fought Silva the second time. He's still number two after fighting him the second time.

In what way has Sonnen been elevated up the rankings by losing?


Oh, and the only thing Bisping-Sonnen proved was that some people get so overly excited when they see a Brit fight that they think they're seeing something they're not.

Take Sheldan there for example.

He thought he watched a great heavyweight KO a good heavyweight on saturday night. What he actually was a good cruiserweight who is an average heavyweight knock out a bum.

You think you saw Bisping prove he could hang with the best, what you really saw was Sonnen having an off night after taking a completely different style of fighter than he was preparing for on short notice, and still win comfortably.

Bisping is good at running away, jabbing, circling at speed and then jabbing some more. Oh and spitting, he's good at that too. He's not top 10. He hasn't beaten anyone top 10 and if Stann lands on that chin, he won't be beating anyone top 10 any time soon.

Oh, and also worth pointing out that the Rashad that beat Bisping pretty handily wasn't anywhere close to the Rashad we see now. The Rashad that beat Forrest for the title was a better fighter than the Rashad that beat Bisping 13 months earlier, the Rashad of today is a much better fighter than the Rashad that beat Forrest. Would anyone give Bisping any chance against Rashad today if he dropped to 185 as he's rumoured to be considered??

And the Wandi that beat Bisping was a shot Wandi well past his best and who handled his weight cut to a new division quite poorly. He wasn't the pre-CroCop/Hendo devastation.

Losses to those two don't elevate you and neither does getting laughed at and then knocked clean unconscious by Dan Henderson.

Bisping's losses don't make him top 10. And Sonnen's losses didn't move him up the rankings either.