Tag: Michael Bisping

Michael Bisping says Khamzat Chimaev should be ‘automatically’ concerned about Robert Whittaker matchup

The way Michael Bisping sees it, Robert Whittaker is a VERY tough opponent for Khamzat Chimaev’s first five-round fight.

[autotag]Michael Bisping[/autotag] doesn’t like [autotag]Khamzat Chimaev[/autotag]’s chances against [autotag]Robert Whittaker[/autotag] if they reach the championship rounds.

Chimaev (13-0 MMA, 7-0 UFC) faces former middleweight champ Whittaker (25-7 MMA, 16-5 UFC) in a five-round headliner June 22 in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, which airs on ABC.

With Whittaker being the first five-round fight of Chimaev’s career, Bisping believes that could spell disaster for the undefeated fighter.

“Automatically, if you’re in the corner of Khamzat Chimaev, you’ve got to be concerned,” Bisping said on his “Believe You Me” podcast. “One thing Robert Whittaker is not going to do is run out of gas. He’s a very, very experienced fighter fighting at the highest level for a long time. Without getting into the Xs and Os, the obvious thing is Khamzat always gasses.

“He’s a tremendous force of nature, the way he takes people down and dominates them right from the opening bell. He did the same thing against Kamaru Usman. Granted, didn’t get the finish, but he definitely did slow down. Against Gilbert Burns, same thing. He had a great Round 1. (Rounds) 2 and 3 were kind of close. Five rounds against somebody like Robert Whittaker, if he can’t finish him early, that could be a disastrous night for him in Saudi Arabia.”

Whittaker has gone the full 25 minutes on six different occasions, emerging victorious in four of them – including back-to-back wins over Yoel Romero.

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Michael Bisping: Faster, more technical Jorge Masvidal beats Nate Diaz again

Michael Bisping thinks Nate Diaz will suffer the same fate against Jorge Masvidal in the boxing ring.

[autotag]Michael Bisping[/autotag] thinks [autotag]Nate Diaz[/autotag] will suffer the same fate against [autotag]Jorge Masvidal[/autotag] in the boxing ring.

Diaz and Masvidal will run things back in a 10-round, 175-pound boxing match June 1 at Kia Forum in Inglewood, Calif. The bout will stream on Fanmiopay-per-view at a $79.99 price point ($49.99 for pre-orders through April 12).

Masvidal stopped Diaz by third-round doctor’s stoppage TKO in their “BMF” title fight at UFC 244 in November 2019. Although he used a kick-heavy approach to set up his hands, Bisping doesn’t see a change in rules helping Diaz against Masvidal, whom he rates as the cleaner boxer.

“Now in terms of who I think wins this fight, I have already alluded to it, I’ve got Masvidal winning this one,” Bisping said on his YouTube channel. He won the first one. The first one was kind of a beatdown.

“Yeah, it was stopped with a cut, but the cut came because Masvidal was all over him. He was faster, he was more powerful, and he was more technical, and I do not see much changing.”

Masvidal, 39, will compete for the first time since retiring from MMA in April 2023. Diaz, 38, fell short in his boxing debut when he lost a unanimous decision to Jake Paul in a 10-round, 185-pound bout this past August.

“Nate Diaz isn’t a bad striker, but he’s a better jiu-jitsu guy,” Bisping added. “He’s a far better mixed martial artist. … He’s a boxer with jiu-jitsu but not the best boxer, not the fastest, not the quickest, and the version we saw against Jake Paul, he was a bit out of shape, as well. He struggled a little bit, and he did hit the canvas.”

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For more on the fight, visit MMA Junkie’s hub for Diaz vs. Masvidal 2.

Michael Bisping slams Jake Paul for ‘being a bully,’ disrespecting sport of boxing with latest fight

Michael Bisping has had enough of Jake Paul and called him out for “conning the fans” following his latest win.

[autotag]Michael Bisping[/autotag] has had enough of [autotag]Jake Paul[/autotag].

Paul (9-1, 6 KOs) knocked out Ryan Bourland in the first round of their 200-pound bout Saturday in San Juan, Puerto Rico. On paper, Bourland’s 19 professional fights made him Paul’s most experienced opponent to date. However, once the bell rang, it was clear Bourland was overmatched.

“Jake Paul was always destined to win this fight, and you are the suckers if you paid for this fight, and I know most people didn’t,” Bisping said on his YouTube channel. “Unfortunately, the opponent was utter dog sh*t and couldn’t make it through one round. How was he able to get it done? Because he’s just so good.

“He expected a second round, but my God, the guy did it in Round 1. I mean, this guy’s the future. He was swinging punches like an absolute maniac, leaving openings to get countered all day long against a decent boxer. But he doesn’t have that threat because he wasn’t going up against a trained pro.”

Paul, who now holds wins over the likes of former UFC champions Tyron Woodley and Anderson Silva, continued to call out undisputed 168-pound champion Canelo Alvarez after the fight, which Bisping thinks is ridiculous.

“He’s calling out Canelo because he knows damn well that fight is not going to happen,” Bisping said. “Canelo Alvarez would not wipe his ass with a Jake Paul payday. He doesn’t want a circus sideshow, freakshow fights, OK? He is disrespecting the sport of boxing.

“He’s disrespecting all the people that worked their way up but more importantly, he’s conning the fans. If Ryan Bourland is your next Uber driver, give him five stars and give him a good tip. Beating people that you know you can beat, that’s called being a bully.”

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Michael Bisping: ‘It’s now or never for Brian Ortega’ at UFC Mexico

Michael Bisping thinks Brian Ortega faces a must-win situation at UFC Mexico.

[autotag]Michael Bisping[/autotag] thinks [autotag]Brian Ortega[/autotag] faces a must-win situation at UFC Mexico.

Ortega (15-3 MMA, 7-3 UFC) rematches Yair Rodriguez (18-4 MMA, 10-3 UFC) in Saturday’s UFC Fight Night 237 (ESPN+) headliner at Mexico City Arena.

Ortega will return for the first time since he injured his shoulder in a first-round TKO loss to Rodriguez at UFC on ABC 3 in July 2022. The two-time title challenger talked about a rebirth at Wednesday’s media day, and Bisping says Ortega needs to win if he wants to remain in the title picture.

“That’s what Brian Ortega’s talking about,” Bisping said on his YouTube channel. “He’s saying, ‘Listen, this is me, 2.0, 3.0.’ Whatever you want to call it, he’s coming back hungry, determined and wants to make the most of his career. The man has been at the top of the game for a long time, but he’s 33 years old, so it’s now or never for Brian Ortega. He’s got to put together a win streak to ever become the champion.”

Bisping picked Rodriguez to win, but sees a path to victory for Ortega if he can get the fight to the mat.

“I give massively the advantage to Brian Ortega – he’s a high, high-level black belt,” Bisping said if the fight hits the canvas. “And he pieces together sleek boxing. What he’s going to have to do is cut the cage off and try and make the cage smaller so Yair can’t use all those spinning attacks and the fast, aggressive, powerful kicks that he’s known for. If you can do that, and you can get the fight down to the ground, I see Brian Ortega winning this fight.”

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For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC Fight Night 237.

Michael Bisping calls UFC 300 ‘a phenomenal event,’ confused by criticism

Michael Bisping believes the UFC 300 lineup is receiving unwarranted criticism.

[autotag]Michael Bisping[/autotag] believes the UFC 300 lineup is getting unwarranted criticism.

It took a while for the UFC 300 main event to get announced, but it was finally made public Saturday that light heavyweight champion Alex Pereira (9-2 MMA, 6-1 UFC) will defend his title against Jamahal Hill (12-1 MMA, 6-1 UFC) April 13 at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.

Many viewed the fight as an underwhelming choice to headline the historic pay-per-view, but Bisping heavily disagrees.

“Fantastic news, brilliant fight,” Bisping told TNT Sports on Pereira vs. Hill. “I want to start by saying thank God because can we stop going on about it now? That’s all anyone has been talking about: What will the UFC 300 main event be? I thought this was a strong contender right from the get-go. Of course, (Michael) Chandler vs. Conor (McGregor) would have been great, (Jon) Jones vs. Stipe (Miocic) or (Tom) Aspinall would have been phenomenal, but we knew that wasn’t happening.

“Jamahal Hill is the rightful No. 1 contender. He relinquished the belt. Alex Pereira, come on. A two-weight division champion, beaten former champions, the rise through the ranks in the UFC is phenomenal, and then you combine it, the cherry on top of this ridiculous fight card. I don’t understand all this chatter online. People are just criticizing for the sake of it. Almost every single fight could be a main event. It’s a phenomenal event.”

The current UFC 300 lineup includes:

  • Champion Alex Pereira vs. Jamahal Hill – for light heavyweight title
  • Champion Justin Gaethje vs. Max Holloway – for BMF title
  • Champion Weilli Zhang vs. Xiaonan Yan – for strawweight title
  • Charles Oliveira vs. Arman Tsarukyan
  • Kayla Harrison vs. Holly Holm
  • Calvin Kattar vs. Aljamain Sterling
  • Jiri Prochazka vs. Aleksandar Rakic
  • Diego Lopes vs. Sodiq Yusuff
  • Jessica Andrade vs. Marina Rodriguez
  • Bobby Green vs. Jim Miller
  • Cody Brundage vs. Bo Nickal
  • Deiveson Figueiredo vs. Cody Garbrandt

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For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC 300.

Michael Bisping doesn’t think ‘special fighter’ Alexander Volkanovski’s age is a factor at UFC 298

Michael Bisping thinks the UFC’s 35 and over curse shouldn’t apply to Alexander Volkanovski.

[autotag]Michael Bisping[/autotag] thinks the UFC’s 35 and over curse shouldn’t apply to [autotag]Alexander Volkanovski[/autotag].

The success rate for UFC title wins at the age of 35 and over in a weight class below 185 pounds has been very low. Volkanovski, 35, makes his sixth featherweight title defense against Ilia Topuria (14-0 MMA, 6-0 UFC) in Saturday’s UFC 298 (pay-per-view, ESPN, ESPN+) headliner at Honda Center in Anaheim, Calif.

“It’s a stat,” Bisping told ESPN. “It’s certainly true. He did point out, though, that a lot of the people that make up that stat, they were the challengers, not the champions. But you can’t look at numbers and stats like that and make that reflect onto a person. Alexander Volkanovski is a special fighter. We’ve seen what he’s done time and time again, the people that he’s beaten, the fashion that he’s beating them in. So I don’t think it applies.”

Volkanovski is coming off a knockout loss to lightweight champion Islam Makhachev this past October at UFC 294, but Bisping thinks that shouldn’t result in people discrediting Volkanovski – especially because he stepped in on short notice.

“We know he’s coming off the back of that loss to Islam Makhachev, but short notice, rolled the dice, stepped up a weight class – that was always a bad idea,” Bisping said. “But to be great, you’ve got to roll the dice and do things like that.

“So I don’t think there’s any reflection on him or his ability, what he can do at featherweight when you look at that fight. I guess we’re going to find out Saturday night, but I really don’t think his age is going to matter at all.”

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For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC 298.

Belal Muhammad irked by ‘biased’ Michael Bisping’s claim that Leon Edwards dominated first fight

Belal Muhammad dismisses the notion that he was being dominated by Leon Edwards in their first fight.

[autotag]Belal Muhammad[/autotag] dismisses the notion that he was being dominated by [autotag]Leon Edwards[/autotag] in their first fight.

Muhammad (23-3 MMA, 14-3 UFC) and UFC welterweight champion Edwards battled to a no contest in their March 2021 headliner after Edwards accidentally poked Muhammad in the eye early Round 2, and rendered him unable to continue.

Edwards (22-3 MMA, 14-2 UFC) was able to rock Muhammad with a head kick in Round 1, but Muhammad says they barely fought for that narrative to be drawn. He pointed to Edwards’ title-winning knockout against Kamaru Usman at UFC 278 to support his point.

“They’re going to say, ‘Oh man, he was killing you that first fight,’ but he’s literally the poster boy for why there’s five rounds, right?” Muhammad said on the Overdogs Podcast. “If that was the case, he was getting killed by Usman for four rounds, and we didn’t need the fifth round – but he won in the last 30 seconds of the fifth round. For myself, I get better as the fight goes on. We literally had one round, and it was a 10-9 round.”

Muhammad thinks [autotag]Michael Bisping[/autotag] is partially responsible for that narrative, accusing him of showing bias for fellow Brit Edwards.

“People haven’t even really seen the fight for them to say, ‘Oh man, you got killed’ – because it’s just like a narrative, right?” Muhammad said. “‘Leon said he was going to kill him, anyway, so I believe Leon’ – Michael Bisping said that, but Michael Bisping is the most biased person in the world. You can say whatever you want to say.”

Unbeaten in his past 10 fights, Muhammad is expected to be next in line for Edwards. Their rematch has been linked for UFC 300 on April 13, but the matchup has yet to be officially confirmed.

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UFC 298 commentary team, broadcast plans set: Michael Bisping joins Jon Anik, Joe Rogan in booth

Daniel Cormier won’t be on the call for UFC 298 and instead Michael Bisping will join Jon Anik and Joe Rogan as cageside commentators.

The second numbered UFC event of 2024 is rapidly approaching with UFC 298 on Saturday at Honda Center in Anaheim, Calif.

As always, some marquee on-air talent will be there to help guide viewers through the experience.

Details of who will be working as commentators and analysts for the show have been acquired by MMA Junkie through a person with knowledge of the plans – and you can see the scheduled broadcast team below.

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Michael Bisping names opponent who could put Colby Covington back into UFC title picture

Michael Bisping thinks Colby Covington’s title hopes may not be entirely over.

[autotag]Michael Bisping[/autotag] thinks [autotag]Colby Covington[/autotag]’s title hopes may not be entirely over.

Covington (17-4 MMA, 12-4 UFC) fell short in his third title opportunity when he lost a lackluster unanimous decision to welterweight champion Leon Edwards at UFC 296 in December.

Covington, 35, didn’t put on his best showing against Edwards. With Edwards expected to run things back with Belal Muhammad for his next title defense, Bisping thinks Covington could end up drawing undefeated [autotag]Shavkat Rakhmonov[/autotag] (18-0 MMA, 6-0 UFC) next – a fight he sees potentially have title implications.

“If they were to make this fight, there’s a big opportunity there,” Bisping said on his YouTube channel. “Colby has had his title shots, OK, and I don’t think he’s going to get another one. But this will blow your mind: If he beats Shavkat Rakhmonov … I’m not saying he gets a title fight, but if he beats Shavkat Rakhmonov, there’s an argument there.

“I’m not saying I agree with it, but it if he was to beat Shavkat Rakhmonov, guess what? All of a sudden, you’re back in the discussion, baby – right? He would be. If you want to become the man, you’ve got to beat the man. But would he beat Shavkat? I very much doubt it. Now here’s the real question for Colby Covington: If this fight takes place, does he still have it? Does the fire still burn?”

Covington dismissed the idea of facing Rakhmonov next during the UFC 296 post-fight news conference. Instead, the former interim champion turned his attention to Stephen Thompson, who was submitted by Rakhmonov at UFC 296.

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Michael Bisping: Jared Cannonier perfect opponent to test Khamzat Chimaev’s cardio

Michael Bisping is all in for Jared Cannonier to be Khamzat Chimaev’s next fight.

[autotag]Michael Bisping[/autotag] is all in for [autotag]Jared Cannonier[/autotag] to be [autotag]Khamzat Chimaev[/autotag]’s next fight.

With both men gunning for a title shot, Cannonier (17-6 MMA, 10-6 UFC) called out Chimaev (13-0 MMA, 7-0 UFC) for a five-round fight.

Cannonier almost fought Chimaev when he was offered a short-notice opportunity this past October at UFC 294, but ended up tearing his right MCL shortly after getting the call. Kamaru Usman got the fight instead, and almost beat Chimaev when he rallied late. Bisping thinks Chimaev needs to address his cardio issues before fighting for the belt, and sees Cannonier as the man to do it.

“I would like to see him against a Jared Cannonier (type of fighter), because if he can’t take him down, and he can’t fix this problem with the cardio, then he’s going to have a real long-term problem going forward,” Bisping said on his YouTube channel. “But who knows – maybe there’s a reason why he was running out of gas, OK? Probably because he doesn’t pace himself. He goes forward straight away, wrestles.

“When you try to take someone down, that is the most cardio-taxing element of mixed martial arts. Trying to wrestle someone, trying to grab hold of another grown man and force them to the floor – using technique, of course, but a lot of power goes into it. I can tell you from experience, that is absolutely exhausting – especially when you’ve got another world-class opponent who knows how to stop takedowns fighting against you.”

Bisping thinks former champion Sean Strickland also makes sense for Chimaev, but thinks Cannonier is the fight to make.

“Jared Cannonier, in my humble opinion, is the perfect opponent,” Bisping said. “There’s others out there. There’s Sean Strickland. They had a little moment in the gym, as well. So Sean Strickland-Khamzat Chimaev, take my money. I’d love to see that one. But Khamzat-Jared Cannonier – that would be great.”

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