UFC FN 84: Silva vs. Bisping

Date: Saturday, February 27th
Preliminary Card (UFC Fight Pass): 18:45 LP.net / 9:45am PST / 12:45pm EST
Main Card (UFC Fight Pass): 22:00 LP.net / 1pm PST / 4pm EST
Live Streams: http://firstrowus1.eu/




Main Card (UFC Fight Pass)

Anderson Silva (33-6) vs. Michael Bisping (27-7) (Middleweight)
Gegard Mousasi (37-6-2) vs. Thales Leites (25-5) (Middleweight)
Tom Breese (9-0) vs. Keita Nakamura (31-6-2) (Welterweight)
Francisco Rivera (11-5) vs. Brad Pickett (24-11) (Bantamweight)

Preliminary Card (UFC Fight Pass)

Mike Wilkinson (9-1) vs. Makwan Amirkhani (12-2) (Featherweight)
Davey Grant (9-2) vs. Marlon Vera (7-2-1) (Bantamweight)
Scott Askham (13-2) vs. Chris Dempsey (11-3) (Middleweight)
Arnold Allen (10-1) vs. Yaotzin Meza (21-10) (Featherweight)
Brad Scott (10-3) vs. Krzysztof Jotko (16-1) (Middleweight)
Norman Parke (21-4-1) vs. Rustam Khabilov (17-3) (Lightweight)
Daniel Omielanczuk (17-5-1) vs. Jarjis Danho (6-0) (Heavyweight)
Teemu Packalen (7-1) vs. Thibault Gouti (11-0) (Lightweight)
David Teymur (3-1) vs. Martin Svensson (14-5) (Lightweight)

Other

- Michael Bisping was originally expected to face Gegard Mousasi at this event in a non-headliner middleweight bout. However on December 24, Mousasi was replaced by former UFC Middleweight Champion Anderson Silva in favor of a main event. Three days later, it was announced that Mousasi will face former title challenger Thales Leites.
- Jimi Manuwa was expected to face Nikita Krylov at this event. However on December 31, Manuwa pulled out of the bout due to an undisclosed injury and the fight was scrapped.
- Henry Briones was expected to face Brad Pickett at the event. However, Briones pulled out of the bout on January 22 and was replaced by Francisco Rivera.
- Lukasz Sajewski was expected to face Teemu Packalen at the event. However February 16, Sajewski pulled out due to an injury and was replaced by promotional newcomer Thibault Gouti.

----------

First impression of the match-ups:

• Bisping > Silva
• Mousasi > Leites
• Breese > Nakamura
• Pickett > Rivera
• Amirkhani > Wilkinson
• Grant > Vera
• Askham > Dempsey
• Allen > Meza
• Jotko > Scott
• Khabilov > Parke
• Omielanczuk > Danho
• Packalen vs. Gouti (dunno)
• Teymur vs. Svensson (dunno)

Bisping > Silva?

Im puzzled why you think so, to me it seems like an obvious hand picked cannon fodder for Silva, Bisping is a past prime slow leading striker that often overextends with jabs without much KO power...

His path to victory is to outstrike Silva with volume on the outside and well Nick Diaz is probably the best in MMA to do that and failed so how do you see him winning?

I think Silva wins but we can definitely criticize him. The biggest factors leading me to believe he's not a slam dunk are:

a) his aura of invincibility is gone
b) he got man handled twice by Weidman (no shame in that) quite convincingly, bones snapped
c) tested positive for elevated markers of testosterone
d) he has aged noticeably judging by the picture, he's 40 and not as active recently due to his injuries
c) he couldn't put diaz away in their 5 round fight (don't remember the details of this fight), diaz is good(boxing, BJJ, stamina) but far from a S-class fighter for obvious reasons (relatively weak, little movement, predictable punch heavy style, lack of effective kicks, relies on shit talking to tilt his opponent, etc)

Of course we can criticize Bisping too, as you did. He's past his prime like Silva and doesn't have the highest KO power, although half of his wins come from KO and Silva's chin is suspect.

Silva > Bisping simply because he is more skilled and superior in practically every category. Yet, Bisping has a puncher's chance of 10-20%? More, less? How does one quantify this?

Silva's chin is suspect

Suspect because of the two Weidman fights? Because before that it was considered ironclad... Idk, not shocking if Silva has completely fallen off given everything that has happened (age, traumatic losses, PED stuff, long lay off), but I'm not sure I'm ready to predict Bisping by KO

Think if he wins it's by decision.

Silva did look like shit vs Diaz but wasn't that fight partly horrible because they were both trying to counter strike ?

Just one bet for me on this card: Silva + Picket (+258).

Easy fight for Silva imo, he is better than Bisping by far and he is motivated, he even wants a title shot with a win.

Picket is a warrior, he looked very good against Almeida (who is a monster). He is definitely Ev+ at +175

Always going to think Anderson > Bisping until Anderson shows he has nothing left. Which could possibly be close to happening.

Bisping one hitter quitter'ing Anderson out of nowhere would be one of the most amazing MMA moments for me though. I'd willingly lose a ten unit bet to see that happen

I think Ricain is going a little far with Bisping > Silva, but i agree with him the odds are too Silva heavy

I think Bisping +260 is a good bet.

Perfect opponent for Anderson to shine. If he is not completely shot, he shoud smoke Bisping easy.

So was Nick Diaz. plodding striker who comes forward and likes to block with his chin and has zero wrestling. And Silva managed to look less than impressive. Since then he's been busted for roids so its some what reasonable to assume he will be fighting without them as the risk of another dirty test is gigantic. Not to mention he's had another year+ off and he's almost 41 now.

I also think it's pretty likely he was on steroids for his entire career. Wouldn't be surprised if the Silva that shows up is a bum version of the previous silva. Even then he should still be the favorite to beat bisping with just his technique and timing. Dunno by how much though. Predicting people coming back from a lot of shit is really hard.

Diaz did not fight like that in their fight tho, he was trying to counter strike much more than he was advancing... Which is why it was such a complete shit show with of them refusing to lead.

On February 25 2016 14:35 goose58 wrote: I think Silva wins but we can definitely criticize him. The biggest factors leading me to believe he's not a slam dunk are: a) his aura of invincibility is gone b) he got man handled twice by Weidman (no shame in that) quite convincingly, bones snapped c) tested positive for elevated markers of testosterone d) he has aged noticeably judging by the picture, he's 40 and not as active recently due to his injuries c) he couldn't put diaz away in their 5 round fight (don't remember the details of this fight), diaz is good(boxing, BJJ, stamina) but far from a S-class fighter for obvious reasons (relatively weak, little movement, predictable punch heavy style, lack of effective kicks, relies on shit talking to tilt his opponent, etc) Of course we can criticize Bisping too, as you did. He's past his prime like Silva and doesn't have the highest KO power, although half of his wins come from KO and Silva's chin is suspect. Silva > Bisping simply because he is more skilled and superior in practically every category. Yet, Bisping has a puncher's chance of 10-20%? More, less? How does one quantify this?

Obviously this isnt prime Silva, not even close, Bisping would probably be at least an 8 to 1 dog vs prime Silva

a) that is mumbo jumbo to hype up fights, "auras" dont win fights this isnt Diablo
b) He suffered an injury on the first fight and he arguably returned too early for the 2nd one
c) yeah, maybe he was juicing to recover faster, maybe not? anyway his physique is evident that if he juiced he wasnt a hardcore one.
d) yeah he is old, but so is Bisping
e) Silva didnt put Diaz away becaue Diaz wasnt leading, and Silva was very tentative and emotional, also Diaz is a better boxer than Bisping

On February 26 2016 01:52 Stim_Abuser wrote: So was Nick Diaz. plodding striker who comes forward and likes to block with his chin and has zero wrestling. And Silva managed to look less than impressive. Since then he's been busted for roids so its some what reasonable to assume he will be fighting without them as the risk of another dirty test is gigantic. Not to mention he's had another year+ off and he's almost 41 now. I also think it's pretty likely he was on steroids for his entire career. Wouldn't be surprised if the Silva that shows up is a bum version of the previous silva. Even then he should still be the favorite to beat bisping with just his technique and timing. Dunno by how much though. Predicting people coming back from a lot of shit is really hard.

Yes Diaz was a good matchup too and Silva won (in a mediocre fashion) but Diaz is better at Boxing than Bisping and had way more outs than Bisping...

How do you see Bisping winning this fight?

On February 26 2016 01:52 Stim_Abuser wrote: So was Nick Diaz. plodding striker who comes forward and likes to block with his chin and has zero wrestling. And Silva managed to look less than impressive. Since then he's been busted for roids so its some what reasonable to assume he will be fighting without them as the risk of another dirty test is gigantic. Not to mention he's had another year+ off and he's almost 41 now. I also think it's pretty likely he was on steroids for his entire career. Wouldn't be surprised if the Silva that shows up is a bum version of the previous silva. Even then he should still be the favorite to beat bisping with just his technique and timing. Dunno by how much though. Predicting people coming back from a lot of shit is really hard.

Nick Diaz is an awkward opponent for any stand up fighter. He has a lot better boxing than Bisping - good on the lead and the counter, good sense of range and very underrated striking defence. On top of that he has insane chin and in that fight I don't agree that Silva looked that bad. He exploited Diaz biggest weakness - his plodding footwork and took home a convincing unanimous dec. We have seen Silva before looking worse against Maia, Leites or Cote for example.

Anderson might be old but Bisping is not very young either - 37. He does not have the best chin . Had a hard fight with Leites recently and almost got finished by CB Dolloway before that. He has tendency to run after his opponents with punches and does not offer a lot of threat on the counter.

I mean the whole assumption that he has a chance is related to Anderson being completely shot fighter, who has been juicing his whole career and now after a year of the juice he has fallen of a cliff and will look absolutely terrible. I don't think so.

Going all in on Bisping, Silva did not look like the GOAT vs Diaz and also now without any steroids, I have a feeling he will get mauled.

Also pretty much this is Bisping's last shot to really get in the mix and apparently he has not lost a fight in England.

Michael Bisping (185) vs. Anderson Silva (186)
Thales Leites (186) vs. Gegard Mousasi (185)
Tom Breese (171) vs. Keita Nakamura (170)
Brad Pickett (136) vs. Francisco Rivera (136)
Makwan Amirkhani (145) vs. Mike Wilkinson (145)
Davey Grant (136) vs. Marlon Vera (135)
Scott Askham (185) vs. Chris Dempsey (185)
Arnold Allen (145) vs. Yaotzin Meza (144)
Krzysztof Jotko (184) vs. Brad Scott (186)
Rustam Khabilov (155) vs. Norman Parke (155)
Jarjis Danho (261) vs. Daniel Omielanczuk (254)
Thibault Gouti (155) vs. Teemu Packalen (156)
Martin Svensson (154) vs. David Teymur (155)

Bisping looked as good as he ever has at the weigh in. Tho it's not like he ever really looks terrible

I favor all of the betting favorites except Francisco Rivera. I think Pickett is a better fighter than he is, didn't understand the line or the movement initially. I also think there is (or was) value on Wilkinson - IMO Amirkani is a pure hype train until I see him actually be good for more than 2 minutes and display decent hands.

I went big on Silva before but the dad-bod stuff that I saw today and him wearing a shirt to weigh-in was a bit disconcerting. I'm seeing that the odds are way better now, so bad on me. I guess IF Silva's cardio, reflexes are much worse and Bisping puts on a flawless performance where he mixes everything up perfectly, he has a chance to win 3 rounds. That seems like a long-shot.

Re-watching and remembering Silva vs Diaz, Silva was super weird that fight week and looked tentative as shit during the fight and was still able to outclass Diaz (who is better then Bisping offensively, WW or not). He also ate some clean shots just fine and Diaz displayed a hell of a chin (a chin I don't think Bisping has). This time around, he seems at ease and is even talking about fighting for the belt again.

But more than anything, stylistically, Bisping would have to put himself in such danger to score against Silva enough to win, I just don't see it. But the fight does have a weird feeling to it, but he also barely beat CB Dolloway not that long ago. Cmon.

Pre-fight bets:

+ Show Spoiler +