Former middleweight champion Anderson Silva and former Ultimate Fighter winner Michael Bisping finally stepped into the Octagon across from one another on Saturday at the O2 Arena in London.
The UFC Fight Night 84 headliner was a fight that was years in the making. It was also Silva’s first fight in more than a year after having sat on the sidelines serving a 12-month suspension due to testing positive for steroids in January of 2015.
While Bisping called Silva a cheater in the lead-up to their fight and Silva continually denied ever using performance-enhancing substances, that all got left behind when the cage door closed.
Much of the first two rounds was spent feeling out the range, but Bisping was the one pressing forward for the better part of both rounds, while Silva was using a lot of awkward movements to try and throw Bisping off. The Englishman didn’t let Silva’s awkward ways get to him. He finally caught Silva in the waning moments of round two, rocking the Spider with a combination and putting him on his backside. Bisping swarmed, but couldn’t find a way through Silva’s defenses before the horn.
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Round three was where things took a major turn. Bisping pressed forward the entire round, darting in and out on Silva with combinations, but couldn’t seem to mount much damage. Then, in the final seconds of the frame, Silva turned the tables and landed a jumping knee that laid Bisping out just before the horn sounded.
Silva turned and ran across the Octagon, jumping up on the top rail, all the while, referee Herb Dean was yelling, “the fight is not over.”
While Silva continued to celebrate, Dean made it clear to everyone, including Silva’s cornermen that the fight wasn’t over. He did not wave off the fight and Bisping had one minute between rounds to gather his senses and continue fighting.
Bisping got off the stool for the fourth round. It took him a while to gather his wits, but Silva didn’t press him very hard at the rounds opening, and that gave Bisping time to recover, which he eventually did.
But as Bisping tried to mount some offense late in the round, Silva again turned up the volume in the final minute of the round. Silva finished with a snapping uppercut and a solid left Superman punch, but couldn’t land a finishing blow.
They spent the final frame going back and forth, Silva landing solidly at times with knees and kicks, catching Bisping on a couple of occasions with a front kick, but the Brit wouldn’t go down. Instead, his face bloodied and bruised, he dug deep and kept pressing forward and darting in and out with punch combinations.
Silva looked like he was hanging back for the final minute or so, trying to find the killer blow, but it never came. Bisping just kept pressing forward, and didn’t stop until the final horn.
Despite Silva’s near finish at the end of round three, and some strong output near the end of round four, the judges were unanimous in awarding the decision for Bisping, who was teary eyed and ecstatic with the victory.
After darting out of the Octagon to celebrate briefly with his family, Bisping returned to the cage to thank the London crowd. “I’m just a guy with a normal background and you guys have been in my corner every time.”
He also addressed Silva, saying, “I know I said some things, but you inspired me. Anderson, thank you.” And then went over and both men dropped to their knees in praise of one another.
Silva was also emotional in the Octagon, praising the London crowd that welcomed him, although he didn’t agree with the outcome of the fight.
“What can you do man. You saw the fight. I thought it went differently. The mission was given and I thought the mission was completed, but I guess not.”
The victory marks Bisping’s third in a row, but it was by far the biggest victory of his career. In the long term, he’ll of course want to be considered for a middleweight title shot, but in the short term, Michael Bisping will celebrate a milestone moment in his career.
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