I’ve been hearing a lot of complaints about the 185 pound division recently, and when I wrote a handful of pieces criticizing the UFC heavyweight division, I got a lot of interesting responses from people telling me that they thought the middleweight division was in similarly bad shape. Now, while I don’t entirely agree with this, I think that there’s something to be said for the status of a division that has seen as dominant a champion as the 185 pounders have in Anderson Silva.The first thing that I think we all have to acknowledge is that there isn’t a contender in the division right now that anyone thinks can beat Anderson Silva. People have suggested Yushin Okami and I’ve suggested either Martin Kampmann (who I believe is next in line for a title shot) and Drew McFedries. But the more Anderson proves himself by dominating guys that we think are going to give him a tough fight, we really have to look for a contender that is going to give the Brazilian wrecking ball a serious fight. There may be some hope in that Dan Henderson lasted as long as anyone, but we also have to recognize that Dan Henderson did not last as long as many fans (myself included) thought he should, and he stands as proof that we, yet again, underestimated the UFC middleweight champion.
Now, people are going to give me some flak over saying that Bisping vs. McCarthy could shift the weight of this division, so let me first defend my reasoning.
I don’t think that either of these fighters has a chance in hell at beating Anderson Silva. I don’t think that either of these fighters are going to be considered immediate top contenders. I don’t think that either of them will necessarily be in contention for that long before they get beaten.
Here’s what I mean:
A big name 205 pound fighter like Bisping dropping down to 185 (much in the fashion that Anderson did) could inspire alot of other 205 pound fighters who think that the division’s structure is working against them to drop down too. There are certainly fighters (like Keith Jardine and Thiago Silva, who are bigger guys, but I think are capable of that slim-down) who could make that cut, and if they perceive that the 185 pound field is wide open when they see Bisping come down and immediately start getting fights against tough guys and being looked at as a contender, or at least a gatekeeper, they might try to do the same thing.
Now, this all goes out the window if Bisping loses to McCarthy. Obviously, I don’t think that will happen, but Charles McCarthy is, in my mind, best where Bisping is weak, and on a personal level, showing that his ground game is up to the level of a solid submission fighter like McCarthy (who has gotten all of his wins via tapout) could make him much more interesting as a prospect, and certainly show that (as many UK fight fans have speculated) he may be a seriously well rounded, well conditioned force in the division.
It’s important that, just like in looking at Franklin vs. Lutter, that we don’t forget the possibility of a heavy favorite getting caught on the ground with a tight joint lock. Patrick Cote was considered a favorite going into his fight with Lutter (though that was based almost entirely on Cote’s one fight with Tito Ortiz, which showed Cote to be pretty impressive), but his lack of submission game got him decimated. Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu isn’t the be all and the end all in this sport anymore than wrestling or muay thai, but it’s a huge factor, and one that is easily exploited by a guy like McCarthy.
I’m liking Bisping in this fight and, as I’ve said, I think that if he shows a high degree of success and shows that he’s a physically dominant fighter, finishing fights and putting himself on the radar, then other fighters will follow suit and the 185 pound division may soon be full of interesting contenders in exciting matchups. While none of those guys seem to be at Anderson’s level, when you improve level of competition, the competitors improve, and that could make the difference.
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I do still love MMA and have...
March 22nd, 2008 at 9:15 am
A correction, in the first line of the fifth section it says “(just like Anderson did)”, that should be “Henderson.” Yes, I know that Anderson Silva has competed for the vast majority of his career at 185 or 183 pounds.
March 24th, 2008 at 10:38 am
I still can’t understand why everyone’s fallen for the hype on Bisping. His rep seems more to be a product of aggressive marketing than any real skill. His pre-UFC career matches largely consisted of unknown fighters in the immature British MMA and kickboxing scene and he’s since fought a bunch of B and C level cans in the UFC. Even worse in a number of those matches he was in serious trouble in quite a few occasions.
One might make the argument that Hamill was a step up but most folks clearly though that he lost that one anyway. What makes it worse was that Hamill look liked a combination of Frankenstein and a Gorilla chasing Bisping around the ring with a sloppy excuse for standup. Bisping was then outwrestled and outpointed by an unmotivated and gassed Rashad Evans. Now Bisping is taking on “Captain Miserable” (Who’s only fight in the UFC resulted in a highlight reel demolition at the hands of the Crow) and people are still going on about how great Bisping is!
Sorry- the bottom line with a lot of hyped up fighters is that their records and performance against top fighters needs to speak for itself. Hype isn’t gonna cut it in the long run. Bisping will eventually get tested and I don’t expect he’ll pass.
March 31st, 2008 at 1:02 pm
where does the idea come from that Bisping is overrated and hyped? Ive never seen the UFC advertise him as being the next big thing or anything like that. Bisping is popular in the UK as are all our athletes who compete over seas. Here in the UK we dont sit and say hes better then A.Silva and stuff like that.We know where he stands and imo that is he is a young fighter still learning and improoving with the potential to one day be champ. Alot of Americans are unbelievably prejudice towards him and the things they say are very stupid.I remember reading alot of people saying that he gets to fight at home all the time in the UK and its not fair,well,actualy since being in the UFC he has fought here 2 times and 3 in the US.Now his next fight is in Canada.
Chuck,Randy,Franklin and all other US fighters must really have it easy then.
Another point that made me sick is when people claimed he was running from Hamill,its actualy called footwork,moving aroung the ring to avoid and counter,he wasnt gonna try and wrestle Hamill and his technique worked well and in the 2nd and 3rd he done more then Hamill therefore winning those rounds.
Evans scraped through to get his victory over Bisping yet people talk like he was destroyed from start to finish.
Bisping has only been in this sport since 2004 and I would love to see when the UFC supposedly hyped him so much. It never happened.
Haters need to stop hating and get some guts to fight themselves before they go making outrageous accusations