Michael Bisping vs. Charles McCarthy: Why This Fight Could Change the 185 Pound Division

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.