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As expected, former champ BJ Penn will face welterweight contender Jon Fitch in the main event of UFC 127, while middleweights Michael Bisping and Jorge Rivera will clash in the co-headliner of the Feb. 27 event in Sydney, Australia.
The UFC also filled the rest of the UFC 127 main card at today’s press conference, as they confirmed George Sotiropouslos vs. Dennis Siver, Carlos Condit vs. Chris Lytle, and Kyle Noke vs. Chris Camozzi.
Two preliminary fights were also announced, as James Te-Huna faces Alexander Gustafsson and Anthony Perosh meets Tom Blackledge.
For the latest UFC 127 news and UFC 127 fight card stay tuned to MMAFrenzy.com.
Pictured: Jon Fitch
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penn’s brother may have to throw the towel in the later rounds and maybe respect will come to fitch. great fight anyway.
Gotta go with Fitch here. Good to see him in Main Event status again.
I could care less about Bisping.
Yup that’s what im thinking to..soon as fitch takes care of penn he should be back in line for that title..really can’t wait for the bisping fight hope he whips that as$!..also pumped for the condit fight 2!..Good card!
this card is coming into shape.
I’d really like to see Rivera upset Bisping.
Chris Lytle is going to be in tough against Condit. you never know what to expect with ‘the natural born killer’, could knock out, or could sub just as easily. If condit takes it to the ground Lytle could be in trouble.
i dont think lytle’s ground game is that bad, he has never been submitted in the ufc, i think lytle’s stand up isn’t that great. He just wings alot of punches, i wish he was more technical.
Can someone please give Bisping a Top 5 guy. These fights do nothing for him and certainly do not help his career. He needs to fight one of the following guys…
Okami
Marquardt
Sonnen
Belfort
I’d even like to see him fight a guy like Palhares. Certainly Rivera will give him a challenge, but Bisping is a better fighter in all areas and should win a decision quite easily. It’s time for a step up in competition.
Don’t you have to earn the right to fight a top five guy? I’m neither here nor there on the count as a fighter I just don’t really feel like hes shown the skills to fight those guys.
@ thestandard……I couldnt agree with you more. I can say that he isnt on the level as Belfort or Sonnen right now but I would pay to see Belfort knock his head off like Hendo did. :)
Okami
Marquardt
Sonnen
Belfort
Palhares
All of the names you mentioned above present a real threat and problem for Michael Bisping. In all cases these fighters are better either on the ground, superior wrestlers or faster and stronger punchers. All who at this stage in Michael’s career will probably hand him a defeat.
Bisping’s game is so one dimensional that his best chance at winning is to stand with tier 2 and 3 guys who are slower, older and less technical on their feet with little to no ground game that he can out point and win via decision.
Dana and Joe basically continue to feed him guys who will stand with him and who he can out box on his way to a decision. When they have fed him a select few higher ranked guys (Hendo, Rashad, Wanderlei) he has lost every time.
I guess this is the smarter and more profitable thing to do for Dana White and the UFC. The growing of the sport overseas appears to be far more important than the growing of The Count’s MMA toolbox, skillset and experience. I think it is possible for Michael Bisping to be a great fighter one day, unfortunately that day is not coming any time soon as he is not fighting the top guys who he can learn from and train different aspects of his game to compete with.
My attitude and dislike for Michael Bisping is well known around here so I am trying to be fair here. I think he is highly overrated and being fed hand picked fights that he can easily win to build the sport in Europe. Seeing him upset by someone like Rivera would be FANTASTIC and I keep hoping it happens.
If and when he likely comes out the victor of this fight I JUST HOPE that in his post fight interview he flat out ASKS the UFC to give him a #1 contender fight and some real competition. It’s about time.
I’m not saying that Bisping could or would win any of these fights, but it’s a discredit to him as an mma fighter to have to keep fighting midcarders. If he truly wants to advance his career, he needs to take the next step in competition. Worst case scenario, he loses and finds out where the flaws in his game lie.
I’m not a Bisping fan at all, but I think the guy has shown flashes of brilliance over his last couple fights. Now he needs to demand to be tested by the UFC and the five fighters mentioned are ones who can give him that test.
@thestandard -
I think what Michael Bisping is experiencing right now is the sharp side of the “double edged sword” of being the UK UFC poster boy.
The smooth side is his path into the org was a bit easier thanks to TUF, and his matchmaking has been fairly friendly thanks to his overseas value to the promotion.
The sharp side is that Joe Silva and Dana White don’t want to pointlessly throw away a top shelf UK box office draw by throwing him into a fight wherein he could get not just beaten, but humiliated as he did against Hendo.
So MP is signed to fight good, but not great 185ers, and thereby is sort of stuck in neutral in terms of the title.
I would guess that until MP displays some UFC grade T/KO power, Bjj and/or wrestling, its unlikely he’s going to face a UFC title contender in 2011.
No disrespect intended to MP here, just my take on this…
Sorry guys Bisping will lose this fight. He cant KO Rivera!! This is Rivera’s biggest fight in the UFC. He’s coming in with nothing to lose and he knows his power can KO Bisping. Watch Bisping try to wrestle. HE WILL SHOOT ON RIVERA!! If not Bisping is going down.
Rivera may hit harder, but Bisping is the more technical kickboxer, especially if his gym will break him of that damned habit of circling into his opponent’s danger zone.
Also, MP may not score a T/Ko win, but he does have the tools to earn a UD, and I wouldn’t necessarily underestimate MP’s wrestling.
Its not as if Rivera is a former NCAA champion or former Olympian, no disrespect intended…
I very much believe that Rivera has a good chance at winning this fight against Bisping. Bisping feels this sense of entitlement, and the only thing he is entitled to is an ass whipping. I am not a huge fan of him and to a certain degree think he’s somewhat overrated, but he does keep winning so I’ll give him his credit for that. I remember Bisping posting something that said “he doesn’t know who he’s fighting but looks like it’s the main event in sydney”. So his ego has to be hurt a little bit now knowing that he’s not the main event anymore. Go Rivera!!
127 is HUGE for BJ Penn.
I don’t believe he will, but imagine if he beats Jon Fitch, something no one other than GSP has been able to do since 2002 or something like that.
Between embarrassing former champ Matt Hughes and [projectedly] beating Fitch sort of gives Penn at least SOME traction for title contention, if not an outright title shot.
Plus, lets not forget…we’re talking BJ Penn here, and even though 155 is his optimal fighting weight, he is one of only 3 fighters in MMA and 2 in the UFC to rock gold at 2 different weightclasses.
I have ZERO desire to see Penn and GSP go again, but IF, and its a big if, but if Penn beats Fitch and Hughes, who are two of the most consistent and successful 170ers of the last deacde, in a 90+ day period, he’s going to ask LOUDLY for another title shot.
And he might get it.
The GSP 185 project is going to be slow developing, especially while Anderson Silva resolves his Belfort-Okami-Sonnen 2 issues.
And I still think the jury is out on fans buying into Jake Shields as a UFC 170 contender.
If GSP does to Shields what he did to Koscheck, or worse considering Shields’ stand-up is weak in comparison to Kos’…well…lets just say I wouldn’t be shocked to see GSP-Penn 3 in 2011…
Beware the jab BJ…beware the jab….
I think the winner of Fitch vs. Penn deserves a title shot or a #1 contenders bout. I do think Jon Fitch will win this fight, but it wouldn’t surprise me if BJ Penn won. I think GSP will beat Shields anyway he wants to and he can do the same with these two. I’m happy with whatever decision GSP makes, whether he wants to stay at 170 or move up to 185. I just want to see him happy and I know he wasn’t totally happy after his win against Kos, even though everyone else and I was. I want to see him finish a fight, not for me or anyone else, but for himself. Once he does that then I feel he will be mentally ready to face and defeat Anderson Silva and anyone else at whatever weight class he desires.
GSP has more tools than Anderson Silva and he’s still learning other martial arts to add to his arsenal. When GSP master everything he knows than A.Silva won’t be able to touch him and probably same for everyone else. I know that GSP isn’t in his prime just yet, he’s only getting started. He’s a student still learning. Once he becomes a master than we’ll see GSP in his prime and finishing a fight will be no problem for him. He will have the strongest mindset and skills.
I’m guessing that the winner of Fitch vs. Penn gets a Title shot, even though it hasn’t been announced. I’m just guessing that because it’s the main event to this card and giving a title shot to the winner will make the bout a little more interesting, for some of the people that watch it. Especially the ones that see it live.
If BJ Penn wins, there is a distinct possiblity that he gets a title shot, or at least major title consideration.
If Jon Fitch wins, Dana White will have some bullsh!t story about why Fitch “just hasn’t done enough” in the last decade or so in MMA to earn another title shot.
Same weak Fitch sh!t from DW, just dropped at a different post-event presser…
@jcohl
One thing that I think would change Dana Whites mind would be if Jon Fitch finishes BJ Penn, by KO,TKO, or Submission. If that happened than I could see Fitch get his deserved title shot or at least a #1 contenders bout. Would you agree on that @jcohl?
Also @jcohl, what do you think about what I wrote above? Was I on or off track with what I wrote? I’m just wanting a opinion and you usually give out good ones. ;)
I don’t know about you guys but I think BJ will KO fitch…
I agree with you.
IMO
Fitch vs Penn will be kind of like GSP vs Penn 2 with Fitch playing GSP’s role..Probably not quite that dominant but similar fight & result
That could very well happen, but I’ll have to give this bout to Jon Fitch. I think Jon will be very mentally ready to take on BJ and I feel Fitch is more well rounded. I think this bout will go to the judges, but I would prefer to see Fitch finish this one.
Lets go Bisping!!! Should be a tough match but I expect The Count to get the victory
Idk about Fitch fighting in a main event. Hopefully BJ pushes the pace and keeps the fight entertaining.