Michael Bisping is ready to move on from his controversial UFC 127 win over Jorge Rivera and has asked the UFC to face former number-one contender Chael Sonnen next in hopes of earning a shot at the UFC middleweight title.
“I want to fight Chael Sonnen because No. 1, he’s an amazing fighter,” Bisping told MMA Fighting on Monday. “When he fought last, he looked fantastic, and I want to challenge myself. He’s the No. 2 ranked middleweight in the world. Obviously I can’t fight No. 1 because he’s got a title shot, so I want to fight the No. 2 guy.”
Sonnen remains suspended by the UFC until his sentencing for money laundering next week, but Bisping is hopeful the matchup comes together and has little interest in facing fellow contender Nate Marquardt, who blasted Bisping before his recent UFC 128 win over Dan Miller.
“That guy, he’s quite a hypocrite,” Bisping said. “He’s a steroid cheat, let’s not forget that. He’s had points taken away for illegally kneeing people himself, and then he goes out talking about me as if I’m Satan or something. The guy’s an absolute hypocrite.
“He s—- the bed every time he’s in a main event. He’s had three No. 1 contender fights and a title shot and lost them all. I want to fight the top guys and I think Chael Sonnen for me is the biggest possible name I could get, and that’s what I’m hoping for. Nate Marquardt doesn’t excite me.”
Who do you want Michael Bisping to face next: Chael Sonnen, Nate Marquardt, or someone else?
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Wait marquardt got popped for roids? Or am i missin something and hes talkin bout sonnen? Either way im down wit the sonnen fight. Sonnen already said hed bury bisping if bisping said he wants to fight him again so let the epic trash talk begin!
he was talking about sonnen
Nah hes actually talking bout Nate
yea Nate did get popped for it too
Nate was nailed years ago
And the war of words has begun! This is going to be one amazingly hyped up fight! I can see this quite possibly setting some UFC PPV buy records.
Can’t wait to read Chael’s response.
Also, don’t think Nate the Great will take too kindly to Bisping’s subtle jab at him being a boring fighter.
I honestly have the feeling Dana White sat down with Michael Bisping and told him to run with this bad guy rep. Continuing to talk smack and be a complete prick who the fans can hate. Bisping has never been well liked, gets booed in his home country, and lost all respect from fellow fighters after the Jorge spitting incident. The UFC has no other choice but to play off this. And they will make MILLIONS in the process.
It’s a WIN/WIN for them and the fans. The trash talking hype over a fight with Sonnen will be INCREDIBLE! And if he loses, fans will rejoice. If he somehow wins, well, he earns a title shot against A. Silva and fans will be thrilled to see Silva pick him apart on his feet.
Whatever the case, Bisping is in for yet another ass kicking, which I think he deserves.
I agree,bisping shouldnt even be in the ufc if u ask me.
Lol, give him what he wants then…
Yeah Marquardt got popped back in 2005 after his first ever fight in the UFC. It was something like an over-the-counter drug he took though, I mean 6 years ago, and he only got a 5 month suspension, it was pretty minimal.
Marquardt would win via murder – AKA Dan Henderson style.
Chael would murder bisping. Nate’s stronger and has better grappling and he couldn’t stop chael’s awesome wrestling. Unless bisping can stop the takedowns he’ll be in for a night getting GnP’ded on.
This fight makes more sense for Chael and Bisping imo
Let me drop a little “Bisping-to-jcohl” translation here:
Bisping: “I don’t want to fight Nate Marquardt”
translation-
“Marquardt is superior to me both physically and in skillset, not to mention being viewed as a better sportsman. If he’s motivated, I’ll get jeered by the crowd, and then choked or pounded out. If he’s not motivated, I’ll get jeered by the crowd, and then ground down into a UD loss. Who needs that sh!t?”
Bisping: “I want to fight Chael Sonnen”
translation-
“Sonnen might be the only guy in the UFC 185 weightclass more despised than myself right now. He rehabbed Anderson Silva’s image after his Abu Dhabi nonsense, so maybe he can do the same for me. Plus I’ll make more $$$ in a Sonnen fight than I would in a Marquardt fight, even though neither fight is winnable for me.
And Christ knows I could use the money after blowing my payout against Jorge F’n Rivera of all people”…
I’m sure some will disagree, but I’m thinking I’m WAY closer to right than wrong on this thing…
@jcohl
AMAZING. That’s all I have to say.
That pretty much sums it up!!
100% agree with these translations
If Bisbing gets past Sonnen (a long shot IMO) then I will finally give him props. Until then I can’t wait for that guy to get dominated by Sonnen.
Hey, if beating Sonnen is what is required to get props at 185, then Marquardt must be a chump and Okami is just another loser. Let’s be real here. If Bisping even looks decent against Sonnen and he doesn’t get props, you and everyone else will have to admit that nothing will ever make you give the guy his due.
Dbiz i think what corey was referring to is Bispings under performace against wrestlers. In order for him to get out of the UK kickboxer shadow and into a legit 185 lbs MMA contenter he needs to beat Chael and then corey will give him his props. Bispings 2 (should be 3) out of 3 loses comes from wrestlers in Rashad, Dan Henderson and i think if he werent in the UK he would have lost to Hamil also.
THat will never happen chael would pound bisping into a million pieces.
I’m rooting for bisbing cause anyone who roots for chael based on what chael says, then you probably lying attention whore as well. Nothing personal! Chael was prejudice and racist against a.Silvia and ya’ll loved it while accusing bisbing of more for doing in comparison, so much less. I wouldn’t call chael supporters racist but ya’ll seem very prejudice. and you wonder why a.Silvia doesn’t speak English a lot with you?
let me ask, if chael and rampage were gonna fight, who would you root for? I’m not assuming anything.
I think people were backing Chael over Silva because people were ashamed of the supposed P4P best fighters proformance against Maia. Plus Chael’s nonsense was entertaining. Also i think a lot of people, like myself, knew Chael was going dominate Silva.
Chael (like a lot of republican banter) is factless and holds no ground and is borderline racist (i.e. Radicalization of American Muslim hearings). But I dont think people believe the nonsense, they find is comidical like cry baby Boehner.
In this fight i think people (at least Americans) will go for Chael. Chael will have the Go America attitue with his American flag shorts and his American arrogance (im better then the rest of the world) and can back it up usually. I know i will. Its that whole lesser of two evils and i can understand most of Chaels nonsense. Plus Bisping looks good when he gets beat up on lol.
If Chael were to fight Rampage on the other hand i think overwelingly the support would go to Rampage. Rampage is good humor individual and has Legendary status in his corner. Though i dont think Rampage would win the fight (bad style for him) i would still support him.
Please leave the poitical/ideological shots off this board. Nobody cares to read your blanket generalizations about any political party. There are plenty of MMA issues for all of us to argue over without getting into politics. Thanks!
RAmpage does have so improving ,such his ground game but his ko power will allow to win the fight,he also needs to use his leg kicks more.
Wow, i’ve never seen so much hatred for one fighter! Take a look at his record and tell me he’s a shit fighter. Marquardt has shown some some brilliance in the fight game but also some massive chokes! As for Sonnen, all the crap he’s done as well for someone that runs his mouth and is incredibly unprofessional! You guys think he is a savior and all he does is reinforce the uneducated public on their bashing of MMA and how fighters are ignorant meatheads! Did you guys look at Rivera’s videos? He put a lot of time into those, maybe he should of just trained! He got beat, I was pissed at the knee but he was going to get beat no matter what, Bisping is a better all around fighter! I don’t condone Bisping for spitting but if you want a reaction from someone you’re poking…well, you got one! Rivera was unporofessional and after getting beat he wants to be friends and bury the hatchet? What he did was immature and everyone is jumping on Bisping for what he did, it’s like sueing the homeowner for shooting you after you break into his house! I’d like to see Bisping vs Sonnen, good fight! Even better TUFcoaches! But get off Bisping as a terrible fighter!
BIsping isnt anywhere close to being well round chael will win he has the skills to back it up
I get so annoyed when people blindly act like Chael is so great, one of the best middleweights in the UFC and seem perfectly content to ignore the fact that he was a nobody before the Okami fight. That of course was when he started the trt. Without the added testosterone he’s definitely not top 5 in the mw division.
Most probably won’t agree with me but the facts speak for themselves.
The “speaking facts” say that Chael Sonnen struck gold in every org he’s ever fought in, and came within 2 1/2 minutes of doing it against Anderson Silva, who gets a lot of those p4p votes from people who are still buying into that sort of thing.
The “facts” also say that Sonnen has never been SAC’ed specifically for PED abuse, only failure to properly report his health issue which resulted in higher than normal testosterone levels.
Sonnen in the UFC beat both Okami [current #1 contender] and Marquardt [former #1 contender] to earn a shot at the title.
Are those the “facts” you’re speaking of?
I’m no Sonnen supporter, and completely understand why the majority of the fanbase would line up to p!ss in his Cheerios, but if we’re talking factually, Sonnen has both the skillset and MMA resume to earn his respect, athletically speaking.
His sportsmanship may leave MUCH to be desired, but you can’t deny what he’s accomplished inside the cage.
If anyone wants to sh!t on Sonnen for his criminal activities, thats their right, and the guy probably has it coming, but the frenZy isn’t really the place for “true crime” posts.
The FACT is that Chael Sonnen is one of the nest 185 MMA fighters on the planet, and the only man to come even remotely close to beating Anderson Silva.
Not even Dan Henderson can say as much, and they both share the same submission defense weakness, which IMO is a Team Quest trademark.
And if you really want to go into Sonnen’s past, you find a lot of pro MMA wins, and before that some impressive wrestling credentials, including US Olympic alternate status.
Trust me on this. If you want to shred Sonnen, there is a way to go about it. Hitting him on the facts ain’t it, because those back up almost everything Sonnen talks about.
Stick to hitting him on the sportsmanship and poor submission defense issues, because otherwise Sonnen is [near] golden…
You completely missed my point. Your saying in the UFC he’s beaten Nate and Okami and nearly beat Silva and he deserves to be respected for that. What I’m saying is he would never beaten Nate or Okami if it wasn’t for the 4x level of maximum allowed testosterone. His record before been on trt should back that up.
By the way love the “p!ss in his cheerios” comment. I might use that one !
He only tested that high once, and that was after the Silva fight. Presumably any tests done on him then came up normal.
bsbiz that may be true but professional athletes know how to get around these tests so I wouldn’t give the whole it was his first time thing much credit. He was much bigger in the silva fight than when he was fighting at 205. The acne on his back got noticeable worst with every fight.
Circumstantial evidence, including evidence which is not exclusive to the charge you are insinuating, does not float. Positive tests, on the other hand, do. He has only had one positive test in the UFC. End of story.
what makes his last PHD positive result “sketchy” to me is his lack of forthcoming on the issue. If it was me who “had” hypergonadism or whatever it was, and I had to supplement THAT amount of testosterone, and knew the test would show it, why wouldn’t he disclose it to the AC AS SOON as he had taken the testosterone??? Why would he not say anything till the last minute? This is why I’m HIGHLY sceptacle of his sincerity in the issue.
I just don’t get why he wouldn’t exhaust every last effort in straightening this out as early as possible. The way he handled it just tells me he’s guilty…of something.
These athletes who do this stuff know how to get around issues like this. They know an “oh, I didn’t know” excuse works! any excuse will unfortunately, usually suffice.
If his next fight is in the UK then he might get someone like Mark Munoz or Demian Maia. Someone he “could” beat… If the fight is in the US he will get someone tougher like Marquardt or Sonnen. Personally I don’t think he can beat any of these guys. I wonder if he would ever consider dropping down to 170…
Don’t forget he’s already dropped from 205, so 170 is not too likely.
I agree with you. I was just thinking along the lines of what Marquardt was supposedly contemplating and if that would work for Bisping. I think Marquardt is much bigger physically than Bisping and would have a tougher cut. Personally I would like to see Kos (who I do not like at all, but respect as a fighter) climb up to 185 and fight Bisping. (I know I’m throwing a lot of different match-ups out there, lol)
WHat are u smoking munoz and mia would beat bisping in to a pulp
Be nice…
HEll no bisping will lose and u know it,wrestling is bispings weaks and the min that is discovered chael will give bisping the ass beating of his life.
ps uk sucks ballsKnock it off. -BSBiz
Markus j what have you been sniffing michael bisping is a complete idol to all in the great united kingdom and i can 100 percent say he has never been booed by any english fans and ive been to all the ufc events in this country so i can vouch for this.As for calling chael out as much as i love bisping i dont fancy his chances as for NATE THE NOT SO GREAT MARQUADT he would choke as he always does and get his ass whipped
Funny, I recalled quite a few “boos” directed towards him after his controversial win, and disrespectful words towards Matt Hamill. Was it just me or did a questionable decision and piss poor reaction on the mic cause nearly half the crown in attendance to cheer for Matt Hamill and jeer the hometown hero.
And if you idolize, arrogant, disrespectful, cocky, and annoying people over there, I feel sorry for you. I would never spit in the face of anyone I know, not even my worst enemy.
Yeah, because nobody idolizes arrogant, disrespectful, cocky, and annoying people on this side of the pond…
BIspings home town knows he sucks,matt hamill shoulda won that fight to begin with,but it was in the uk .Stop trolling. -BSBiz
Why should Bisping get a number 2 guy? Who has he beat that he deserves that? When he fights mediocre guys he wins, when they put a top tier guy in front of him he loses, and with the exception of Rashad the two other top teir guys he lost to were past their prime (Henderson, Silva). Besides the fact that he is a poor sport, he is just a middle of the road fighter who will make a living fighting the up and comers from here on out. He doesn’t deserve a shot at the title or a fight that would put him in title contention.
Not sure he can drop to 170, already dropped from 205.
I agree he dosent deserve the number 2 guy,he can barely handle the guys put in front of him
Bisping thinks he’s ahead of Marquardt on the MW ladder, like are you kidding me.
Marquardt would straight up destroy him and Bisping knows it. Completey agree with jcohl on that one.
Honestly, given that Bisping’s been on the receiving end of a Long Talk from the boss recently? It wouldn’t surprise me if these call-outs are at least partly pre-pre-fight hype, as requested/dictated/”politely suggested” by Dana White himself.
It makes sense. Sonnen gets a fast return to main-event status after his loss and bad press, Bisping (most likely) gets overwhelmed in a GnP loss as penance for his own shenanigans, and UFC makes some serious bank from the trash-talk interest alone. Kind of a win-win-win from a PPV organizer’s perspective, no?
Sonnen is not fighting anyone any time soon as he is currently on an indefinite leave of absence to handle legal issues over money laundering in Oregon.
The UFC is currently in that ‘inbetween’ stage that large but relatively new organisations (business as well as sport) tend to go through. Matchmaking a fight should of course be based on what the fight is intended to achieve. So, for title challengers #2 and #3 fight for the right to face the champ – easy.
Unfortunately UFC are not quite there yet. Fights are put together based somewhat on merit but mostly on cash. How many PPV’s will we get if we match x with y? Will there be more interest in x fighting z instead? and so on.
So talking about whether Bisping deserved a shot at Sonnen or whether he should be relegated down the card to fight someone else is a mute point. The real question to ask is – what fight will the fans (us included) pay to see. That’s the fight that will be made.
Based on my rather off the cuff theory, Bisping and Sonnen to headline an overseas event sometime this year.
You heard it here first !
I suspect that how much money can be made off a fight is further down the list. What you don’t mention is availability. Often, the guy getting the shot isn’t necessarily the best but the best available. See Jon Jones.
I think it would make more sense to have this headline fight here in North America. 95% of people here would pay big bucks to see Michael Bisping get his face rearranged and the other 5% would be happy to see Chael “The Steroid Cheat” lose. Plus, Bisping fights over seas way too much as is.
Also, if the UFC is really going to play off this Bisping as a heel (the bad guy) card, it makes more sense having him fighting on hated American soil as oppose to trying to put him over after the spitting incident and make him the hero over seas.
Bisping should have to fight Sonnen, in Sonnen’s land, the USA.
I’m hopeing for a double ko in this fight! All in all, Sonnen will most likely prevail in this matchup
110 percent
I still think Marquardt-Bisping is the better fight.
But if Bisping-Sonnen were to happen….I never, ever thought there’d be a day when I’d root/cheer for Bisping…would be the case here though.
NO it is not nate would ko bisping and u know it.
I’d like to see them coach against each other on a season of TUF. I think it’d be the most entertaining one to date.
Cheers
This could possibly happen for next season! I wouldn’t be surprised at all with the incredible rating sit would draw.
Only problem is how do they reward either of these guys by getting to coach on this show, and be role models to these young kids, with both of their track records?
Neither one is what you would call a role model. Probably not the two guys who deserve or should be coaching, but man, would it make for some great and entertaining TV!!!
There have been plenty of past coaches that haven’t been great role models, or rather, didn’t act appropriate on the show or to their team. Why would this be any different?
IF uk fighters had a good ground game,face it uk coombat just hasnt evoled,the us has the better mma.
Its funny that Bisping mentions that Nate chokes in his big fights, but Bisping doesn’t just choke when he gets big fights, he gets KTFO’d by Henderson and seconds away from getting TKO’d by Wandi. Yes Nate chokes, but at least he doesn’t talk all this $hit and then gets arse whooped.
Anyway, I’m happy with either fighter getting Bisping even if it was in England.
Its pretty clear that Bisping’s reasoning in preferring to fight Sonnen over Marquardt is rooted in the business aspect of MMA, and not the competitive aspect.
Consider:
Sonnen is a bigger draw, but is the MUCH worse match-up for Bisping.
Looking back, Bisping had trouble handling Matt Hamill, Rashad Evans, and Dan Henderson, all of whom have less effective cage wrestling than Chael Sonnen does, and Evans and Hendo actually prefer throwing hands rather than Greco-throwing some fool to the floor.
Against Marquardt, Bisping at least has a chance to maybe catch him in a level change or something, as Marquardt usually exhibits more Octagonal well-roundedness than Sonnen does.
Against Sonnen, Bisping will spend probably 12 minutes of a 15 minute fight on his a$$ dealing with gNp, getting run against the fence, and/or trying to keep Sonnen off his legs.
Maybe Bisping figures that in all likelihood he’s going to lose his next fight, assuming he gets a 185 contender, so he might as well go out collecting a larger paycheck, assuming Dana White has forgiven him by then.
Sonnen’s first fight back will be huge for the UFC, and Marquardt’s next fight, not so much.
Plus some well-meaning contributor will always post:
“Hey, the fight starts standing, so Bisping has a chance”.
Sure he does, but consider that if Anderson Silva’s hands didn’t back off Sonnen, how the fu<k are Bisping's supposed to?
Even as a rabid Brit and defender of Bisping, I only see gloom on the horizon against Nate and Chael. Sadly we are at least 5/10 years away from a credible UK fighter with a chance of winning gold. Wrestling will never be on the curriculum in our schools and a fighter will need to be genetically manufactured of sorts to have a chance to shine in MMA.
Chael will take Bisping down at will and bully him for 3 rounds and if an angry Nate comes to the ring he will pummel Bisping for a brutal few mins.
@doublejay
If you’re looking for some UK championship MMA light at the end of the North American tunnel, I suggest checking out John Hathaway, who IMO is the most well-rounded MMA fighter to come out of the UK.
He’s young, has a great attitude as well as aptitude for the sport, and has progressed at a respectable pace.
In spite of his stumble against Mike Pyle, I wouldn’t be surprised to see Hathaway wearing gold, and in less than 5 years…
Maybe GSP should fight bisping in his first fight at MW. I know it will be the superfight against silva (providing a win over shields) but I think he would benefit from a tune up fight to see how his ‘new’ body works in a real fight experience against way bigger guys as opposed to being thrown in with silva the 2nd best striker in mma.
Who do you feel is the 1st best striker in MMA? Overeem? Just curious. I would agree.
The Reem for sure, and I’d suggest checking out Bellator’s Hector Lombard if you want to see some truly frightening stand-up ability…
All I’ll say, Steve M, is that I’ve yet to come across a strain of testosterone that improves skill. It takes more than a cycle or two to get that much stronger, and it also takes more than testosterone to get huge and hulk strong. It wasn’t the testosterone that dominated all those fighters. It was Chael. It wasn’t roids that out boxed Silva. It was Chael.
It doesn’t matter what Bisping does for or in this fight (provided it happens) Chael will smash him.
And people who want to keep saying that Chael is racist or whatever… get some thicker skin. When you spout off and talk about “Americans” and “American Arrogance,” you’re doing the same thing. He was promoting a fight when the CHAMP wasn’t. It was his chance to get noticed, get exposure and raise his stock in the UFC. Its a business. If you wouldn’t try to get yourself noticed and marketed more, than you’re an idiot. Ask Jim Miller why he can’t get a title shot when he’s more deserving than 99.9% of the other contenders. He doesn’t get himself out there.
Again, its a business. And at the end of the day, Chael backs his words up. Short of getting the title, it WAS a one sided beating, and he was definitely swinging the hammer.
I gotta stir the pot here. I hope Sonnen gets the rematch against Silva. Sonnen talked smack on the Noguira brothers and that’s why Silva went for the submission against him, with three broken ribs at that. This time he will knock him out and do it quickly. Please let this fight happen to let to shut the mouth of the Silva haters. Or shut my mouth perhaps. Let the flames commence.
I want to a remacth too ,but chael will beat silva,as long as he has a submission defense which ihope he has been working on.
it just seems that the welterweight and middleweight divisions are rather thin at the top doesn’t it? Silva, Sonnen… who else? GSP and ?? We will see what Shields can do, after that its.. Fitch again? BJ again?? Is it just that Silva and GSP are that much better than the next in line? 155, 205 and heavies are changing hands frequently but the WW and MW have been locked in for years..
I think they’re really just that much better. Take those two out of the equation and you’d have more title changes between the rest of the flock. DO you think Fitch can outwrestle Rumble like that? Or stike with him? Throw Condit in there, Kampmann moves up in the rankings. Diego keeps going. They’re all closer in skill, much closer than they are with GSP.
Same with MW. Leben, Okami, Belcher, Sonnen, and even Bisping if you’re a fan of his. And as it was shown, Silva isnt THAT much better than Sonnen. He just has no BJJ experience to defend with. Thats his fault, but that didnt change the first 4 and half rounds.
So I just think they’re next tier fighters and no one in their divisions can keep up with them.
YEah if chael had a submmision defense silva wouldnt have his title
nate would rule your ass
Both have tested positive for roids.
Sonnen would be the better fight.
Oh Mike… you really don’t want Chael Sonnen. But it’s gonna make one hell of a countdown show.
FOr all u bisping lovers out their, u better hope he is smart enough to work on his wrestling cuz his kickboxing aint that great
melvin guillard and diego alves would a good fight,im just uncertain he would win their ko power is adout even.
If you’re referring to Thiago Alves, they’re at different weight classes. Almost two weight classes apart.
YEah I was but that dont matter melvin would macth up well against alves.
Uh… No.
EITHER NATE OR CHAEL WILL PUT A STOMPIN ON BISPING.
honestly sonnen is the best fighter in his the middleweight division. he beat the shit out of silva for 5 rounds then got caught in an unlucky choke. i cant wait to see sonnen beat the hell out of bisping then get another title shot
That was not unlucky. He’d been leaving that arm undefended all round.
u cant stop me from making fun of bisping u know he runs his mouth alot and always gets whoped up,if beats some he is actually a good fighter then I might stop making fun of him,until then hell no.
I agree bisping will get destroyd.
Ryan, there is no fighter bashing. What I have modded out was fighter bashing. Knock it off.
Bisping Vs Hendo 2!
I agree
I’d like to see “The Count” fight Sonnen. But, for the people that bash Bisping stop hatin on the guy. He has what it takes to back up what he talks..I find it entertaining and it always makes for a good fight. It’s better than watchin a couple zombies step in the cage with no hostility. Think about that.