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UFC 217: Bisping vs St Pierre


wandshogun09

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The spanner in the works is Whittaker. If Bisping does beat GSP, then he has big decision because I believe the UFC would agree to a unification fight for the middleweight title in the UK for a send off for Bisping.

I actually think Whittaker is a winnable fight for Bisping as well as they both have similar styles and there's a chance Bisping could out last Whittaker over 5 rounds.

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Do you think the UFC could run a stadium show with Bisping in a send off fight in the UK, or would the interest level limit them to an arena? 

The chance to do what Lamby is saying, as well as do it somewhere like Wembley/Cardiff/Olympic Stadium etc. Would be very difficult to turn down I would think. 

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Nah, quite a few people aren't so keen, but when you think about it, this quite a compelling fight, Guy.

Certainly, given the options of GSP v Woodley and Bisping v Whittaker, it's the more intriguing match up, because I think both of them probably end up getting smashed by their respective opponents. Frankly, ever since the Yoel fight was off the table for Bisping, this is the only match I want to see him in.

With this match up there are so many questions, which makes it a great "we'll see what happens" fight. Give me this over Bisping trying to claw some personality out of the drab killer that is Whittaker.

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1 hour ago, Guy Bifkin said:

Am I the only one who doesn't like the idea of Bisping v GSP? I would have much preferred GSP v Woodley and or Bisping v Whittaker or even Weidman.

Still the card is a strong one. I hope Hendricks can make weight so we see him battered by Borrachino.

It's an odd one. At the time I was highly against it, and in a way I still am. I found it to be insane a small welterweight was stepping up to fight for the title, who then also delayed the whole division because he kept changing his mind when he wanted to fight. 

At that point the top contenders were Romero, Rockhold, Weidman and Mousasi and there's no way GSP would step into the cage with any of those guys.

It felt he was attempting to do something because he knew Bisping was the easier fight, and it didn't sit right with me he wouldn't even defend the belt. Since then Whittaker, a once welterweight, won the interim, giving GSP that out of defending the title if he wins.

That said, I must admit that the closer the fight draws, the more excited for it I've become. The title to me isn't even on my mind, I'm just looking forward to the fight.

 

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I've long felt that if Bisping wanted to do one final bout in the UK, the opponent should be Vitor. The chances to eradicate the shadow of that loss, beating a guy who's a shell of himself these days etc.

He could ride off into the sunset after that one, and I hope we get it if he loses to GSP.

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I'm not massively in love with the Bisping vs GSP fight myself. Never was. Don't get me wrong, now it's booked I want to see it. I want to see everything. I'd still like to see Couture brush the mothballs off his gloves and fight Cro Cop, just because we were robbed of that fight 10 years ago. I'd still jizz myself dry if Fedor vs Brock or Anderson vs GSP got made, years after they were genuine megafights. 

If you think about it, Bisping vs GSP is actually an interesting matchup style-wise. I don't see it as a truly huge fight like they want it to be but I'm certainly intrigued by how it goes on the night. GSP's MMA wrestling is awesome but Bisping's defensive grappling has always been top notch plus there's the added element of GSP going up in weight possibly making his wrestling less effective. On the feet who the fuck knows, right? Bisping is a fantastic striker. As good as GSP is on the feet, I don't see him just handling Bisping. Then there's the possible ring rust for GSP. If GSP is seeing Bisping as an easy fight like Bisping's claiming then I can see him being surprised. Bisping's no gimme at all for GSP. Where Bisping comes unstuck usually is against the real power strikers and/or juicers. And GSP wasn't exactly a KO artist at 170, he hasn't stopped an opponent at 170 since he fought BJ Penn in 2009! And that was a lightweight coming up to 170. I find it hard to envision him stopping Bisping at 185. Plus Bisping's not going to fade. You can't just 'weather his storm' and take over when he fades. He doesn't fade. He's one of the best conditioned fighters in the game, even now at 38. So GSP's most likely path to victory is to outpoint Bisping like he has his last load of opponents at 170. But with his time out, going up in weight etc, and Bisping's strengths as a fighter, I don't know. It's a hard fight. 

If Yoel Romero had beaten Robert Whittaker in July and the Bisping vs Romero fight was still on the table, I'd be less up for this GSP fight. Bisping vs Romero was the one for me. If I could've had it work out how I wanted it, we'd have Bisping vs Romero and a GSP vs McGregor superfight on the schedule now. But the way things have worked out, Bisping vs Whittaker, good as it'd be, doesn't grab me so much for some reason. And Whittaker's injured anyway. So I'm good with this. It's a bit of a weird fight but fuck it. 

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Yeah, Whittaker's got a knee injury. Either from the Romero fight or it happened in camp for UFC 213 and the fight with Romero just made it worse. Either way, Whittaker's sidelined until 2018. 

Wonder what happens though, if Bisping beats GSP then retires? Bisping would be gone, GSP would surely drop back down to 170. Where does that leave Whittaker? I suppose the interim would be upgraded and he'd just become the full champ then. Fuck knows who he'd fight though. You've got Weidman and Rockhold coming off a win each but it still feels like they both need another win first. He already just beat Romero and Jacare. Mousasi is in Bellator. They'd probably go Whittaker vs Rockhold, I'm guessing. 

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8 hours ago, WeeAl said:

Do you think the UFC could run a stadium show with Bisping in a send off fight in the UK, or would the interest level limit them to an arena? 

The chance to do what Lamby is saying, as well as do it somewhere like Wembley/Cardiff/Olympic Stadium etc. Would be very difficult to turn down I would think. 

If you're to be giving him a stadium send off, surely it would be at either Old Trafford or City of Manchester?

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Wand pretty much summed up why I am looking forward to GSP vs Bisping. It's a weird but intriguing match-up. Even though both were in the same game for over a decade, and only 1 weightclass removed from one another, it was never a match-up that anyone really envisioned. On lazy days when thinking about random fantasy match-ups, GSP vs Bisping certainly never popped into my head.

If pressed, I would wager on GSP winning on points, but it's no gimme. 

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