This Saturday Michael Bisping and Chael Sonnen fight each other in a number one contender eliminator for the UFC middleweight title. Bisping and Sonnen are probably two of the most hated men in MMA but they are also two of the best middleweights in the world (Sonnen ranked universal by many as the number two middleweight in the world and Bisping is in the top ten).
Both men know how important this fight is. For Sonnen, it’s all about facing Anderson Silva one more time and for Bisping it’s all about getting the opportunity to fight for the middleweight title for the first time. Bisping and Sonnen are very similar in their belief (many would call it arrogance) in themselves and their ability to beat Anderson Silva if given the opportunity to fight Silva for the title (Sonnen has been going on and on about a rematch with Silva since he lost via submission in their first title fight).
There are many different areas and factors which will be key in deciding who wins the fight between Bisping and Sonnen. We will look at each area in order to determine who will win the battle of the big mouths this Saturday. First up is striking.
Striking
We are MMA has to give the advantage here to Bisping. Although Chael Sonnen dominated and beat up Anderson Silva for almost 5 rounds (Sonnen actually knocked Silva down at one point in the fight), he was still unable to KO/TKO the champion. Now either Anderson Silva is the toughest man alive or Chael Sonnen does not have alot of power in his punches. I guess there is truth in both statements. Now don’t get We are MMA wrong. We respect Sonnen as a fighter but the fact remains that less than 30% of Sonnen’s professional MMA wins have come via KO/TKO.
Michael Bisping on the other hand has won more than 60% of his professional MMA fights by KO/TKO. Some critics would argue that Sonnen has fought tougher opponents than Bisping and to some degree there is some true to that argument.
Ultimately however we here at We are MMA give the advantage in striking to Bisping. If Bisping can somehow stop Sonnen from taking him down (there is probably more chance of Bisping winning the Lottery) then this would be a huge turning point in the fight.
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