Another UFC, another three round fight that exemplifies why top level guys should be fighting five full rounds. But I digress…
Wanderlei Silva and Michael Bisping didn’t bring many surprises with them to the UFC 110 party. Silva relied on burts of aggression and power hooks; Bisping tried to stick-and-move and turn Silva’s aggression against him. Silva ultimately won a very close decision, garnering 29-28 cards from each of the three judges.
How did we get there?
FightMetric’s report for the fight produced the following Effectiveness and ten-point must scores:
| Silva | Bisping | TPM | |
| Round 1 | 43 | 55 | 10-9 B |
| Round 2 | 66 | 60 | 10-9 S |
| Round 3 | 87 | 67 | 10-9 S |
| Total | 196 | 182 | 29-28 S |
In round one, Silva outlanded Bisping 11-7, but Bisping racked up more effective strikes 5-2 and put Silva on his back three times.
Round two is the most contensious round of the fight. Silva outlanded Bisping again 18-14, and they both landed seven effective strikes. Bisping, however, mixed 11 of his 14 strikes to the head, while Silva chose to attack the body and legs. Bisping finished two more takedowns in the round, but the Brazilian had one of his own and a near submission guillotine to close the round.
Surprisingly, Bisping may have been at his most effective striking in round three. He matched Silva strike-for-strike (his 17 to Silva’s 18) and held the advantage in effective strikes 15-8. Unfortunately for the Brit, Silva gets credit for the most effective strike of the fight when he flattened Bisping Bald Bull style in the fight’s final seconds.
Following the fight E. Spencer Kyte twittered the following:
And Michael Bisping fails to get passed [sic] a big name fighter for the third time in his career…
I find Kyte’s point both poignant and misguided at the same time. Bisping has lost very close fights to Silva and Rashad Evans (FightMetric’s Effectiveness Score tilted 206-182 toward Evans). Dan Henderson blew him up, but that fight looked a lot like the aforementions right up until liftoff. He’s not exactly getting the piss taken out of him against the cream of the crop.
And while I think it’s a bit of a jump to insinuate Mike isn’t competitive with the sport’s elite, there is something to be said about his lack of success. He may stop guys like Jason Day and Charles McCarthy (even Denis Kang isn’t the cap feather it once was), but that stopping power hasn’t translated when he steps up in competition. That poses a huge hurdle for sustained success at the top of the game.