In the UFC 159 co-main, an accidental eyepoke from Michael Bisping (24-5) led to him winning a technical decision over Alan Belcher (18-8). Returning to the win column kicked Bisping’s UFC record up to 13-5. Belcher suffered consecutive losses for the first time in his UFC career and dropped his UFC record to 9-6.
The story of this fight was Bisping’s high-output striking style. He beat Belcher to the punch at almost every turn, resulting in obvious frustration. The end of the fight seemed like a foregone conclusion throughout the final round, but an accidental poke to Belcher’s eye stopped the action. Alan wasn’t able to continue and had to get several stiches in his eyelid after the fight. When it went to the judges for a technical decision, Bisping rightfully took all three cards.
What was the high point of the fight?
I don’t want to call it the “high point” but the action-stopping eyepoke that ended the fight was definitely the most notable moment. Especially with the blood coming from Belcher’s eye and his history of eye injury, it was a scary moment as an MMA fan.
Where do they go from here?
Bisping has long shown that he’s legitimate talent with a ceiling that puts him just outside the elite. Considering this win only put him one fight removed from losing a contendership bout, he’ll need to string together some wins before he comes close to the title picture again. A match against the winner of Jacare Souza and Costa Philippou would make a lot of sense for his next fight.
It’s pretty much back to the drawing board for Belcher here. After putting together a respectable 4-fight streak while battling injuries, he’s now come up short in both his chances against the better fighters at Middleweight. A fight against Ed Herman works for both fighters.
Watch it now, later, or never?
You can hold off before watching this one in it’s entirety, though you’ll probably want to at least check out the the eyepoke that stopped the fight.