So it's obvious why Bisping has started talking shit about Lombard...lame

Dana White
It's official!!! Ultimate Fighter is going to Australia. TUF Australia vs TUF UK "The Smaches" in Fall 2012

I don't get it.

Team UK vs Team Australia

Bisping(UK) vs. Lombard(Aus)

Bisping has already started talking down about Lombard last week. UFC is hoping Stann and Boetsch get whooped so they can put this together...they are counting on it actually. Even if they don't though. They are the coaches and the beef is already in the can.

ugh..makes sense.

from a lameness standpoint, yes.

but no need to already start canning the beef. Let it be about the fights and maybe get some good prospects for a change and just let the coaches coach instead of pretending to hate eachtother while coming off as bad actors. No place in the sport anymore.

KingsOwn19 wrote:

from a lameness standpoint, yes.

but no need to already start canning the beef. Let it be about the fights and maybe get some good prospects for a change and just let the coaches coach instead of pretending to hate eachtother while coming off as bad actors. No place in the sport anymore.

I don't think Michael is acting. He pretty much talks trash about every upcoming opponent he gets.

Ludo wrote:

KingsOwn19 wrote:

from a lameness standpoint, yes.

but no need to already start canning the beef. Let it be about the fights and maybe get some good prospects for a change and just let the coaches coach instead of pretending to hate eachtother while coming off as bad actors. No place in the sport anymore.

I don't think Michael is acting. He pretty much talks trash about every upcoming opponent he gets.

but Lombard is not his upcoming opponent. He opened the script too soon. I hope one of Stann and Boetsch throws a wrench in this...preferably Boetsch.

I have a feeling that bisping easily beats tim, and Stann falls out with injury and Lombard gets an easy fight. I also think Stann handles Lombard if that fight does happen. But then again I like Stann so it may be bias opinion.

Kings this isn't the case. They'd like to do Australia but not with Lombard. They need Lombard for a Silva PPV and don't want him on the shelf. They're gonna put Aussie George as the coach opposite Pierson. Heard it here first.

Bisping is talking shit because Lombard if he wins gets a title shot with one UFC fight and Mike has been in the UFC forever. You expect he wouldn't talk shit about that?

I agree with Wolf this is just Bisping scouting his division.

OU wrote:

http://www.mmamania.com/2012/5/15/3021731/ross-pearson-george-sotiropoulos-tuf-16-smashes-australia-uk-ufc

Subtitles will be required for Ross Pearson.

Will this be on ESPN UK ?

Kind of off topic but I thought it was an interesting read about both Bisping and Lombard from Fight Matrix, which usually doesn't have many good reads.

In a nutshell, the letters on the gloves matter.

http://www.fightmatrix.com/2012/07/10/ranking-debate-michael-bisping-with-polls/




Ranking Debate: Michael Bisping (with Polls)

Posted on July 10, 2012 by jcs

When taking a look at all of the major ranking sites, there is one
fighter ranked very highly by the others, whom we are pretty harsh on —
and that is Michael Bisping.

On Sherdog’s most recent ranking, he is ranked #4 in the Middleweight division.
They are not alone, as the USA Today meta-rankings (of which we are a part of)
have him just one notch lower, at #5. On FightMatrix, he is currently at #14.

Now, I’m not just defending the system here — I truly believe that
these sites are overrating Michael Bisping. Let’s take a look at his
performances from the past 3.5 years and the current ranking of those
opponents.

2012-01-28: L[UD] vs. [#2MW] Chael Sonnen
2011-12-03: W[TKO] vs. [#88MW] Jason Miller
2011-02-27: W[TKO] vs. [#46MW] Jorge Rivera — Listed rank, if he had not retired.
2010-10-06: W[UD] vs. [#132WW] Yoshihiro Akiyama
2010-05-29: W[UD] vs. [#42WW] Dan Miller
2010-02-09: L[UD] vs. [#23MW] Wanderlei Silva
2009-11-14: W[TKO] vs. [#88MW] Denis Kang
2009-07-11: L[KO] vs. [#2LHW] Dan Henderson

You have to put some confidence in our rankings for the purpose of
this list. Now in all fairness, when analyzing the wins, nearly all of
the fighters were ranked higher prior to Bisping beating them. This is
the only reason that he’s as high as #14 here, but this also goes to
show you that his worth is overrated, as not a single one has stayed in
the division AND improved their rank. In fact, two of them have retired
(Rivera and Miller). In fact, when considering the losses as well, you
could certainly argue that Henderson is the only one on the list to
improve his status since fighting Bisping — and we all know how that
fight went.

I can only presume that Bisping holds such a lofty rating due to his
visibility and also due to his competitive fight with Sonnen, which
ultimately, went down as a loss. I think this begs the question, how
much can a competitive three-round unanimous decision loss do for your
ranking?

One fighter you don’t even see on the Sherdog list until you get to
the “other contenders” section, is Hector Lombard (FightMatrix #6).
He’s #11 on the USA Today rankings. So for the sake of argument, we’ll
say that the majority have Lombard seven spots ahead of Bisping, while
we have him eight spots ahead of Bisping. Let’s take a look at his past
3.5 years.

2011-11-19: W[TKO] vs. [#40LHW] Trevor Prangley — 195lb Fight
2011-09-03: W[SUB] vs. [#84WW] Jesse Taylor
2011-05-14: W[KO] vs. [#77MW] Falaniko Vitale
2011-03-25: W[TKO] vs. [#79MW] Joe Doerksen
2010-10-28: W[UD] vs. [#18MW] Alexander Shlemenko
2010-08-12: W[KO] vs. [#75MW] Herbert Goodman
2010-05-13: W[KO] vs. [#41MW] Jay Silva — 191lb Fight
2010-03-12: W[TKO] vs. [*] Art Santore
2010-02-04: W[UD] vs. [*] Joey Gorczynski
2009-11-20: W[SUB] vs. [#150MW] Kalib Starnes
2009-06-19: W[TKO] vs. [#103MW] Jared Hess
2009-05-29: W[TKO] vs. [*] James Damien Stelly
2009-04-17: W[KO] vs. [*] Virgil Lozano
2009-02-20: W[TKO] vs. [*] Ron Verdadero

First off, in this case, the asterisks represent fighters who have
gone inactive. One thing you’ll notice in this list, is that Lombard
had no losses and many more wins in the same time period. Lombard did
not have access to the UFC competition, but I think you will notice that
his recent wins are comparable to Bisping’s at least in rank value.
Fighters like Goodman, Doerksen and especially Shlemenko have remained
viable.

So, you tell us. What do you think?

What's the most sensical ranking for Michael Bisping?

• #4-6 (Internet Majority) (11%)
  
• #7-10 (Somewhere in Between) (56%)
  
• #11-15 (Outside Top 10 / FM Territory) (33%)
  

Thank you for voting!

Who would you rank higher, Bisping or Lombard?

• Bisping (23%)
  
• Lombard (64%)
  
• Too Close To Call (13%)
  

Thank you for voting!

If Bisping was the same fighter, with the same ledger, but
never fought in the UFC, do you think fans/sites would rank him lower?

• Yes (87%)
  
• No (13%)
  

Thank you for voting!

I can't say I'm impressed with the polls there. I don't think it's a crime to rank Bisping as high as #4 when he has looked very impressive of late, especially against the consensus #2 in the division. Let's also add that Schlemenko wasn't ranked anywhere near #18 when Lombard fought him.

Those numbers reflect where the opposition has moved to today, per matrix's method. Shlemenko was ranked #21 (37-6) [very near to #18] in October 2010 when he lost to Lombard after a decent 6 fight win streak where he won the Bellator Tourney. He is 8-0 since, climbing to #18 (45-7) today in their rankings.