Anderson Silva vs Michael Bisping: Preview
The O2 Arena in London, England will be the venue for Saturday night's UFC Fight Night 84 with a main event that features former long-time champion Anderson Silva and veteran Michael Bisping.
It will be the first time the two 185-pound fighters will be meeting inside the Octagon, despite being practically in each other's radar over the last few years.
The 36-year-old Bisping entered the UFC through the third season of The Ultimate Fighter reality series as a light heavyweight training the under the team of former UFC 205-pound champion Tito Ortiz. "The Count" ended up winning the entire season and upon being formally signed by the UFC, dropped down to the middleweight division.
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Through his career, Bisping faced the toughest names of the sport, such as Chael Sonnen, Dan Henderson, Wanderlei Silva, and Vitor Belfort, among others. He is coming off a split decision victory against former title contender Thales Leites in July.
Silva, on the other hand, is still considered as one of the greatest mixed martial arts fighters of all time. Having held the UFC middleweight title for seven consecutive years, from 2006-2013, "The Spider" also has notable victories under his belt, against Vitor Belfort, Chael Sonnen, Rich Franklin, Dan Henderson, and Forrest Griffin, among others.
Silva is coming off a decision victory over veteran and former welterweight title contender Nick Diaz at UFC 183 in January 2015, but the results were turned into a no contest after he tested positive for anabolic steroids.
He was then slapped with a one-year suspension by the Nevada Athletic Commission, which took effect in January of the past year, making his current fight against Bisping his first one in a year.
A win for Bisping against a legend and future Hall-of-Famer such as Silva does put him in a good position for the next title shot. In fact, he is confident that he will end up victorious on fight night.
"I think a lot of people think I'm going to win on Saturday," Bisping said in an interview with ESPN. "I surely think I'm going to win. My coaches think I'm going to win and that's really all that matters. I'm very calmly confident."
A victory for Silva not only puts him into a spot at title contention as well, but it also proves that he can still perform at the elite level at the age of 40, and despite the harrowing broken leg incident he suffered in 2013.
