At UFC Fight Night this past Saturday in Macau, China, Michael Bisping bounced back from a frustrating decision loss to Tim Kennedy in April with a trademark performance combining movement, cardio, and volume strikes to put away former Strikeforce champion Cung Le via TKO in the fourth round.
The opening stanza of this headline contest saw a relatively competitive opening with Le (9-3) smartly landing to the body of Bisping (25-6) with punches and kicks that could have diminished the Brit’s renown cardio in later rounds. However, Le’s vision appeared to be greatly impaired in the following round after Bisping landed a strong, clean jab that struck the eye of his opponent. This marked the beginning of the end for Le as the Englishman built up more and more momentum; picking apart Le throughout the remainder of the fight.
Bloodied and bruised, Le hung in there with tremendous heart despite a pair of worrying panda eyes. During the onslaught he was able to land a scarce number of commendable strikes out of desperation until ‘The Count’ decided to step on the throttle, break though and push for the finish with a lengthy combination of punches, knees, and kicks that forced Le to the canvas.
At 35-year-old Bisping now boasts 15 victories in the UFC, placing him sixth on the promotion’s all time list of wins. Despite this, Bisping has never earned himself a UFC championship opportunity, having fallen at the final hurdle on three occasions when facing the likes of Dan Henderson, Chael Sonnen, and Vitor Belfort in bouts that were to determine the no.1 contender.
Post-fight, Bisping himself stated he was getting “long in the tooth”, however still has championship aspirations on his mind. While Bisping is ranked as a top-10 middleweight (#8), he finds himself beneath a number of big sharks who will most likely not be pushed aside as easily as Cung Le.
One such shark is another former Strikeforce champion in the form of Luke Rockhold (#5). A fixture between these two will work towards filtering another top contender to join the championship que, and will potentially be Bisping’s last chance to fight for a shot at the crown as the division grows deeper; it would be fair to say he cannot afford another loss in his search of no.1 contender status. Furthermore, the proposed fight makes for a perfect attraction; both fighters have issues with each other already and both have dealt verbal jabs – the rivalry has already begun.
“There’s an idiot called Luke Rockhold who doesn’t stop talking about me,” said Bisping. “I think he has the hots for me, to be honest. Luke Rockhold, you called me out. If you want to do it, let’s dance. Here I am. I’m going to beat Luke Rockhold and then I’m taking the title. Make no mistake.”
UFC Fight Night: Bisping vs Le full results:
Main card
Michael Bisping def. Cung Le via TKO — Round 4, 0:57
Tyron Woodley def. Dong Hyun Kim via TKO — Round 1, 1:01
Zhang Lipeng def. Brendan O’Reilly via unanimous decision (29-28. 30-27, 30-27)
Ning Guangyou def. Yang Jianping via unanimous decision (29-28 X 3) — TUF China featherweight finals
Undercard
Wang Sai def. Danny Mitchell via unanimous decision (29-28 X 3)
Alberto Mina def. Shinsho Anzai via TKO — Round 1, 4:17
Yuta Sasaki def. Roland Delorme via submission (rear-naked choke) — Round 1, 1:06
Colby Covington def. Wang Anying via submission (strikes) — Round 1, 4:50
Royston Wee def. Yao Zhikui via split decision (29-28, 27-30, 29-28)
Milana Dudieva def. Elizabeth Phillips via split decision (30-27, 28-29, 29-28)
