Welcome to the 41st edition of Origami with Aragami! Can you believe it’s June already? 2016 is already reaching the half way point, and with the glut of sporting action to look forward too across the next 6 weeks or so, this Summer is gonna come and go before you know it, so make the most of it! First of all, I apologise for not releasing Part 2 of the Louis van Gaal/Manchester United reign; the man was sacked literally a day after the fact and Jose Mourinho consequently took his place this past Friday. Having started a new job last week, I am still in the process of recalibrating my life! rest assured however, I am going to be blogging more now that I am achieving some stability, and with UFC 199, the Copa America Centenario and Euro 2016 all coming up; there is no better time than now to get writing again!

Tonight’s offering covers Britain’s very own Michael Bisping and his rise from winning ‘The Ultimate Fighter’ Season 3 back in 2006 to at last, becoming the #1 contender for the UFC Middleweight Championship, where he will re-acquainting himself with nemesis Luke Rockhold on Saturday evening, with the title on the line. Although a lifelong martial artist, this opportunity surely represents the culmination of a 12-year career, spanning a mammoth 35 professional mixed martial arts fights; 25 of which coming under the ‘UFC’ banner.

The UK Circuit and The TUF House…

The Cypriot born Bisping began his MMA career on the UK circuit in 2004 racking up an excellent record of 10-0 before being signed to participate on Season 3 of the Ultimate Fighter reality television show, due to air in the Summer of 2006. In that 2-year spell, he most notably became the Cage Rage light heavyweight champion at the expense of Mark Epstein; now while Epstein’s name may not mean much to fans today, anyone who was a regular viewer of the Wrestling Channel (aka TWC or TWC Fight!) back in 2006/07 saw how much Epstein was raved about on those Cage Rage promos and shows! In addition to llifting the Cage Rage crown, he also won the FX3 light heavyweight crown, as well as the Cage Warriors light heavyweight title; the latter of which he defended three times before entering the ‘TUF House’. Interestingly, his last fight on the UK MMA circuit was against a man called Ross Pointon, whom he defeated by armbar in November 2005. Pointon would then join ‘the Count’ on the Ultimate Fighter show, to give the show a distinctly British flavour.

Picked by coach Tito Ortiz, Bisping was amongst the favourites to win the six figure contract, and he wasted no time in justifying the hype as he quickly despatched of Kristian Rothaermel, before once again colliding with Pointon, where he once again finished his compatriot, this time however by a second round TKO, before meeting Josh Haynes in the final. It should also be noted that during his time in the house, he began a rivalry with his Team Ortiz team mate, Matt Hamill, whom he accused of receiving preferential treatment from Ortiz as well as exuding an aura of arrogance emanating from his NCAA wrestling background, in addition to suggesting was hurting his training partners whilst in the house. Nevertheless, Bisping’s showdown with Haynes took place on the Ultimate Finale 3 on June 24th 2006, and true to form, he defeated Haynes, once again via TKO in the second round, to secure a contract with the Ultimate Fighting Championship.

A bittersweet start to his UFC tenure and dropping to middleweight…

Bisping made his first appearance after winning the show as one half of the opening fight on the main card of UFC 66; headlined by Tito Ortiz and Chuck Liddell’s eagerly awaited rematch, all eyes on the MMA world were on the show and with it came no better opportunity for Bisping to showcase his skills and potential to the world against a seasoned and tricky veteran in Eric ‘Red’ Schafer. 4:24 into the first round, saw Bisping claim his first win as member of the UFC’s roster as he ran through the Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu wizard in nothing short of impressive fashion. The young man from Manchester had built himself quite the following whilst on the Ultimate Fighter, and as early as 2007, he was Britain’s most popular mixed martial artist, and thus it came as no surprise that he would be a significant part of the UFC’s first foray into the United Kingdom since 2002. UFC 70: Nations Collide was scheduled for April 21st 2007 to emanate out of the Manchester Evening News Arena, with his opponent on the night would be the former challenger to the UFC light heavyweight title: Elvis Sinosic. Still to this day, Bisping’s ‘pop’ from the audience when Blur’s Song 2 hit the speakers, is one of the greatest reactions a fighter has ever received, and by his own admission, he later admitted that the emotion generated by the fans, caused him to over commit to finishing the wily veteran in the first round. Consequently, he was nearly caught with a kimura in the second round after getting floored with a knee, before the hometown hero prevailed with another second round TKO, to see his ledger improve to 13-0. Bisping’s all action style was winning him plenty of acclaim, however a fighter’s worth in the sport is always going to be questioned if they are yet to be tested by a certain stylistic match up, and in Bisping’s case, it was a world class wrestler, and who was better to provide an answer for the question than Bisping’s nemesis: Matt Hamill. Booked as the co-main event of UFC 75, held in London on September 8th 2007, Bisping and Hamill would set the stage for the historic 205 lb title unification fight between Dan Henderson and Bisping’s friend and training partner, Quinton ‘Rampage’ Jackson. It is arguable that a lot of the hate and criticism that Bisping receives to this day began with this fight, as he defeated Hamill by way of split decision, in a fight where many people believed Bisping was soundly beaten by the wrestling extraordinaire. Bisping was seemingly out struck in the opening frame as well taken down at will, before rallying in the second round and then using the third round to defend Hamill’s take downs and utilise his strikes. With many fans believing that Bisping was only awarded the nod due to the fight taking place in England, it would then come as no surprise that he received very little love upon his return to the United States, as he was booked against fellow unbeaten, Ultimate Fighter Season 2 winner: Rashad Evans, at UFC 78 on November 17th 2007. In a back and forth fight, that lacked action at points, yet excited in somewhat equal measure; Bisping would go a decision once again, for the just the second time as a mixed martial artist. Unlike the Hamill fight however, Bisping would be on the wrong end of the split decision verdict, as he was defeated for the first time in his MMA career. Given that Evans was one of the smaller light heavyweights on the roster, Bisping and his team made the educated decision to drop down to the middleweight division, the weight class that he would stay at for the continuation of his career…

The drop to 185 lbs, more success on the home front, Coaching TUF & A H-Bomb from hell…

The decision to go to 185 lbs in 2008 was met with plenty of optimism, particularly given that the division was starving for challengers to the reigning champion Anderson Silva, given the ease in which he had despatched of the likes of Nate Marquardt, Rich Franklin and Dan Henderson since becoming champion. His first test at the new weight class would come on the main card of UFC 83, which was of course headlined by Georges St Pierre’s rematch with Matt Serra, held in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. The Canadian fans were much more appreciative of Bisping, as he massacared the overmatched Charles McCarthy, with his knees from the clinch in particular proving to be quite decisive, as the cumulative damaged sustained from blocking the knees, caused ‘Chainsaw’ to have the towel thrown in at the end of the first round. Two months later, Bisping was flying the flag of the United Kingdom on home turf once again as he put Jason Day away inside of the first round at UFC 85. That contest with Day was originally set to be a showdown with Chris Leben, before Leben’s troubles with the law forced the switch in opponent, the bout was however rescheduled for UFC 89, which took place on October 18th 2008, in Birmingham, England, in what his second time main eventing a UFC card. The uber-aggressive Leben was masterfully navigated as Bisping utilised clean straight punches and superior footwork to minimise the damage he took, as he earnt a well-deserved unanimous decision nod from the judges, to take his UFC record to 6-1 since winning the Ultimate Fighter.

The increasing quality of his work made him the only option to coach ‘Team UK’ as the Ultimate Fighter Season 9 would be contested between the United States going up against the United Kingdom, his adversary would be the legendary Dan Henderson, and the two fighters would be squaring off on the landmark UFC 100 show in July 2009, where victory would surely position ‘the Count’ as the number 1 contender for the UFC middleweight championship. It mattered not, that his team of fighters on the show were in many ways just like him, (in that they were seasoned veterans of the UK scene going up against a series of lesser experienced American fighters); what shone was that in the finale, Bisping would have 3 British fighters in the final, including an all UK affair to crown the lightweight winner of the show. With ‘Hendo’ losing back to back title fights to Rampage Jackson and Anderson Silva respectively, and then battling to a contentious decision victory over Rich Franklin, the much younger, momentum riding, Bisping was the favourite heading into the UFC 200 clash; the outcome however would prove there was a lot more left in the tank of Henderson. Seemingly phased by the legend in front of him and the stage, Bisping never really got going, as Henderson stalked him throughout the first round in a sign of things to come in the second round. The inevitable end came at 3:20 of the second round as Henderson landed his trademark inside leg kick, followed by the skull crushing ‘H-Bomb’ from hell which instantly finished Bisping, moreover Henderson landed a crushing forearm to his face as he was grounded, for good measure, in what Henderson later described as ‘Shutting him up’ after all the goading Bisping perpetuated during their time on the Ultimate Fighter. The site of the toe curled Bisping laying prone was the toast of the town for all of his naysayers, moreover, the nature of the defeat sent crashing down the pecking order in his bid for a title shot; a theme which would re-occur throughout his career.

The road to retribution, TUF take 3, and so close yet so far…

Much to Bisping’s credit, he immediately wanted to get back into the Octagon to wash away the demons of that knockout, and with UFC 105 due scheduled for October, out the Manchester Evening News Arena; there was no better platform for ‘the Count’ to begin his road to redemption. Originally pencilled in to face ‘the Axe Murderer’ Wanderlei Silva, he had to settle for a shoot-out with the dangerous Dennis Kang as Silva opted to have facial surgery. The fight couldn’t have gotten off to a worse start as a well-placed right hand from Kang, sent Bisping crashing to the canvas, the Canadian fighter however couldn’t finish Bisping off as ‘the Count’ recovered under duress, to make it to the second round. With his bearings restored, Bisping controlled the second round and went on to stop Kang in the same stanza; earning himself another second round TKO and Fight of the Night honours. With his name back in the win column, he geared up for the long awaited showdown with the legendary Wanderlei Silva at the UFC’s first event to be held in Australia, at UFC 110. In ‘the Axe Murderer’s’ first fight at middleweight, Bisping controlled the first round and parts of the second, before the momentum swung in the Brazilian’s favour. A strong finish to the 3rd frame, effectively gifted Silva the decision on the night; that couldn’t take anything from the sheer spectacle of the bout, as the fighters engaged in a back and forth and wildly entertaining clash in front of the Australian audience. With plenty of confidence to be taken after going the distance with the MMA legend, Bisping would embark on the best streak of his UFC career, winning his next 4 fights.

The streak began with a comfortable unanimous decision victory over Dan Miller at UFC 114 in May, while Miller is not much of a name nowadays, in 2010, he was a gritty and formidable middleweight, equipped with one of the most savage guillotine chokes in the sport, whom had taken both Demian Maia and Chael Sonnen to the distance in losing efforts. Once again fighting in front of his home fans, he main evented UFC 120 in London against the dangerous Japanese-Korean fighter: Yoshihiro Akiyama. Although Bisping was expected to win, Akayama had just come off of a fight of the year candidate in his defeat to Chris Leben back in July, and to boot, owned a victory of Alan Belcher at UFC 100 as well as possessing a devastating Judo game. Much like the Kang fight, Bisping would find himself rocked early on, before rallying and out working Akayama, earning a unanimous decision victory as well as another Fight of the Night award.

Heading into 2011, he was puzzlingly matched up with the unranked Jorge Rivera at UFC 127 on February 26th 2011. In one of the closest things to a tomato can fight in the UFC, Bisping settled the feud which had developed with Rivera, with another second round TKO victory. Sadly, the bout would not be without controversy, as Bisping landed an illegal knee to the downed Rivera, in addition to spitting at the corner-men of Rivera during his post-fight celebrations. Even if it was becoming apparent that his body of work in the Octagon was littered with B- fighters, Bisping was television gold, and his abilty to get under the skin of his opponents was guaranteed fireworks. With the UFC’s acquisition of Strikeforce, saw the perfect foil to match Bisping up with, in the form of Jason ‘Mayhem’ Miller. The ‘heat magnet’ Miller was notoriously involved in the brawl with the Diaz brothers, which commenced after Jake Shields victory over Dan Henderson in April 2010. Given the enigmatic and charismatic stances that both Bisping and Miller possessed, they were made opposing coaches on The Ultimate Fighter Season 14, with a fight to go ahead at the shows finale in December 2011. A severely gassed out Miller was brutally beaten up for 3 rounds, before the fight was stopped with just under 90 seconds to spare. With a fourth straight win under his belt, he was next matched up very quickly, with former number contender, Demian Maia at the UFC’s 2nd Fox show in January 2012, where surely victory would have surely earnt him a shot at the title.

Crucially, in a twist of fate, the card was restructured with 10 days to go before the show, as Mark Munoz injury meant that Bisping would step in against Chael Sonnen in what was billed as a number 1 contender fight and Chris Weidman would battle with Maia. In a fight where I still believe that both a) Bisping won the fight and b) he would have most certainly won if it was a 5 round affair; Bisping took the ‘Gangster from Portland, Oregon’ to the absolute limit. Although, he surrendered the first round by virtue of Sonnen’s work rate and superior wrestling skill, by the time the final bell had sounded, it was Bisping who was the fitter of the 2 men, defending Sonnen’s relentless wrestling attack, and if I remember correct, taking down the former All-American wrestling champion. With his streak snapped, would there be any way back for Bisping, one had to wonder?

Leaving the Wolfslair, Fighting American heroes, Unhappy returns to Australia, A detached retina and starting over…

Following his latest disappointment, one had to wonder where he would be going next; six years since winning the Ultimate Fighter, and 15 fights strong, a trend was developing, whereby he was defeating everyone outside of the top 5-10 in the division. Although fighters such as Josh Koscheck for example, got title shots with a much lesser body of work, similarly without a signature victory over a top 5 contender; Bisping needed that signature win to cement his legacy. In part due to a disagreement with his team and also in a bid to continue his evolution as a martial artist, Bisping left his long-time camp; the Wolfslair, to emigrate to the United States, where he would entrust BJ Penn and Tito Ortiz’ former coach: Jason Parillo as the man to guide the next stage of his career in Orange County, California. Unfortunately for Bisping, iInjury ruled him out of a scheduled bout with the surging Tim Boestch at UFC 149 in July 2012, instead Bisping was matched against the ‘All American’ Bryan Stann, a former United States Marine and bonafide American hero. Fighting in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, Bisping was greeted with a fairer share of the audience than he would have been in the United States, and in turn, duly saw off the former U.S. Marine by unanimous decision, in a supremely composed, technical and polished performance.

On the same card, Vitor Belfort was defeated by Jon Jones in his quest to win the light heavyweight title, and conversely ‘the Phenom’ returned back to the middleweight division and was matched against Bisping in the main event of the UFC’s opening card of 2013. Held in Brazil, ‘the Count’ knew that the odds would be stacked against him, and ‘TRT Vitor’ as the 2013 incarnation of Belfort became immortalised as, inflicted the most damaging defeat of Bisping’s career since the Dan Henderson knockout, as he scorched Bisping with a left head kick and then followed up ground and pound. Ostensibly, with another eliminator for the title unsuccessfully navigated, the critics were all over Bisping, suggesting this was the beginning of his descent down the ladder.

Amongst his peers, Bisping was disliked by many, not including those whom he had already fought, Alan ‘the Talent’ Belcher may have been his staunchest critic, and as I’m sure you can imagine, Bisping had no love lost for Belcher (or his Johnny Cash tattoo!) either, it came as no surprise that the 2 middleweights were finally matched up in April 2013 on the UFC 159 card. In classic Bisping style, he overwhelmed Belcher with volume and variety, before inadvertently poking Belcher in the eye. As a consequence of the injury, the fight ended in the 3rd round, and Bisping was awarded a rare unanimous-technical decision, to once again stake a claim for the title. A disappointing 2013 would culminate with him having to withdraw from a scheduled fight Mark Munoz in his home town of Manchester, as he detached his retina in training. The extent of the injury was so much so that his entire eyeball had to be removed during the surgery!

The severity of the injury made him briefly question his future as an active mixed martial arts fighter, before agreeing to match up against another American hero and man whom had been desperate for a crack at ‘the Count’: Tim Kennedy. Kennedy was the former Strikeforce middleweight title contender and had begun his UFC tenure with 2 straight wins over Roger Gracie and Rafael Natal. In addition to being one of the best mixed martial artists in the world, Kennedy was also an active member of the United States National Guard, earning his stripes as a Sniper during active military duty. Moreover, for the first time since in Bisping’s career, he had been inactive for almost a year, and with his advancing age and questions over his condition following his injury, the jury was out on whether or not ‘the Count’ could negate this challenge. With the stage set for the Ultimate Fighter Nations Finale on April 16th 2014, Bisping was soundly beaten Kennedy, with the latter’s pressure and grappling prowess taking it’s on the Brit, as he rode to a unanimous decision victory. For Bisping, there were 2 positives to take; firstly, his eye withstood the test of battle and secondly, he fought 5×5 minute rounds for the first time in his career. One thing Michael Bisping must be praised for throughout his career, is his optimism in the face of defeat and intense belief in his own destiny and desire for a title shot, and as he knows better than most, the best way to erase the memory of defeat is to get back in the Octagon, and back in the winning column, and thus just a month removed from that defeat, Bisping had been announced as Cung Le’s next opponent, as the 2 would do battle in China on August 23rd.

This blockbuster match-up brought out the best in Bisping as he systematically took the legendary Le apart over 4 rounds, brutalising the former Strikeforce middleweight champion and making a horror show of his face, the fight was mercifully stopped in the 4th round as Bisping recorded one of the most impressive wins of his career. If Belcher had a score to settle with Bisping, then a gentleman by the name of Luke Rockhold had nothing short of a vendetta with the Brit. The feud apparently stemmed from a sparring session between the 2 men, which according to Bisping, was very much in the favour of ‘the Count’. Following Rockhold’s wins over Costa Phillipou and Tim Boestch, he called Bisping out, and following Bisping’s destruction of Cung Le, he too called out Rockhold, thus setting the stage for the UFC Fight Night event held in Australia on November 7th 2014. The first thing that was noticeable was the size difference between the two men, Rockhold towered over Bisping and looked significantly thicker than his foe. Bisping looked to employ an in and out strategy against the bigger man, but like many of Rockhold’s fights, it seems that Rockhold just has to land 1 strike for every 3 of his opponents; such is the horsepower of the incumbent champion. The first round was mildly competitive, much like the battle with Vitor Belfort, it was a sign of things to come, and one beautiful question mark kick, followed by a picture perfect left head kick later, saw Bisping crumple to the mat, and once Rockhold synched in the mounted 1-arm guillotine, the tap was extracted and with this devastating setback; surely NOW, Bisping’s was on borrowed time as an elite middleweight.

The Time is now…

Risking falling into mediocrity, he crossed paths with another man in the divisional mire: C.B. Dolloway. Dolloway was surging before being crushed by Lyoto Machida in the final fight of 2014 in Brazil, and inevitably, the 2 men were matched up in a must win affair for both men. Returning to Montreal, the site of his middleweight debut in the UFC, Bisping responded to his latest setback by soundly beating Dolloway via unanimous decision. With the jury still out, Bisping was chosen to headline the UFC’s debut in Scotland against former middleweight title contender: Thales Leites. Leites had erased the memory of his disastrous middleweight title shot in 2009 by rattling off a 7 fight win streak. Anyone who thought the Brazilian would be overmatched with ease, was most certainly wrong as an entertaining and back and forth battle ensued, with BIsping ultimately earning a split decision nod. Winning back to back fights for the first time since his 4 fight win streak back in 2010-11, Bisping was pencilled in to get back in the Octagon on the main card of UFC 193: Rousey vs Holm, to meet another man in the ascendency: Robert Whittaker. With the fight set to take place in Australia, the omens were not in Bisping’s favour, and it was almost fate that he would have to withdraw from the fight, following an injury.

With the UFC’s first European date for 2016, earmarked for February 27th; Bisping was written into the headline fight against Gegard Mousasi, in a titanic middleweight clash which would surely have title implications. December 24th 2015 however, marked an early Christmas present for both Bisping and fans alike, as Mousasi was replaced in favour of none other than Anderson Silva. The former, long time Middleweight champion, was set to return from a lengthy suspension and in being matched up with Bisping, in England, nonetheless; fans were finally being treated to the fight we all wanted to see back in 2012-13. Although Silva was no longer the force he was between 2007-2012, he was still ranked in the top 5 in the middleweight rankings, moreover, with Bisping’s undefeated ledger in the United Kingdom; there would be no greater opportunity for him to finally close in on that career defining win, and maybe, just maybe, put his name back in the mix for that elusive title shot.

I had the pleasure of being in attendance that evening in London’s O2 Arena that cold February night, to bear witness to biggest MMA contest to have ever taken place on these shores. I firmly believed that ‘the Spider’ would comfortably see off Bisping, but ‘the Count’ had other ideas, as he took control of the fight, holding his own in the striking exchanges, using his movement to generate a sense of urgency, in contrast to Silva’s more methodical and deliberate style. Bisping went on to punctuate those 2 rounds, by knocking down the former champion on 2 occasions. Not even a 3rd round flying knee knockdown by Silva at the end of the round could deter Bisping, as he did just enough, in the eyes of the judges, to claim a unanimous decision victory over the former champion, much to the delight of the home crowd.

With that signature victory finally in tow, he was expected to patiently wait for his next fight, with the likes of Jacare and Vitor Belfort going to battle at UFC 198 and Luke Rockhold set to rematch Chris Weidman for the title and Yoel Romero served his suspension. On May 18th however Bisping’s career would be set to come full circle as it was announced that he would take the place of the injured Chris Weidman, seizing the opportunity that Jacare Souza declined, and fight Luke Rockhold for the UFC middleweight title on June 4th at UFC 199. With the fight taking place in his new home of California, Bisping will finally get the title shot he so dearly craved, coming just a month shy of his 10th year with the organisation, with the opportunity to avenge one of the 7 losses on his resume; maybe there is a thing called destiny?

Heading into the fight, he certainly will not be the favourite given how their last fight ended, and the dominance Rockhold has exhibited since joining the UFC. With pressure firmly off, Bisping can afford to go out there and put it all on the line, as he must surely know that this will be last chance saloon to win a title in the UFC, given that he is now 37. How the fight will go, I will look into with more detail when I preview UFC 199 tomorrow, rest assured though, it will be memorable, one way or another!

That’s all folks!

This has taken me 3 nights and over 6 hours to compile! So I apologise if or the length of this thing; the man has had 35 fights over 10 years! Writing this has taken me back through my own history of MMA, particularly the time between 2008 when I got into the sport to 2013, so it was a trip down memory lane for myself; how fast time goes! I will look to have the UFC 199 preview released at some point tomorrow, if I don’t for whatever reason, then I hope you all enjoy the fights and thank you for the continued support, I’m now going to have a work out! As always…

Until next time,

Goodnight and God bless,

Steven,

OOSSUUUU!!!

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