Sherdog’s Top 10: MMA’s Greatest Overachievers

1. Michael Bisping

For a top 10 list that showed tremendous variance, Bisping was a relative constant. Of the 10 voters, only one left him off entirely, while two had him as their first-place picks. I had him second on my list, as did several others. Certainly, Bisping had more natural talent than several others on this list. In fact, for the 10 biggest underachievers list, I compared Bisping very favorably to Lee Murray as a younger, more talented prospect. But this level of talent in most fighters might be enough to stick around in the UFC middleweight division for a while, attain a slight winning record, and nothing more. Bisping brought good size, decent physical strength, and slightly above average athleticism. His striking started out as solid, but nothing exceptional. He had decent BJJ, especially for British MMA, but struggled with wrestling. Consider that in his first fight against 4-5 English journeyman Ross Pointon in Cage Warriors Fighting Championship, Pointon easily took Bisping down. And yet, Bisping exhibited an incredible work ethic as great as anyone else on this list, and an unwavering belief in his own abilities. His wrestling improved so much that it even became an offensive weapon against certain opponents, and his striking got better and better well into his 30s.

Bisping was a Top 10 fighter for many years in the middleweight division, with plenty of solid wins and a huge victory over all-time legend Anderson Silva. He had already overachieved to a large degree. However, what truly immortalized him was his win in 2016 against reigning UFC middleweight champion Luke Rockhold. Rockhold was at the time a top pound-for-pound name, with insane natural talent. Not only had he previously submitted Bisping in 2014 with ease, but he had decimated Lyoto Machida in a more one-sided fashion than Jon Jones famously did, then destroyed undefeated champion Chris Weidman. Rockhold was a -600 favorite and many felt that was too generous to the Brit, who stepped up on just days’ notice for the biggest fight of his career. However, on the heels of an unorthodox yet perfectly timed and placed swiping left hook, Bisping became the new UFC middleweight king, as inspirational as it was incredible. Personally though, my favorite Bisping win is one that may often be overlooked nowadays, against Cung Le. Le had vastly more natural talent and brought far more skills to the table. He was faster, more athletic, was a junior college wrestling champion, and had more advanced striking, including kicks Bisping lacked. Yet Bisping absolutely dominated him for over 15 minutes, beating him from pillar to post while Le could barely touch him, with the contest being mercifully waved off early in Round 4. When one thinks of great overachievers, Bisping is the name that most readily comes to mind.