Dave Mandel/Sherdog.com
The Breakdown: Hard to believe that Silva, a man who has enjoyed one of the most dominant careers the sport has ever seen, has lost five of his last six fights. His move down to the middleweight division serves as his proverbial last stand, but a desperate Silva might be the most dangerous human imaginable, physiologically speaking.
Bisping should be thankful that his whole attack has been built around the stick-and-move philosophy, which will be the only way he survives this fight. However, Bisping lacks the necessary power behind his strikes, and the only way to stand one’s ground against “The Axe Murderer” is to crack him hard and often. Bisping was not built to do so. Silva’s chin has been problematic for him throughout his career, but he can take anything Bisping throws and walk him down, much like Dan Henderson did at UFC 100. Silva should be even better with that strategy since his leg kicks are an underrated part of his repertoire and will go a long way towards taking the spring out of Bisping’s happy feet.
Getting the fight horizontal will be an appealing option for Bisping, but his offensive wrestling consists mostly of telegraphed leg attacks, which will expose him to the possibility of getting locked up in the clinch with a professional sociopath. Regardless, Bisping does not have the game to outwrestle and control Silva for the better part of 15 minutes.
Those who cannot hurt or take down Silva usually come up short. Bisping cannot do either, and the idea of him sticking and moving without sooner or later getting short-circuited seems like a stretch of the laws of probability.
* * *
The Bottom Line: This appears to be the best high-profile middleweight fight Silva could have drawn, and it will show when he hunts down Bisping. The Brit will have to make his own last stand once Silva starts to connect, and he will pay with brain cells as “The Axe Murderer” connects on a vintage clinch combination of knees for a technical knockout win.