UFC News: Belfort vs. Bisping Official

A great match up is set to take place in the middleweight division between Vitor Belfort and Michael Bisping.  This report comes via a Brazilian version of the UFC website.  This fight should make for a highly entertaining bout, and the winner could potential put themselves in the hat at challenging Anderson Silva later in the year.

Bisping is coming off a win over the always durable Brian Stann, and he will look to get the win over Belfort any way possible when they square off.  Since dropping to middleweight, Bisping has certainly impressed, going 8-3 against some of the best in the division.  A win over Belfort would certainly be his biggest win in the division, and it would also seal his fate as being the number one contender.

Bisping has said on numerous occasions that he wants to be the man to defeat Silva.  He feels he has competent striking to hang with Silva on the feet, and his wrestling has improved markedly over the years.  First, he has to defeat Belfort, which is no easy task for any man.

Belfort will be coming in to this fight with a loss to the current light heavyweight champion Jon Jones.  Despite this loss, Belfort showed tremendous heart and even almost finished the fight via arm bar, which no one saw coming.  Belfort has really only lost two fights since 2009 to the best fighters in the UFC in Anderson Silva and Jon Jones.  Over the past 5 years, he has gone 7-2.  A win over Bisping would also be his biggest win in the UFC middleweight division.

Both of these fighters have competent striking, which should make this an interesting stand up war unless either man feels that have the significant edge on  the ground.  For Bisping, he will try to stay on the outside and look to pick apart Belfort with his crisp boxing.  He may even look to take this fight to the ground because he his jiu jitsu skills are seriously underrated.  His cardio is also a tool, which could be the difference because Belfort seems to fade late in fights.

For Belfort, he wants to end this fight quickly and keep the fight standing.  If he can replicate what Dan Henderson did to Bisping, he will try to do just that.  Belfort has some of the best power in the middleweight division and his speed is also formidable.

It should be an interesting scrap that has Fight Of The Night written all over it, and the winner is one step closer at a title shot.