Silva’s celebration premature as Bisping beats former UFC champ in London
Former Ultimate Fighting Championship middleweight champ Anderson Silva jumped up on the cage and celebrated his first official victory since October 2012 after knocking out Michael Bisping at the very end of the third round in the main event of a UFC card in London on Saturday.
The only problem was the fight wasn’t over. After two more rounds, Bisping was awarded a unanimous decision in the headliner of UFC Fight Night 84.
Silva appeared to knock out Bisping with a flying knee against the cage just before the end the round, but the fight had not been stopped when the bell rang. Silva and his team celebrated as referee Herb Dean tried to communicate the fight would continue.
Order was restored in the cage and the action resumed with Bisping eventually his third straight victory.
Bisping has been a perennial title contender in the middleweight division, but has never been granted a title shot. He spent much of that time chasing Silva, the longest reigning champion in UFC history.
Though there was a great deal of trash talk leading up to the fight, Bisping had nothing but praise for his longtime nemesis.
“I worship this guy. This guy is the greatest martial artist of all time. That’s why I’m so emotional right now,” Bisping said. “This has been a lifelong quest. Anderson, I know I said things. The respect I have for you, you cannot measure. You inspired me. When I started, I was a young, cocky kid, saying things I regret, and the whole time I was looking at this guy thinking, ‘Wow, I want to be like that guy. Anderson, thank you. If it wasn’t for you, I wouldn’t be here.”
Silva was obviously disappointed with the outcome. He lost his belt in July 2013 when he was knocked out by Chris Weidman, then lost the rematch in December of that year when he suffered a broken leg in the cage. Silva, 40, returned with a victory over Nick Diaz in January 2015, but that was amended to a no contest when Silva tested positive for performance-enhancing drugs.
He believed he had found his way back into the win column on Saturday.
“You saw the fight. I thought it went differently,” he said. “The mission was given and I thought it was completed. I guess not.”
Bisping had success early in the fight as he aggressively came forward against Silva. He dropped the former champion with a left hook late in the second round and finished the round in top position on the mat.
Silva started to change the momentum in the third and nearly won it with a big knee as Bisping appeared to be momentarily distracted by the referee after losing his mouthpiece.
While Bisping appeared knocked out during the chaotic period between the third and fourth rounds, he was able to recover and settle down once the action resumed.
It proved fortunate as the scorecards essentially came down to the fourth round. Bisping had won the first two and Silva had great success in the third and fifth rounds.
While Silva closed the fourth round strong, Bisping was able to sway the judges in his favor with his aggression over the first few minutes of the round.
Bisping didn’t look like a victor as he delivered his post-fight comments with blood covering his face, but he was thrilled with his win.
“I wanted this fight my entire life,” he said to the fans in his native England. “Because of you guys, you give me the power. I’m just a guy from a very normal background, and you guys have been in my corner every time. I don’t know what to say, I’m (expletive) crying.”
In the other featured middleweight bout on the card, Gegard Mousasi earned a unanimous decision victory over former title challenger Thales Leites.
Mousasi said he was cautious in his approach largely because he felt his aggressiveness cost him a win against Uriah Hall in September.
“He is a well rounded fighter, a very tough opponent. Michael Bisping had a hard time with him, Anderson Silva wasn’t able to put him away and he wasn’t such a good fighter back then, so I knew it could go three rounds but I knew I just needed to fight smart,” Mousasi said of Leites. “I feel like I could fight for a title and I would have a great chance of winning but I’m not there yet. What can I say? I have to earn it. I think maybe I need another fight before I get that shot.”
Also on the main card, English welterweight prospect Tom Breese remained undefeated with a unanimous decision victory over Keita Nakamura.
Bantamweight Brad Pickett earned a split decision win over Francisco Rivera.
— Contact reporter Adam Hill at ahill@reviewjournal.com or 702-224-5509. Follow him on Twitter: @adamhilllvrj
