Bisping Wants Hamill Rematch

Not content to let the scorned Hamill request first, Michael Bisping has jumped the gun and asked for the rematch on his own. He cited constant critiques from the media as his reason to attempt to settle the controversy. He spoke to The Sun, and said this:

"I’m getting so much shit. I got the decision, I went through the fight and I got the win – it’s not like I went out there and got knocked out in 30 seconds. I think people need to realize that. It was a good, exciting fight and I think people are focusing on the negatives and not looking at the positives."

Bisping admitted that Hamill was improved but also noted that he doesn't need any controversy surrounding his wins. He wants them to be unanimous and definitive. And so now it will be up to Hamill, the man who said Bisping's punches didn't connect during the famed second round, to either accept and make this a certainty or wait for Dana White to declare it on his own.

It will be interesting to see whether or not this rematch takes place in Bisping's home country of England. Many cited a home field advantage for the Brit and suggested that the location played into the judge's decision. Additionally, the UFC has been using Bisping as their star in a campaign to win support in Europe. To have him lose there could be disastrous to their plans. On the flip side, if they let Bisping fight Hamill in England and he happens to win by decision, the credibility of the UFC could be challenged. White is far better off putting his Euro tour on hold just to have this in a neutral U.S. locale.

Is The Ultimate Fighter Good For The Sport?

Stroll into just about any Sherdog forum, wait for a white belt to say something stupid, and then watch as the rest of the posters blast him with chants of "TUF NOOB." The logic behind this pedantic insult is that the white belt (a relatively new writer) has only been watching since the UFC went mainstream (The Ultimate Finale 1). Is it such a bad thing to have recently jumped on the bandwagon? After all, no sport can maintain its popularity without some semblance of turnover among its fans. In the eyes of veteran Sherdoggers, The Ultimate Fighter (TUF) reality series has done nothing for the sport except cheapen it and make it accessible to legions of idiots.

I disagree, and I actually think that TUF has done more for the sport than almost anything else. I'd rank it right up there with the PRIDE buyout, showing live events on SpikeTV, and the UFC 40 fight between Tito Ortiz and Ken Shamrock. The cable television finale of the first season did a 1.9 share (HUGE) and brought us what is considered to be one of the most exciting UFC events of all time (Griffin-Bonnar). They picked a great time to put on that kind of show, as the UFC probably picked up more new fans that night than in any previous night in its existence.

The second and third seasons brought us some young guns such as Bisping and Rashad Evans, both of which have managed to make controversial waves during their thus-far short careers. Recently-embarrassed contenders Kendall Grove and Keith Jardine came from these two seasons as well. Okay, so we have big fights, big ratings, and big names...but no champions.

That's until season 4, which was designed to give a number of UFC vets who had never won a title shot the opportunity to fight a champion. Travis Lutter won among the middleweights and was expertly submitted (big surprise) by Anderson Silva. The Welterweight winner, Matt Serra, got a shot at Georges St. Pierre, and he's still champion.

We're yet to see Diaz or Lauzon (TUF 5 guys) make a huge splash, but I wouldn't bet against them. My point is that while The Ultimate Fighter has brought us some less than knowledgeable fans, it's okay because we were all that ignorant at one point or another. Some of the most renowned experts had Sylvia over Couture, so it's tough to ever say that someone doesn't know what they're talking about. Whether or not you agree with that, you can't deny that The Ultimate Fighter has brought us some talented fighters, many exciting fights, and even one of our current champions.

UFC 75 Results

So maybe it wasn't the explosive card most expected, but it provided enough big hits, big submissions, and controversy to classify it as a quality event.

Houston Alexander vs. Alessio Sakara
Alexander continued his post-Jardine KO rise to the top with another dominating performance, this time over more-than-competent Sakara. He should start to get some legitimate contenders in his sights if he continues this run.

Marcus Davis vs. Paul Taylor
I'm going to go ahead and call this the most exciting fight of the night. The Irish Hand Grenade (Davis) took an early lead only to barely get knocked out later in the first round. He fought hard from the Brits guard, eventually ceasing the pounding and ending the fight with what later won "Submission of the night."

Cheick Kongo vs. Mirko Filipovic
Kongo flat out dominated Cro Cop in this three round decision. When striking, Kongo didn't let himself get in CC's range while delivering inside leg kick after inside leg kick. On the ground, where Kongo was supposed to be most suspect, he seemed in control, even though CC had put in weeks with guru Dean Lister. Kongo looked like the former Champion while CC looked confused, nervous, and overwhelmed.

Michael Bisping vs. Matt Hamill
Although this fight has garnered much controversy, it wasn't as close as some media outlets make it sound. Each fighter had his moments during the fight in a see saw battle that had Bisping ending strong. Personally, I had the fight 29-28 Hamill. No one agreed with me, as two judges put it 29-28 Bisping and one had 30-27 Hamill. I'd expect to see a rematch.

Quinton Jackson vs. Dan Henderson
In the most anticipated bout of the evening, Jackson and Henderson exchanged some flurries but generally remained limited in their exertion. Jackson did win definitively, but it wasn't a bad loss for Henderson, at it was his first trip inside The Octagon. With Liddell and Hendo out of the way, Jackson can now set his sights on Shogun and Wanderlei, two guys who absolutely destroyed him in PRIDE.

The Ultimate Fighter Season 7

Dana White recently announced the contenders for TUF 7, and two things of note stood out immediately. One, the season will focus on Light Heavyweights, not the Middleweight division which is in such dire straits. However, this is another discussion for another article. The more important aspect of the new season to discuss is the fact that the roster features generally new fighters. Most of them have only been in 4 or 5 sanctioned MMA bouts compared to the well-traveled contestants of season's past.

This is a huge mistake on White's part as he will be taking away two elements that make the series what it is. First, since past contestants such as Michael Bisping (pictured) have held title belts in other organizations (like Cage Rage), they know their way around the Octagon, are able to put on professional and entertaining matches, and have some credentials to back up all the talking. Even so, you occasionally get a fighter like Danny Abbadi who, at least during the season, looked like he had never fought in an MMA bout in his life. Now, imagine if the entire season was composed of fighter's with similar skill levels. It would be a disaster, reminiscent of a Kimbo Slice YouTube video. The fact of the matter is that fighters who know what they are doing is really what the show was created for. It was meant to give quality fighters who may have otherwise been overlooked another shot at rising to the top. See: Bisping, Evans, Sanchez. It was not meant for a bunch of brand-new fighters (some of which hold 1-0 records...no joke) to figure out if they are any good.

The second reason fighters should be a little more experienced is that it allows for more story lines to be created. I defy any other expert in the field to find me a story line for fantastically tangled than Joe Lauzon, fighting on Penn's team (who lost to Pulver), AGAINST Pulver (who Lauzon knocked out as an 11-1 underdog a year earlier). The fighter was able to do something that his coach wasn't WHILE holding a KO over the opposing coach. I'm a creative guy, but I couldn't write that if I tried. If you take away the element of history, you delete the story line that kept me watching all season long.

The UFC should receive suffered ratings as a result of this move and rebound with a season for experienced Middleweights. As long as we don't have to see Chris Leben, it'll be better than this.

Does Bisping Deserve Better?

TUF 3 winner Michael Bisping, who is now set to take on Matt Hamill at UFC 75, has routinely expressed his displeasure with this opponent, citing that he should be facing only the best in his climb to the top. The undefeated Brit had this to say on the topic:

“And if he’s hoping that I’m gonna cut corners in training he’ll be very upset when he reads this – because I’m going to Big Bear to train for a month with Rampage Jackson. That’s how keen I am to put on the performance of my life and smash this arrogant egomaniac to bits. I’ve done a complete 180 – I’ve never been so excited and motivated for a fight in my career because I am fighting a guy I can’t stand personally. No way am I losing to this egomaniac – and I am really excited to go to California to train with a fighter of the level of Rampage.”

Bisping also mentioned that he considers it a step backwards since he won The Ultimate Fighter and Hamill did not. Some have called this brash, but I've got to agree...for a number of reasons. First, Bisping is essentially the only real link the UFC has to England. They poured more money into their UFC 70 event than any other in history (as far as advertising goes) in a bid to win over all of Europe. Who was their poster boy? Bisping. Who are they planning the UFC 75 pre-fight activities around? You guessed it. Using Bisping for 2 of 6 fights and then handing him Matt Hamill is plain highway robbery.

Another undefeated TUF fighter, Rashad Evans, got to fight Tito Ortiz and immediately make a name for himself. Bisping has been stuck beating up on old UFC Legends and new guys who no one knows. Had he been offered an opponent of Ortiz's caliber, and been able to pull off a win, he would without a doubt be in higher regard among UFC matchmakers and Sherdoggers alike. Even if Bisping was given his original opponent of Ken Shamrock, he would have been able to make a statement by beating one of the true Legends (not Elvis Sinosic) and start to receive some real attention.

Since none of these decisions have gone Bisping's way, it'll be up to him to prove everyone wrong and make Matt Hamill into his own personal example.