Michael Bisping has been an attraction in the UFC since day one, and has continued to stay relevant in the middleweight division since his debut in 2006.
If Bisping could be described in one word, the word that I would use would be consistent. Bisping has always made sure to bring a level of trash talk and enthusiasm into every fight. He has a very consistent style where he punishes his opponents throughout the rounds, never getting a stunning knockout, but slowly wearing away at his opposition for a decision or eventual TKO win.
He has also been very consistent in who he beats and who he losses to. Bisping is the greatest definition of a gatekeeper, as he never losses to those ranked below him, but seems to always drop the ball when getting a step up in competition. Michael Bisping’s greatest fault in the UFC is that he has never defied the odds by winning as the sizable underdog.
In 23 UFC fights, only twice has Michael Bisping had a result that didn’t match the betting odds. In his 10th UFC fight, he beat Denis Kang by TKO in a Fight of the Night performance. Going into the fight, the betting line for the fight had Bisping as a very close underdog at +120.
In his 20th fight, Bisping went in as the -200 favorite against Tim Kennedy. Bisping lost the 5 round fight by unanimous decision, and for the first time in his UFC career, lost a fight in which he went in as the betting favorite.
Michael Bisping has a UFC record of 16-7, perfectly matching his betting odds of being a favorite in 16 fights while being the underdog in seven. Out of Bisping’s seven underdog fights, two have been very closely contested fights in which the results were disputed by many (vs. Wanderlei Silva and vs. Chael Sonnen). Still, wins in both of those fights would have put Bisping in a very good position to where he could have challenged for a title.
It is also worth nothing that Bisping has averaged a -278 betting line throughout his career, meaning that he often goes into a fight as a 3 to 1 favorite over his opposition.
Michael Bisping takes on Thales Leites tomorrow in the main event at UFC Fight Night: Glascow. The betting line is almost even on most websites, with Bisping coming out as a very slight favorite.
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