Michael Bisping has started expressing interest in stepping down to MW, & who's hot on his heels? Dan Henderson, that's who. That puts two more big names in a division that's been demolished by Anderson Silva. Can either one of them stop Silva? My answer is an emphatic "fuck no".
The person who does eventually beat Silva will be someone who can go toe to toe with him. He's proved that he can survive on the ground & his Muay Thai is the best in MMA right now. While these two are both tough cookies, neither has the winning formula, at least not yet.
Henderson can wrestle, yes, but Silva has been boning up on his wrestling too, training Stateside at a SoCal college, no less (sorry guys, I wasn't able to find out where). So I'm confident that he'll be ready for any matwork Henderson tries to tangle him up with. And while Henderson was able to KO Wanderlei Silva, that was more of a musclebound free-for-all. When these two go at it we won't see that same kind of brawl. It'll be reminiscent of Silva/Franklin; a cruel lesson in the fundamentals of Muay Thai.
Bisping, oddly enough, has a better shot against Anderson Silva...that is, if he drops to MW, trains hard, really tightens up his striking & gets his cardio up to full speed. I'd say in a year or two he'd have the tools to do it. He's a big strong dude with nice stand-up & enough BJJ to hold his own. Right now Silva would bust him up & make it look easy but in time, The Count could be a legit contender. Unfortunately, I don't think the MW talent pool is deep enough to buy that kind of time for Bisping. I predict he gets a title shot right after Hendo loses. And I predict more of the same from Silva: ref stoppages & classy post-win speeches.
So I guess the fight with any real meaning is Silva/Bisping II. In the meantime, enjoy the show...I know I will.
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