Cape Town – Former UFC Middleweight champion, Michael Bisping, highlighted five fights that, as he put it, Mixed Martial Arts fans wanted to see, but never happened.
Number Five: Daniel Cormier vs Brock Lesnar
At UFC 226 in Las Vegas, Daniel Cormier knocked out Stipe Miocic in the main event to become heavyweight champion and the 5th UFC fighter to become champion in two weight classes.
After calling out Brock Lesnar in his post-fight interview with Joe Rogan, Lesnar entered the octagon and shoved Cormier after a brief verbal exchange. The two then had to be separated.
Bisping speculates that the post-fight antics were all a ploy, or negotiation tactics by Brock Lesnar while he was negotiating his contract with WWE.
“So for DC it would have been a massive opportunity for him to fight a guy like Brock Lesnar, make a ton of money,” said Bisping.
“DC would have won that fight,” he added, “Brock Lesnar’s a big guy, he’s a good wrestler, but he ain’t half the fighter that Daniel Cormier is.”
“Best promo Ever….Shame it never materialised. Lesnar pushing the Mike into the camera was such a pro move,” one viewer commented.
Number Four: Randy Couture vs Fedor Emelianenko
Both fighters were champions, but of different divisions. At the time, Randy Couture fought in the UFC while Fedor Emelianenko fought under Pride FC over in Japan.
“They were the two biggest promotions on planet earth,” said Bisping.
Despite UFC buying Pride’s assets in March 2007, the fight still never materialised.
“Sadly, however, just because the UFC owned Pride, they didn’t own the fighters and Fredor’s management apparently were very tough people to deal with, very tough people to negotiate with, and they could never come to terms,” said Bisping, “but it wasn’t for a lack of trying on Dana White’s part”.
Number Three: Israel Adasanya vs Jon Jones
“I remember, as being a former middleweight myself thinking, ‘woah, this would be very, very interesting,” Bisping said as he pondered about the blockbuster bout that could’ve happened.
He added that after the back and forth between Jones and Izzy, the fight seemed destined to happen.
This is a topic that would cause quite a stir in the MMA world. Just the thought of these two MMA icons meeting in the octagon would send shivers down the spines of the sport’s fans. It would also cause a lot of debates.
“I would’ve favoured Jon Jones in that match-up. However, [you] can’t count Izzy out of anything. The man is a true fighter, he’s extremely skilled, and he’s getting better even still,” added Bisping.
Number Two: Georges St-Pierre vs Anderson Silva
“I’ve got a few extra scars on my face because of both of these guys,” said the retired Middleweight.
“There was discussions of them both fighting one another at one point. They were both running concurrently and dominating their divisions,” he added.
With both fighters being dominant in their own respective weight categories, Bisping said it seemed only natural for the two competitors to go head to head, meeting somewhere in the middle with regards to their weight.
“The fight never happened and it is such a shame, because we would’ve loved it,” he said.
“I would’ve loved to have seen them both go head to head and try and beat the s**t out of each other,” he added.
Number One: Tony Ferguson vs Khabib Nurmagomedov
“The fact that this fight never went ahead is just absolutely insane,” Bisping said.
“This fight was matched up, this fight was contracted, these training camps were taking place,” he added.
Bisping said that these two fighters were matched up to face one another five times.
The first time they were scheduled to face one another was in 2015, but with Khabib sustaining a rib injury, the fight never went ahead.
The fight was booked again in 2016, but Tony pulled out because of a lung injury.
The third time the bout was meant to take place, it was canceled because Khabib was taken to the hospital for a reported weight-cutting issue.
The fight was scheduled fourth time and this time it seemed as though it would finally happen. However, during fight week, Ferguson tripped on a cable at a studio while tending to some pre-fight media obligations, and tore a ligament in his knee.
“If the fight is good enough to be booked four times, then the fight is good enough to be booked 5 times,” said Bisping as he chuckled.”
However, the pandemic was the reason as to why the fight didn’t happen this time.
“That truly is the one that got away,” Bisping said.
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Picture: Youtube/ Michael Bisping
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Compiled by Junaid Benjamin
