Is Bisping a celebrity?

[eppertheleper]

With his upcoming UFC headlining fight on October 18th, is Michael Bisping a celebrity in the UK?

With the recent announcement that one of the future Ultimate Fighter shows will be a US vs. UK showdown, how big is the sport over there? Would those of you who live there consider him a major sports celebrity, or is he just kind of a sideshow? I'm just wondering, since the UFC has become so big over here, if he's helping to grow the sport on the other side of the pond or if it's still more of an oddity that hasn't garnered mainstream acceptance.

[Will]

Well, I wouldn't say he was a major celebrity, that's for sure, I think most 'sports fans' won't know who he is, nevermind non sports fans. I suppose he'll be a celebrity among people who get to watch UFC regularly though!

[djfase]

Yea agree with will.

He is only known to those who are into the fight game, although he has appeared on a few of the sports shows

[drift9]

I think the UFC is going to try to ride that guy pretty hard to get traction for the franchise in the UK. And frankly he's a good choice: good-looking, well-spoken, personable, and most importantly: guy is a bad-ass fighter. A true belt contender.

If he does coach the next season TUF: US vs UK, I think it would be a great idea. I look forward to this.

[Siege]

See how Bisping goes on this saturday against Leben, should be a decent fight.

[djfase]

A war.

Cant stand leben

[Siege]

yeah, bit of a knob.....loud mouth,........bit of a character though, in and out of jail etc......bisping should deal with him.

[djfase]

Watched it last nite and was disappointed with bisping although he won.

To come out after the fight and say his game plan was to stick and move was lame. Wheres the finishing moves?

I know leben is tough (putting his arms behind his back and sticking his chin out in last 30 secs) but bisping has won 17 inside the distance.

He is not ready for silva and i dont think will be. Silva is just the best around and will need an injury or a seriously bad nite to be knocked off his perch

[drift9]

He is not ready for silva and i dont think will be. Silva is just the best around and will need an injury or a seriously bad nite to be knocked off his perch
yeah, agreed, that fight was a bit of a let down. and from what i understand Bisbing was using this fight as a barometer to see if he was ready to take on Silva. from what i saw, i don't think Silva is losing any sleep quite yet.

[Richierush]

as leben said bisping has not got mucch power in them punches at times you could see why he aint a bad fightbut he is nowhere near ready for silva,am not sure he will ever be,an as for leben his left did look dangerous an i though if he caught him right bisping might of gone down,poor fight overalll was expecting more fireworks

[eppertheleper]

Bisping had a good game plan to win the fight, but it didn't make for an exciting bout and he looked like a bit of a pussy in its execution.

There's no one in the world who's ready for Silva at this point, but I don't think Bisping is even ready for Rich Franklin. I like the guy (a LOT more than Chris Leben), but he's got to either get some knockout power in his fists or do some serious work on his BJJ. He's not fast enough to go the distance with the top guys without getting caught. Playing the boxing game for points also won't win him many fans or make Dana White very happy.

They did say that the BBC has him placed as the 12th most popular (or was it "well known"?) celebrity in the UK.

[drift9]

and now it's official: Bisbing is to be one of the coaches of TUF 9 with either Dan Henderson or Rich Franklin as the opposing coach. really looking forward to that.

[eppertheleper]

I'd bet Franklin, setting up that matchup for an ultimate prize (curse) of a Silva fight if Bisping can beat Rich. If they put him against Henderson, he'll probably get taken down and submitted. Even if he wins, he's still got to go through Franklin before they can put him in the cage with the Spider. That may be the idea, drawing out his pre-Silva-loss career. Still, Hendo is a bad matchup for a boxer like Bisping. Franklin might at least try to stand up with him.