Michael Bisping shocked the world earlier this month when he knocked out Luke Rockhold in the first round of the Middleweight title bout at UFC 199. Rockhold had been favored heavily in the fight, but the upset means that UFC now has a new champion in its popular Middleweight division. And naturally, the conversation has already begun regarding who should challenge Bisping for the belt.
Who Would Be Bisping’s Most Interesting Challenger?
For his part, Bisping has already been fairly outspoken about dictating the terms of his next fight. Last Friday, MMA Fighting did an early analysis about potential challengers for Bisping, and noted that both Rockhold and Chris Weidman seem unlikely. Having had to “beat three more guys” before getting his second shot at Rockhold, Bisping isn’t keen to allow the vanquished champion another title shot just yet. He reportedly told Rockhold to get to the back of the line in their post-match spat at UFC 199. Meanwhile, with Weidman coming off a loss, Bisping doesn’t want to give him a shot either.
So who will the challenger be? That’s anybody’s guess, but here are a few of the more interesting possibilities.
Dan Henderson
Hendo may be the most intriguing possibility to most UFC fans. While he’s now 45 years old and facing retirement sooner or later, he also won his fight at UFC 199, and he’s rumored to want a shot at the title. In fact, Bisping even tweeted a story about Henderson wanting to take him on once more. Back in 2009, Henderson defeated Bisping with a second-round knockout at UFC 100, so there’s some nice history to this possible bout. It’s also likely a nice route for Bisping to take to bolster his reputation—a winnable fight that would nonetheless look courageous giving how the last one went. Not to mention there’s always some intrigue when a fighter is on the way out. With Henderson at the tail end of his third stint in UFC, there would be some added drama.
Lyoto Machida
Machida’s name has also been floated as a possibility for Bisping’s title defense, and he’d certainly be a fascinating opponent. He’s just an interesting guy, not to mention a capable fighter. Machida recently missed a fight after confessing to using a banned substance, though this probably shouldn’t have been a shock given the degree of preparation the guy is said to undergo. According to Lottoland, a UK platform for those interested in the lottery, Machida has ingested stranger things than banned substances in the name of the sport. Because the Powerball caters to people seeking fortune, the site hosts editorial content about luck, and in a post on the superstitious rituals of athletes it was mentioned that Machida drinks his own urine every morning. Evidently, he believes it’s a natural cleanser. All things considered, he’s weird but dedicated, and a shot at the title following his rules violation would be enthralling.
Rashad Evans
Finally, there’s the legendary Rashad Evans. He may be a more outside-the-box option, but he’d probably draw the most interest. SB Nation recently covered a possible career pivot by Evans on its “Bloody Elbow” section covering UFC news and results, and they suggested that Evans may drop to Middleweight following his recent knockout loss to Glover Teixeira. It would be something of a discouraging move to some of Evans’ fans no doubt, but it could conceivably lead to his getting a near-immediate shot at a new title in taking on Bisping. Given that Evans remains one of the most popular and well-known athletes in the sport, one has to imagine this would be a dream matchup to a lot of the people involved.
It’ll likely be a little while longer before we know who Michael Bisping will defend his improbable title against. But any of these three would make for a pretty major fight.
