Michael Bisping, the headline contender in the impending UFC 120 gambling event, is a sturdy man. Of that there's little question. But he'll have to be in particularly great form on October sixteenth, as he'll have to sustain the weight of an whole country's anticipations.
It's challenging for folks outside of England to recognize what a actually major celebrity Bisping is in England and the UK. In a place where soccer is king, he is the uncommon exclusion of an athlete that can rank alongside the country's cherished footballers when it comes to popularity and he is the only reason that the UFC 120 probabilities contest is being put on in London and not someplace on US soil.
And while that is surely something to be proud of and a major achievement for a British athlete, it also creates a major amount of strain and anything less than complete control in the impending UFC 120 gambling action will be an unqualified failure.
That's a lot of strain on one contender, yet Bisping is used to this type of attention and strain. If anyone can manage it, it's him.
Bisping has also been a well regarded contender in the middleweight division, but he's just never been pretty great enough to win the championship. And at his age and with a middleweight champion solidly proved, it's not going to occur any time soon. But Bisping will stay a hard rival, the man that nobody wants to fight but a returning challenger just the same, and never a champion.
Against his UFC 120 probabilities contest he ought to have little trouble. Japanese contender Yoshiro Akiyama is a incredible martial artist and a legitimate master of Judo but he is not experienced at MMA fighting and thus far his skills haven't translated to this arena. He became a member of the UFC in 2009 and his first competition was at UFC 100 in July. Even though he sustained a broken orbital bone throughout the start of round 2, he went on to destroy UFC veteran Alan Belcher by means of split decision.
He was anticipated to face Wanderlei Silva at UFC 110, but instead Silva wound up fighting and beating Akiyama's current opponent, Michael Bisping. He was then going to fight Silva again a while back this year at UFC 116, but Silva pulled out due to fractured ribs. Instead, Akiyama fought Chris Leben, a mediocre contender who still soundly beat Akiyama. It was his first official loss in five years. It will be interesting to see how he bounces back in his 2nd UFC competition, however the conditions in London at the UFC 120 gambling event will be less than ideal for anyone trying to fight the cherished Bisping. It's hard enough to take on a contender with a much better record, but to do it on that contender's home turf is asking an awful lot.
Akiyama's career is most likely over before it even commenced, and his last competition of any real meaning could only be this one as he's offered as the sacrificial lamb to Bisping.
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