Tonight: The Count Faces a Challenge in Leben
Posted by Dave Walsh on October 18th, 2008
Michael Bisping is an interesting fighter for a few reasons, partially as he is a home grown star, and more or less the anchor for UFC’s future in the UK. Bisping is, most likely admittedly, not the most experienced or accomplished fighter in the world. Granted, Bisping is on a skill level of being a UFC fighter and all that it stands for, when he first arrived all of the hype that they put on him seemed unwarranted.
Bisping gained his notoriety from being on The Ultimate Fighter, and upon winning, became the UFC’s banner star for the UK. Since then, Bisping has been their go-to headliner in the UK, and tomorrow night things will be no different as he takes on 185lbs Gatekeeper of sorts and former TUF alumni — Chris Leben. Leben’s career has been tumultuous to say the least, making a name for himself as a reckless, agressive fighter on the smaller circuits in the US before becoming a star on the first season of The Ultimate Fighter.
What we have is yet another completely home grown UFC main event, what has to be a vision for the future of UFC. Not only are these fighters’ popularity intertwined with the UFC name and the UFC name alone, but their pay is considerably less than the “big name” fighters that came into UFC from other promotions, such as Henderson, Rampage, Nog, Wanderlei, etc. Regardless of the outcome, UFC wins in situations like this. I think it would be crass to not imply that Michael Bisping picking up an impressive win is what UFC desires right now.
UFC still hinges their promoting in other countries on any stars they have that have any relation to the region — so far Bisping in the UK and GSP in Canada have been their only real tests outside of the United States. I think it is a fair assumption to say that their Canadian shows would do well without GSP, but GSP having his name attached turns them into a big deal. I’m not sure if Bisping does the same for the UFC in the UK, as the UFC in the UK has been a proven money-loser for them, but it will take time for them to build up their business overseas. They have seen increases over time in their UK business, and can probably look to see more if they can keep putting on exciting shows in the UK.
Other than from a business perspective, it will be interesting to see how Bisping does against Leben. It is fair to say that UFC has not exactly been providing the greatest challenges in the world to Michael Bisping, to preserve his star power. His biggest challenges to date were Rashad Evans, which did not end well for Bisping, and Matt Hammil, who beat Bisping for 3 rounds but somehow lost a decision. But that isn’t saying that he hasn’t improved or that he didn’t hold his own, because he has and he did. Bisping has shown, marked and impressive improvement, to the point where most doubters have given up on talking Bisping down and have consented that he is an improved fighter.