This one starts at 10AM EST for the diehards. A few interesting fights/fighters First, Leites might be the best fighter in the MW division that no one is paying attention to. Bisping is the perfect opponent to help determine if Leites is ready for another title run. If he's not, Bisping will expose it. Second, looking forward to seeing Joe Duffy again. This dude choked out Conor McGregor and looked relatively good in his UFC debut. Lastly, I love "backs to the wall" type of fights. Pearson and Dunham are both at or below .500 over their last 4 fights. The UFC's LW division is crowded and the loser might be hard pressed to keep around. [TABLE="class: toccolours"] <TBODY>[TR] [TH="bgcolor: #CCCCFF, colspan: 8, align: center"]Main Card (Fox Sports 1)[/TH] [/TR] [TR] [TH="bgcolor: #E6E8FA, align: center"]Weight class[/TH] [TH="bgcolor: #E6E8FA, align: center"][/TH] [TH="bgcolor: #E6E8FA, align: center"][/TH] [TH="bgcolor: #E6E8FA, align: center"][/TH] [TH="bgcolor: #E6E8FA, align: center"]Method[/TH] [TH="bgcolor: #E6E8FA, align: center"]Round[/TH] [TH="bgcolor: #E6E8FA, align: center"]Time[/TH] [TH="bgcolor: #E6E8FA, align: center"]Notes[/TH] [/TR] [TR] [TD]Middleweight[/TD] [TD]Michael Bisping[/TD] [TD="align: center"]vs.[/TD] [TD]Thales Leites[/TD] [TD][/TD] [TD="align: center"][/TD] [TD="align: center"][/TD] [TD][/TD] [/TR] [TR] [TD]Lightweight[/TD] [TD]Ross Pearson[/TD] [TD="align: center"]vs.[/TD] [TD]Evan Dunham[/TD] [TD][/TD] [TD="align: center"][/TD] [TD="align: center"][/TD] [TD][/TD] [/TR] [TR] [TD]Lightweight[/TD] [TD]Joseph Duffy[/TD] [TD="align: center"]vs.[/TD] [TD]Ivan Jorge[/TD] [TD][/TD] [TD="align: center"][/TD] [TD="align: center"][/TD] [TD][/TD] [/TR] [TR] [TD]Women's Strawweight[/TD] [TD]Joanne Calderwood[/TD] [TD="align: center"]vs.[/TD] [TD]Cortney Casey[/TD] [TD][/TD] [TD="align: center"][/TD] [TD="align: center"][/TD] [TD][/TD] [/TR] [TR] [TD]Welterweight[/TD] [TD]Leon Edwards[/TD] [TD="align: center"]vs.[/TD] [TD]Pawel Pawlak[/TD] [TD][/TD] [TD="align: center"][/TD] [TD="align: center"][/TD] [TD][/TD] [/TR] [TR] [TD]Lightweight[/TD] [TD]Stevie Ray[/TD] [TD="align: center"]vs.[/TD] [TD]Leonardo Mafra[/TD] [TD][/TD] [TD="align: center"][/TD] [TD="align: center"][/TD] [TD][/TD] [/TR] [TR] [TH="bgcolor: #CCCCFF, colspan: 8, align: center"]Preliminary Card (Fox Sports 1)[/TH] [/TR] [TR] [TD]Flyweight[/TD] [TD]Patrick Holohan[/TD] [TD="align: center"]vs.[/TD] [TD]Vaughan Lee[/TD] [TD][/TD] [TD="align: center"][/TD] [TD="align: center"][/TD] [TD][/TD] [/TR] [TR] [TD]Light Heavyweight[/TD] [TD]Ilir Latifi[/TD] [TD="align: center"]vs.[/TD] [TD]Hans Stringer[/TD] [TD][/TD] [TD="align: center"][/TD] [TD="align: center"][/TD] [TD][/TD] [/TR] [TR] [TD]Lightweight[/TD] [TD]Mickael Lebout[/TD] [TD="align: center"]vs.[/TD] [TD]Teemu Packalén[/TD] [TD][/TD] [TD="align: center"][/TD] [TD="align: center"][/TD] [TD][/TD] [/TR] [TR] [TD]Featherweight[/TD] [TD]Rob Whiteford[/TD] [TD="align: center"]vs.[/TD] [TD]Paul Redmond[/TD] [TD][/TD] [TD="align: center"][/TD] [TD="align: center"][/TD] [TD][/TD] [/TR] [TR] [TH="bgcolor: #CCCCFF, colspan: 8, align: center"]Preliminary Card (UFC Fight Pass)[/TH] [/TR] [TR] [TD]Bantamweight[/TD] [TD]Marcus Brimage[/TD] [TD="align: center"]vs.[/TD] [TD]Jimmie Rivera[/TD] [TD][/TD] [TD="align: center"][/TD] [TD="align: center"][/TD] [TD][/TD] [/TR] [TR] [TD]Heavyweight[/TD] [TD]Daniel Omielańczuk[/TD] [TD="align: center"]vs.[/TD] [TD]Chris De La Rocha[/TD] [TD][/TD] [TD="align: center"][/TD] [TD="align: center"][/TD] [/TR] </TBODY>[/TABLE]
Bisping / Leites was a good fight. Possibly a robbery, but a good fight. I thought Leites landed the more effective strikes overall.
Bisping is done as a top 10 middleweight. His knockout losses have made him completely afraid of getting hit. He is so gun why now that he almost runs away from exchanges. I scored the fight narrowly for Bisping but Leites is the one that came out of the fight with his stock the highest. I think Joe Duffy can be a contender at 155.
I didn't score the fight round by round. I just thought Leites looked more effective in landing strikes. Bisping is still an excellent fighter, but maybe not top 5 anymore. I slept late and missed the Duffy fight. I saw the highlights afterwards, but I haven't seen him fight live yet. He must be good if he beat McGregor.
Bisping became markedly more gunshy after Henderson. He knows his chin can't take it, so he tries to set up other options. You can't become a champion without being able to take one, or at the very least you won't make a lot of title defenses.
