Chael Sonnen defeated Michael Bisping by Unanimous Decision. The judges scored the fight 30-27, 29-28, and 29-28. The win earned him a rematch with Anderson Silva.
Chael Sonnen opened up the first round with a fast takedown. Bisping was able to regain his feet but the relentless Sonnen pressed the action and attempted a second takedown. Bisping defended well and circled away. Chael's third attempt was successful and resulted in some ground and pound from Michael Bisping's guard. Bisping was able to get back to his feet and surprisingly he attempted his own take down. He was unsuccessful but was able to clinch Chael against the fence. They released and against Chael attempted another takedown only to be stuffed by Michael Bisping. With a minute left in the first round the two fighters traded punches before another clinch. Bisping attempted a spinning kick as the round came to an end.
The second rund opened with both fighters trading punches before Chael Sonnen attempted a takedown. Bisping defended well and clinched Sonnen against the fence. The two fighters traded punches from the clinch before John McCarthy split the fighters. Sonnen completed a power double against the cage and there was some blood trickling down the face of Michael Bisping. Huge punch from Chael Sonnen and then a knee on the break. Bisping clinched with Sonnen against the cage but he was unable to do any damage from the position. Bisping attempted a single leg but was unsuccessful. With thirty seconds left in the round Michael Bisping attempted a hook kick but it didn't land.
Chael Sonnen opened the third round with a left hand and followed it up with a power double. Sonnen landed some punches to the body and worked to pass MIchael Bisping's guard. Bisping defended the pass with a leg lock which forced Sonnen to reset back to guard. Bisping attempted to regain his feet but Sonnen swarmed his back and got both hooks in. Sonnen transitioned to mount and started raining down punches to the body. The crowd started the "U-S-A!" chants. Bisping hip escaped and regained his half-guard. Bisping scooted his hips back in order to wall walk but Sonnen stayed heavy in his positioning. Michael Bisping stood up and got his own takedown as the round came to an end.
0 recs | 119 comments
Ugh
I had that clearly 29-28 Bisping
Jay Bittner - January 28, 2012
Agreed
Bisping won that fight.
RiZE - January 28, 2012
Really weird judging
As always I guess. I can understand 29-28 Sonnen, but 30-27? Fucking hell.
forkboy - January 28, 2012
I don't know
29-28
RiZE - January 28, 2012
what the hell
29-28 Bisping. What the hell were the judges watching, I can’t believe I actually feel bad for Bisping right now.
Shaun32887 - January 28, 2012 via mobile
agreed
I don’t like him, but that scoring was odd
Fatty Fish Belly - January 28, 2012
yep, me too
Jay Bittner - January 28, 2012
Title should read victory shouldn’t it?
BROCKLESNAR!!!!! - January 28, 2012
Victor is Internet slang for Victory.
malo - January 28, 2012 via mobile
Victor Belfort is the people's champ
Henrique - January 28, 2012
...
Blasphemy
Sonnenmeister - January 28, 2012 via mobile
I would feel bad for Bisping
if he didnt try to hug Sonnen the whole match, and land a billion shots to the back of the head while doing so.
justsomehawkeyefan - January 28, 2012
Wao 30-27 really?
malo - January 28, 2012 via mobile
Pretty atrocious judging
It seems nothing really matters but the takedown anymore. Doesn’t matter if you get back up, doesn’t matter if there’s no damage. Ugh.
aptar - January 28, 2012
There’s was plenty of damage in that fight
Robert V-U - January 28, 2012
Not much from the takedowns
Bisping did a great job of keeping distance and controlling Sonnen. Really only took damage in the 3rd.
Most of the damage was in standup or against the cage. And it seems Bisping was winning there.
aptar - January 28, 2012
To sum it: Don't care about Bisping, fuck him. Also:
Sexytime - January 28, 2012
MMA judges at their after party!
AusEagle - January 28, 2012
Takedown takedown takedown takedown takedown takedown takedown takedown takedown takedown takedown takedown CHA-EL SONNEN
Tedd Welch - January 28, 2012
Better than Bisping
Lean, more leaning, lean a bit more, push against the cage, lean, OMG I just won the fight.
discoandherpes - January 28, 2012
I'm suprised by Bispings performance
He looked great tonight… Wouldn’t mind seeing a rematch down the line
rscott94 - January 28, 2012 via mobile
Bisping might not have won
But he proved his critics wrong. This wasn’t the one sided beatdown almost everyone expected.
YPG - January 28, 2012
I had 29-28 Sonnen.
Most meaningful actions in the first round were the two takedowns, since they pretty much just swapped cage-grinding positions every minute or so. Hence, Sonnen won the first round.
Hell… I’d argue that the third round was a 10-8 if Sonnen actually had meaningful offensive output during it.
Gugabe - January 28, 2012
That's a fucking joke
Fucking home advantage. Clear as day.
30-27?! Seriously.
Disgrace.
lanky6 - January 28, 2012
Yep this event took place in the mean streets of West Linn Oregon huh?
Sexytime - January 28, 2012
Well everyone says Bisping gets hometown advantage anywhere in the UK
So why doesn’t Sonnen get hometown advantage anywhere in the USA?
YPG - January 28, 2012
That's different, they want the Brits to have nice things too
Sexytime - January 28, 2012
Your argument is falwed...
bisping has finished all his fights in the uk dumbass.
Perry Johnson - January 28, 2012
.....Leben.......Hamill......dumbass,,,,,,
Mustardfinger - January 28, 2012
An argument is no place for facts
Baby Wads - January 29, 2012
Honestly,
If that took place in the UK, that’s a Bisping win. The correct score.
lanky6 - January 28, 2012
that's almost certainly correct
but I don’t necessarily think Chael got home cooking per se. Just questionable judging.
Dave Strummer - January 28, 2012
Yup
I had to think nationalism was a factor.
aptar - January 28, 2012
Yeah they totally picked the white guy in this fight.
Fucking bullshit.
Sexytime - January 28, 2012
Do you know
what nationalism means?
aptar - January 28, 2012
made me laugh hard with this
Robert V-U - January 28, 2012
Hahaha!
One should probably know what a dictionary is before being allowed to use a computer.
Atomic Salmon - January 28, 2012
fantastic stuff
Mustardfinger - January 28, 2012
Republican judges.
Hate Limey bastards.
AusEagle - January 28, 2012
Im not a fan of one takedown getting more points than really good striking
but im REALLY not a fan of hugging against the cage and rabbit punching the back of the head getting more points than takedowns. bravo refs, Bisping can suck it
justsomehawkeyefan - January 28, 2012
I like how when anybody else does it, it’s octagon control and dirty boxing. When Mike Bisping does it, he’s just pathetically hugging someone against the cage.
I suppose he was scared of Chael’s stand up and that’s why he chose to beat himl at his own game?
NE188 - January 28, 2012
the thing is, i thought Bisping was winning the standup
it was close, but i thought he was winning there. i was hoping he would release Sonnen and just outbox him, but he just kept hugging him.
justsomehawkeyefan - January 28, 2012
I too thought he was winning the stand up exchanges. But if Bisping can put Sonnen up against the cage, hold him there and land shots, why wouldn’t he? That is (apparently) sending a huge message to the judges. When he shows he can essentially outwork Sonnen at his own game, along with winning the stand up exchanges. That is what makes the 30-27 so ridiculous.
NE188 - January 28, 2012
i had it 29-28 sonnen
look, what i saw was one guy holding the other guy against the cage and hitting him in the back of the head over and over, but not doing any real damage or even attempting to do a whole lot of damage. and i also saw a guy who when on bottom did VERY little other than hold on for dear life and try to get away, not one submission attempt at all
if Cael didnt get takedowns, Bisping would have won hands down. fact is Cael did get those takedowns, which in both my and the judges eyes looked better than holding a guy against the cage. simple as that.
justsomehawkeyefan - January 28, 2012
difference of opinion
and that’s fair enough. I dont really understand how a guy isn’t even attempting to do damage when he’s pinning somebody up against the fence and punching them, but nevermind. I wouldn’t say he was punching Sonnen in the back of the head repeatedly either, or he’d have had points deducted, as he was warned about it.
Bisping was using wrist control from the bottom and throwing his legs up when he could. He also created distance between himself and Sonnen with the butterfly guard whenever possible neutralising Sonnen’s top game. In “Holding on for dear life”, he was stifling any attack Sonnen was looking to use.
I just think there’s too much emphasis on the takedown in MMA. If you can win a 30-27 by taking a guy down once a round before he near enough immediatly stands up again, we have problems.
NE188 - January 28, 2012
i felt what bisping was doing against the wall
was similar to when a wrestler backs up all match, just to take the occasional weak shot to seem active. they arent trying to take the guy down, just avoid the stall call. similarly i felt Bisping wasnt trying to hurt sonnen so much as he was trying to seem active so the ref wouldnt seperate them.
justsomehawkeyefan - January 28, 2012
Not saying the judges were rigged....
But 30-27 to Sonnen? Was that judge blind?
DarkoBWM - January 28, 2012
Atrocious.
Sink - January 28, 2012
30-27 sonnen?
I’m a chael fan but damn, was this fixed?
MuyThaiGroinAssault - January 28, 2012 via iPhone app
you can tell that Sonnen studied The Rock...
Haha, anyways 30-27 was a bad call, though I agree with the 29-28 win for Sonnen.
A K I R A - January 28, 2012 via mobile
Good work from Sonnen landing a single takedown in each of the first 2 rounds to clearly and convincingly earn the judges support in both. A tremendous win for the smotherer.
Superstitiousmma - January 28, 2012
Classic case of putting way too much stock in the final minutes of a round. Chael controlled the majority of the 1st round and out struck Bisping in the 1st. Bisping held him against the cage the last minute and did nothing with it.. Bisping clearly won the 2nd, Sonnen clearly won the 3rd. 29-28 Sonnen.
alxn - January 28, 2012
Tough to see how the judge can give Sonnen round two.
What’s with him stealing the rocks speech?
AusEagle - January 28, 2012
Actually he really has been ripping off 70’s SUperstar Billy Graham for this fight:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XHXxLfvWdEA
Triplefacelocks - January 28, 2012
that was scary
Irminsul - January 28, 2012
And Sonnen's "Biggest arms, most charm, etc..."
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yatyp9s3KXM&feature=related
Atomic Salmon - January 28, 2012
The Rock?!?!?!
Try Superstar Billy Graham! see link somewhere here…
Atomic Salmon - January 28, 2012
Although I’m not a fan of his, I liked the plain ol’ crazy stuff rather than biting old wrestling soundbites.
Triplefacelocks - January 28, 2012
Was Dana judging this fight???
friendlyfoe - January 28, 2012
exactly
Can you say fixed for buy rates
MediumNog - January 28, 2012 via mobile
Had it 29-28 sonnen.
Coulda seen 29-28 bisping, but bisping was almost exclusively landing back of the head shots in the clinch.
the mexicutioners #1 fan - January 28, 2012
Wasn't it Sonnen that got the warning?
aptar - January 28, 2012
Bisping got loads of warnings for holding shorts/the fence
Didn’t hear any for back of the head.
VenusBlue - January 28, 2012
that means nothing for judging
either the ref does something or he doesn’t.
Dave Strummer - January 28, 2012
lol at doing curls in jeans in your living room
C.A.M. - January 28, 2012
Lol at JBJ swagger jacking.
malo - January 28, 2012 via mobile
yes
Bigbub - January 28, 2012
30-27 someone was paid off...
thats some F’d up Shat
Bigbub - January 28, 2012
Haywire - January 28, 2012
For some reason I want to hang with Dana now
warren305 - January 29, 2012
I watched this without looking at the site and I had it 29.28 Bisping pretty clearly. The MMA Fighting PBP guy had it 30-27 Sonnen. The shoulder strikes Sonnen landed when he had Bisping mounted were pretty much all the offense he had. I know Bisping didn’t exactly light him up either, but I thought he won
StevenGiles - January 28, 2012
You criticize Sonnen for not producing offense
While Bisping barely did anything to actually win.
discoandherpes - January 28, 2012
I don't know if you didn't notice a certain trend
During the fight, but everytime they weren’t clinching, Sonnen got a takedown. Bisping fought smartly, generated the same amount of offense as Chael, and beat him at his own game. The third round was bs too. How do you criticize a dude for wall n stall when they other fighter gets mount and a back take, and all he does are light slaps to the ears, and humps.
juanchoD - January 29, 2012 via mobile
When I found out it wasn't a split.
I thought for sure it went to Bisping. He got robbed. Chael is good at robbing people
nickrodamous - January 28, 2012
Wow, 29-28 Bisping.
Chael took the third round quite clearly, but did absolutly nothing with his takedowns in the first and second, was controlled against the cage just as equally as he controlled Bisping and lost the standing exchanges.
30-27 is just embarrassing and makes the whole thing a bit sad.
There’s only one positive from all of this and that is that the Chael Sonnen we were introduced to tonight, will be clowned hilariously by a 100% Anderson.
NE188 - January 28, 2012
True enough. But I did really like the idea of a similar thing happening to Bisping. Either way, it’ll be fun watching Andy doing his thing.
forkboy - January 28, 2012
I'm a Bisping fan
I think he’s really underrated. (I know Rogan mentioned it but i’ve said it for a while, lol). It’s bittersweet for me. I think he won that fight but at the same time it’s satisfying that alot of people are sitting here surprised at how well he did/also considering the fact he might have actually won. I didn’t know what to expect as far as his gameplan was concerned. It was an enjoyable fight to watch, but for me, it was 29-28 Bisping.
He’d get clowned by Anderson too probably but it’ll be far more satisfying for me to see Chael take another beating.
NE188 - January 28, 2012
I used to root for and enjoy Chael’s antics. I really thought his hype of the Silva/Sonnen fight was hilarious, but tonight I think he made a fool of himself tonight. Watching him post fight, I really thought I was watching pro wrestling. The gimmicky post fight routine was just too much, especially when your still getting your foot in the door with new fans brought in with the FOX deal. There needs to be a distinct line drawn between pro wrestling and MMA and I really dont think many people will take it seriously if this is how it’s portrayed.
rampage.yo - January 28, 2012
i had it 29-28 Sonnen
i dont agree that Bisping won the first round, i thought Sonnen’s second takedown won it for him.
i thought Bisping won the 2nd round pretty clearly though, so even i think 30-27 was rediculious.
justsomehawkeyefan - January 28, 2012
so
you are wrong.
nickrodamous - January 28, 2012
So
i care about your opinion?
justsomehawkeyefan - January 28, 2012
The first round was pretty much a draw.
Sean__H - January 28, 2012
Bisping didn't really produce any offense
Throught the majority of the entire fight.
Listen, Bisping is a vastly improved fighter defensively. But he didn’t do a whole lot to win that fight. Bisping and Sonnen were at a stalemate throughout most of that fight.
discoandherpes - January 28, 2012
I feel really bad for bisping, looking at his face you really saw that he thought he won the fight. he might’ve not taken this decision but he won me over as a fan. after this performance I think bisping can definitely handle the rest of the top 10
savik - January 28, 2012 via mobile
Some of you people are smoking bath salts --- clearly Sonnen won the 1st and 3rd rounds, arguably the 2nd. Bisping did no damage.
lordrelay - January 28, 2012
Neither fighter did much damage
But one seemed to land significantly more strikes. Can’t wait to see the stats.
aptar - January 28, 2012
Please elaborate on how Sonnen won a 30-27 decision?
NE188 - January 28, 2012
And damage is not a category of the Unified Rules
So you’ll have to be a little clearer in your argument.
VenusBlue - January 28, 2012
Rip off
Bisping won 29-28
Inspectorxr5 - January 28, 2012 via mobile
Man i'm really surprised
I thought this main card made up of almost nothing but wrestlers would have been super exciting thus far. Good thing Rashad vs Davis is next, neighter of those guys have been in a boring fight.
cager - January 28, 2012
you found Nog-Davis exciting?
The Lethal Haze - January 28, 2012
Almost
As exciting as the first 2 rounds of Evans vs Silva
cager - January 28, 2012
yeah... we just have different taste in MMA then.
Different strokes and all that
The Lethal Haze - January 28, 2012
Guess I should have used a different font
cager - January 28, 2012
damn that went completely over my head
Reading your original post I replied to, agreed 100%. I thought to myself earlier these are not the types of fights they want to show on Fox. Alot of the Fuel undercard was more exciting than the Fox card.
Carry on good sir. Carry on.
The Lethal Haze - January 28, 2012
Thanks
I guess ufc wants new fans to understand what mma can be. Sometimes 1st rd ko and sometimes Ufc on Fox 2. That one awesome night of fights on mainstream tv aludes MMA yet again…
cager - January 28, 2012
Great fight....
Thought it could go either way….Hope they get FOTN !!!!!!
Naztuu - January 28, 2012
judging Chael Sonnen is dangerous to your integrity
no but seriously, he reminds me of Glenn Beck … or Gaddafi … in that intellectually I think it’s an act, but my reptilian hindbrain is sending me alerts that I’m watching someone who’s completely deranged.
what I’m saying is: when they find his underground lair full of homemade blow-up dolls that look like Michael Moore and videos of him staring into funhouse mirrors while masturbating, I won’t be shocked.
mollcutpurse - January 28, 2012
Wow...
I think we cloned MMAIntelligance or whatever his name was in this thread tonight.
It was a close fight, but while I’m not upset with a victory for Sonnen, or even a split win for Bisping, I think things were tilted far enough in Sonnens favor to make the “clear 29-28 Bisping” opinion out to be completely outlandish.
Jacob Hayes - January 28, 2012
Yeah, a surprising pro-Bisping bias in this thread
While I was surprised/impressed at Bisping’s defensive grappling and TD defence, there is no chance that he won the first round.
While there was no clear dominance by either fighter, Chael controlled for the majority of the round, scored two TDs, had a good spell working Bisping against the cage and landed a solid right, the most significant blow in the stand-up.
By the same token, I was surprised at the 30-27 scorecard, sometimes it’s as if the judges space out, judge who won the fight as a whole based on a cursory impression and award a 30-27 victory accordingly.
BiscoBisco - January 29, 2012
It was a clear win for Sonnen.
He won round one and then he did more in the third round than both fighters did in the first two.
The fact he still pulled it out on his worst night proves he’s got the heart of a champion.
Akemi Homura - January 28, 2012
That Judge was clearly no Michael Bisping.
R.J MacReady - January 28, 2012
Some of you people act like you've never seen a UFC fight judged before. Takedowns give a significant point advantage to a fighter. So throw your 'score cards' away cause they don't mean anything.
lordrelay - January 28, 2012
Dana
Payed some people
LoBoTrOn - January 28, 2012
easy judging
it was at least 29-28 chael..but i could’ve seen 30-27 as well…in this type of fight the TD was worth alot more than 3 sloppy punches…there was no real big punches, so you can’t say a TD wasn’t worth more than them. Anyone who thought bisping won was only listening to Joe Rogan who must’ve had money on him. Sonnen makes silva look terrible again…
themango69 - January 28, 2012
Chael easily had the biggest punch of the whole fight with that overhand right.
Akemi Homura - January 28, 2012
This would’ve been a great 5 rounder.
originaldude - January 28, 2012
I thought Bisping won
But I don’t think this sets him much back from a title anyway. He’ll fight Munoz for a shot.
superflat - January 28, 2012
Ill throw out a draw
Really neither was overly dominant, I would have thought it would have ended a draw
kieranski - January 28, 2012
I bet he pisses hot and we find out about it in the next few weeks
rockyman500 - January 28, 2012
If he does, he’s not getting his money’s worth on those roids.
Simen - January 28, 2012
Bisping’s offense mostly consisted of leaning against Sonnen on the cage. I don’t see how anyone gave him the fight.
discoandherpes - January 28, 2012
agreed
lordrelay - January 28, 2012
Exactly
In the first Sonnen landed two takedowns, and produced more effective offense in the clinch. There wasn’t enough striking at distance to outweigh those facts. The second was close but most would argue went to Bisping. The third was 100% Chael, and if not for the last little bit of offense from Bisping, could be ruled a 10-8.
Baby Wads - January 28, 2012
Seconded
BiscoBisco - January 29, 2012
Chael won the first and third
but 30-27 is a little retarded. It’s not over the top, bad judging, but it is still pretty bad judging.
Warbreezy - January 28, 2012
I thought sonnen won the first and third. And as a whole fight like they would judge in Japan Sonnen definitely won.
J_Maddux - January 29, 2012
29-28 for Chael IMHO
I’m slightly taken aback at peeps criticising Chael for round-stealing takedowns when Bisping’s only success in this fight was some incredibly tame clinching against the cage in round 2.
Round 1 saw Chael being more effective with knees up against the cage, scoring takedowns and landing a nice right. And round 3 was obviously Chael’s.
And holy shit was Rogan head-scratchingly pro-Bisping or what?
BiscoBisco - January 29, 2012
I had it 29-28 Sonnen with Chael winning the 1st and 3rd rounds. Definitely don’t agree with the 30-27 card that was turned in.
Fight Metric has Chael winning the 1st and 3rd rounds as well. Sonnen landed 2 take downs and twice as many strikes as Bisping in the 1st round.
mjbaze - January 29, 2012
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