April 16′s main event pits British Ultimate Fighter winner Michael Bisping against former Strikeforce contender Tim Kennedy in a middleweight clash that is ripe with bad blood.
With the Canadians and Australians all wrapped up on this season’s “The Ultimate Fighter: Nations,” it’s time to get ready for the April 16 finale when the tournament finalists and coaches clash in Quebec, Canada.
The real draw, of course, should be the main event and there’s some bad blood in this one.
The TUF Nations headliner features a middleweight bout between British Ultimate Fighter winner Michael “The Count” Bisping (25-5) and former Strikeforce contender, Tim Kennedy (17-4).
The two fighters haven’t thrown a single punch yet but it hasn’t stopped the two middleweights from throwing a few verbal ones instead.
The former Green Beret has taunted Bisping, calling him an “idiot” and accusing him of being a “dirty fighter.”
Meanwhile, the Brit has thrown his own barbs, suggesting Kennedy’s fight game is limited and even calling him a “queer” - much to the ire of the American who suggested that Bisping is “homophobic.”
No matter whose side you plan on rooting for Wednesday, one thing is for sure, this fight should be explosive.
Both fighters are near contender status and a big victory could boost the winner into title contention.
The former Ultimate Fighter winner, Bisping, has been hovering around the top of the middleweight division for years, dispatching tough challengers such as Chris Leben, Brian Stann and Alan Belcher.
Bisping has impressively avoided 71% of strikes during his eight-year career in the UFC and has won 14 of his victories by knockout.
Kennedy’s strengths, however, are on the mat.
Of the American’s 17 victories eight have been by submission, as Kennedy has used his wrestling game to bring down and submit opponents such as Trevor Smith and Zach Cummings.
Both fighters have their specialties but generally speaking they are fairly well-rounded as Bisping hasn’t been afraid to mix things up on the ground and Kennedy had a brutal one-punch knockout of Rafael Natal in his last fight.
However, two factors will likely play the biggest roles in the outcome of this fight; Bisping’s ring rust versus Kennedy’s relative inexperience.
Bisping is coming off an eye-injury he sustained during training for a scheduled fight against Mark Munoz back in October and hasn’t fought since UFC 159, where he defeated Alan Belcher and coincidentally poked his eye.
Ring rust is no joke and more than a few fighters have come back stiff in their returns after long absences.
Kennedy’s inexperience is just as big of an issue, however.
The American may be 34-years-old but he hasn’t faced quite the same level of talent as Bisping.
Defeating the likes of Rafael Natal isn’t anything to be ashamed of but they pale in comparison to Bisping’s pedigree of UFC opponents.
And when Kennedy has faced high level opponents, such as former Strikeforce champions Luke Rockhold and Ronaldo Souza, he has come out the loser each time.
Kennedy is on the rise for sure but Bisping, ring rust or not, is a huge step up in competition.
For this reason alone, I have to go with “The Count.”
Bisping’s experience is huge in a fight like this and each time an upstart has come his way, such as Alan Belcher, Brian Stann and Jason Miller, he’s sent them all packing.
He’s considered by many to be a gatekeeper to the middleweight division and for good reason as his last two losses were all by future contenders (Vitor Belfort and Chael Sonnen) and it deserves mentioning that of his five losses, three of those have been to TRT users (Including the two I just mentioned).
I see Bisping utilizing his boxing to out strike Kennedy and keep him on the outside enroot to a decision victory in “The Count’s” return to the octagon.
Bisping may be a polarizing figure in the UFC but there is no denying his talent and unfortunately for Kennedy it may send him back down the middleweight ladder.
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