4 Main Card Predictions For UFC Fight Night: Bisping vs. Le

1. Michael Bisping vs. Cung Le

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1gTKtIPckIo Weight Class: Middleweight Always the bridesmaid, never the bride has been the way of things thus far in the career of the UK's own Michael Bisping (24-6). "The Count" has been granted multiple title eliminators, and each time he has been within reach of a title shot, he has lost - and often lost badly. He's coming off a loss in April to Tim Kennedy at the Ultimate Fighter Nations: Canada vs, Australia finale, in a fight that headlined the card and saw Bisping dominated by Kennedy's strong wrestling. Wrestling won't be an issue with Le - Le is a flashy striker who will look to kick Bisping right back out of Asia on Saturday. Which gives the British fight a better chance to establish his game plan. It should be pointed out, however, that Bisping does not have a win over an active UFC fighter since 2010; all of the opponents since his fight with Yoshihiro Akiyama that he has been able to overcome have retired from the sport. For his part, Cung Le (9-2) is almost a part-time fighter, despite being a former Strikeforce champion. Le dabbles in movies, and hasn't set foot in the octagon since November 2012, where he unleashed one of the greatest one-punch knockouts in recent memory against Rich Franklin. Overall, Le is 2-1 since coming to the UFC from Strikeforce, but the 42 year old fighter has stayed busy outside of the cage, playing the Dana White role at The Ultimate Fighter: China. Ring rust will be a real issue here, but Le will always have a puncher's - or kicker's - chance. That said, this is a fight Bisping should win, and with no title shot riding on it, there shouldn't be too much pressure. His cardio and ability to press the pace and move forward should be the deciding factor here; Le's cardio is suspect, and you can expect him to tire past the second round. Of course, the danger for Bisping is that he gets caught early, in a Rich Franklin-style highlight, and it's very possible, but it's more likely that Bisping controls this fight from start to finish. If he does not, Bisping will likely never get back to any sort of relevance past gatekeeper in the middleweight division. This is his fight to lose, and the future is really in his hands. Should Le win, on the other hand, I wouldn't be surprised if he retired, going out on a high note and a three fight win streak, unless an extremely lucrative fight was placed in front of him. Le is paid well thanks to his old Strikeforce contract, but has other options to make a living; who knows how much longer he wants to put his body through fight camps. In a five round fight I can see Le tiring and getting swarmed, so I'm calling Bisping in the fourth by TKO (volume strikes).