Anderson Silva vs. Michael Bisping was a fight talked about for years when both were in their prime years. Silva was a dominant champion, but Bisping couldn’t piece together enough consecutive wins to warrant a title fight. Still, it was an interesting stylistic matchup. Finally, that fight took place on Saturday at UFC Fight Night London.
The action started off slow, with Silva dodging and evading most of Bisping’s attacks. Vintage Anderson Silva started to come out, as he taunted Bisping before being rocked at the end of the first round.
This didn’t stop Silva, as he returned to his typical showboating style, albeit with a little slower reaction time than his prime years. Silva still found success with some flashy strikes until being dropped by big punches at the end of round 2. Silva recovered with some upkicks, but was down two rounds to none.
In the third round, Silva took things much more seriously, knocking Bisping’s mouthpiece out. Bisping tried to stop fighting to get the mouthpiece and got slammed with a flying knee as the buzzer rang. Mass confusion broke out, with corners thinking the fight was over, but it wasn’t.
Round four saw Silva return to earlier form, playing defense as Bisping would swing away. Silva landed big punches at the end of the round, leaving Bisping doubled over, but likely still Bisping’s round. Round five was all Silva with his signature front kick landing. The fight went the distance, with Bisping taking home a 48-47 decision, even though he never looked in control after the second round. Silva’s passive game in the early rounds cost him.
In the night’s co-main event Gegard Mousasi dominated a bout against former UFC Middleweight Title challenger Thales Leites. Highly touted prospect Makwan Amirkhani also continued his reign of terror in the UFC, earning his third straight win.
You can see the full results below:
Main card
Michael Bisping def. Anderson Silva via unanimous decision
Gegard Mousasi def. Thales Leites via unanimous decision
Tom Breese def. Keita Nakamura via unanimous decision
Brad Pickett def. Francisco Rivera via split decision
Prelim Card
Makwan Amirkhani def. Mike Wilkinson via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 30-27)
Davey Grant def. Marlon Vera via unanimous decision (30-26, 30-26, 30-26)
Scott Askham def. Chris Dempsey via KO (head kick) at 4:45 of round 1
Arnold Allen def. Yaotzin Meza via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
Krzysztof Jotko def. Bradley Scott via unanimous decision (29-28, 30-27, 29-28)
Rustam Khabilov def. Norman Parke via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
Daniel Omielanczuk def. Jarjis Danho via majority decision (29-29, 29-28, 29-28)
Teemu Packalen def. Thibault Gouti via submission (rear naked choke) at :24, Round 1
David Teymur def. Martin Svensson via TKO (punches) at 1:26, round 2
