Prior to each UFC fight card, Jay Primetown takes a look at some of the key contests at each event. In the latest installment, we look at the main event of UFC Fight Night 122 as former middleweight champion fights on home turf on Long Island for the first time in the UFC against top 10 middleweight Kelvin Gastelum.
Michael Bisping (Record: 30-8, -110 Pickem, Power Ranking: B)
The former UFC middleweight champion returns to the Octagon just weeks after losing his title to Georges St. Pierre. He had won five fights in a row including beating Anderson Silva, Luke Rockhold, and Dan Henderson back-to-back-to-back. His knockout of Luke Rockhold to win the middleweight title was one of the biggest upsets in UFC history closing as a +525 underdog on Several Bookmakers.eu. His bout at UFC Fight Night 122 is just three weeks after his bout with St. Pierre.
Michael Bisping is one of the hardest working fighters in the UFC and has been for a long time. He’s been fighting at a top ten level in the division for the better part of ten years. He’s a volume striker (4.34 significant strikes per minute) with solid hands and a strong kicking game. Outside of an all-around striking attack, his best attribute is his conditioning. Bisping quite possibly has the best work rate in the octagon of fighters in the middleweight division He’ll push for all five rounds at an excellent pace. It’s very difficult to beat Bisping by decision because he simply out works opponents with volume and strikes landed over the course of a fight. He combines that with an underrated wrestling game. Bisping’s biggest issues have been his lack of punching power. Outside of his stunning knockout win over Luke Rockhold, he has struggled to finish opponents forcing him to go all the way to the scorecards. He’s struggled with fighters who can blitz him and offer more variety on the feet. The only two times he’s been knocked out in the octagon have been to heavy hitters who excel at quick bursts against opponents; Vitor Belfort and Dan Henderson. However, in his bout most recently against St. Pierre, he was caught with a counter left hook that dropped him. Bisping himself admitted that he struggled with St. Pierre’s movement and as he’s gotten older speed has become another major issue.
Kelvin Gastelum (Record: 13-3, -155 Favorite, Power Ranking: A-)
The San Jose-born, Arizona-raised middleweight has quickly moved up the middleweight rankings beating some of the elder statesmen of the division including Vitor Belfort and Tim Kennedy. Gastelum’s momentum was stunted by Chris Weidman earlier in 2017 when he was beaten by submission. Gastelum looks to get back on the winning track at UFN 122.
The Ultimate Fighter 17 winner started his UFC career at middleweight, moved down to welterweight, and has once again moved up to middleweight. He has finally found a permanent home in the 185 pound division where he should be a contender for years to come. The 26 year old Gastelum, along with interim champion Robert Whittaker, have become perhaps the present and certainly the future of this weight class. Gastelum has proven to be a very good stand up fighter. He has excellent movement and combines strikes well. He lands at a high clip for the division at 3.86 significant strikes per minute. He combines that with excellent striking defense. Gastelum only absorbs 2.72 strikes per minute. He successfully defends 62% of strikes attempted against him. While Gastelum first appeared to be a wrestling centric fighter, he’s focused more on his striking. It’s not to say he isn’t capable of grappling and winning by submission (4 of his 13 victories are by submission), but it’s no longer his focal point. At 185 pounds, Gastelum’s conditioning has been on point and he’s been able to keep a pace that even workhorse Tim Kennedy struggled to contend with so that says a lot about the improvements Gastelum has made. As importantly, Gastelum is one of the division’s most durable fighter. He’s only been finished once in his career; a decision to Chris Weidman. His other two career losses were by split decision, so even when he loses, he’s very competitive.
Matchup
The main event of UFC Fight Night 122 pits former champion Michael Bisping as he squares off against Kelvin Gastelum in the first ever UFC event in Shanghai, China. In the cage, there are a lot of similarities between these fighters. They are both high output, high work rate fighters. Both fighters tend to set the pace in their fights, but while Bisping utilizes more kicks, Gastelum is more of a punch focused fighter. There was a wide disparity in terms of age (12 years) between these fighters. Bisping has admitted he plans to retire in March 2017 after he fights on the scheduled London card, while Gastelum is really just getting started. After Bisping lost his title earlier in November, what is his motivation in this fight? No longer holding the title and already planning his final fight, this seems like a really difficult spot for him against a fighter hungry for a win and to put himself in the title picture. Furthermore, just how ready can Bisping be given that he lost just three weeks ago. Bisping was dropped by St. Pierre in the third round and took countless elbows to the head in follow up. Bisping was cleared to fight, but he certainly took damage in that bout and three weeks is an awfully short amount of time to fully recover. The initial left hook that dropped Bisping in that third round, is a punch that Gastelum has in his arsenal. Bisping struggled with St. Pierre’s movement throughout the fight and he’ll have those same difficulties with Gastelum. Look for Gastelum to be constantly moving in this fight and then look to land in combination. It is hand speed that will really cause Bisping problems. Bisping has struggled with forward moving fighters that can land in combination. Gastelum has some of the best punch combinations in the division and will have success throughout the fight in that regard. This is a great opportunity for Gastelum to earn a marquee win and finish a fighter on short notice with little motivation to get a result. Gastelum’s hand speed will be the difference in this bout and it will earn him a knockout victory. Gastelum by KO / TKO (-105) is worthy of a straight bet and he can also be considered on the moneyline (-300) in parlays.
