The TUF Nations Finale finally has its main event. According to FOXSports.com, Michael Bisping will meet Tim Kennedy in a five-round grudge match in the main event of the TUF Nations Finale. The event is set to take place on April 16 in Quebec City, Quebec, Canada, and it will air live on FOX Sports 1 when it does. This is going to be an awesome matchup and I absolutely can’t wait to see it go down after the pair have spent the last few months hounding each other in an entertaining fashion on social media. And the best part is, it’s not just all talk, as the fight makes a lot of sense from both a rankings and styles perspective, as well. Bisping hasn’t fought since last April, when he defeated Alan Belcher via technical decision at UFC 159 after poking Belcher in the eye in the third round. The Brit was set to take on Mark Munoz in the main event of UFC Fight Night 30 this past October in his backyard of Manchester, England, but an eye injury forced him out of the bout and he’s been on the sidelines recovering from eye surgery ever since. According to the report from FOX, Bisping and Kennnedy have verbally agreed to the matchup, but now the UFC wants Bisping to pass some more tests for his eye just to make sure he is truly 100 percent. That is expected to happen shortly, and when it does he and Kennedy will sign their bout agreements. Speaking of Kennedy, this is a huge matchup for him in his second year in the UFC. Already 2-0 in the Octagon with wins over Roger Gracie and Rafael Natal, Kennedy is one of the strongest, most well-rounded middleweights on the planet and he’s getting a huge opportunity here to jump into the top five of the division if he’s to take out Bisping in impressive fashion. Although he’s not the biggest name in the world of mixed martial arts, Kennedy is a very capable fighter and even though he will enter the bout with Bisping as the underdog, it would be silly to count him out. As far as the betting line goes, my initial thoughts are that Bisping should be favored, but I don’t think he should be more than 2-to-1 here. It’s possible that with the public hype behind the popular Bisping that the line ends up artificially higher than it should be, but I really see this as being a competitive matchup between two highly-skilled, highly-motivated middleweights and I think there’s a good chance it actually goes the full five-round distance. I’m really looking forward to this fight, and the pre-fight build-up to it is going to be absolutely fantastic. Now, let’s just hope both men are healthy enough to sign their contracts and make it all the way to April 16 unscathed.
