It was recently announced by Dana White that Michael Bisping will in fact be facing Dan Henderson at UFC 100 on July 11th. Many have argued this will serve as the main event for the pay per view being that after the reality show both fighters will be in the public’s eye. I disagree and think this fight will serve as the third fight from the end behind Georges St-Pierre vs. Thiago Alves and the yet unannounced main event.

That being said I wanted to spend some time breaking down this matchup to see if Mr. Bisping even has a chance in this fight.

Michael Bisping over his last 3 fights has looked outstanding. All 3 fights were at the weight class this fight will take place in Middleweight. Michael had been having trouble at 205 losing to Rashad Evans by Decision in late 2007 and getting beat up pretty bad by Matt Hamil that summer. Since his move Michael has run through the likes of Charles McCarthy, Jason Day and Chris Leben. Combined these opponents are 45 and 17 so they are fairly impressive, but something keeps telling me that Bisping is outmatched in this fight. So let’s begin with where Bisping can win this fight…
Stand Up/Boxing. As Michael Bisping demonstrated against brawlers like Chris Leben his standup is crisp and on point. He continued to frustrate Chris Leben by going in and out landing strikes moving away. I think Dan Henderson is very similar to Chris Leben when it comes to standup. He’ll brawl with you if given the opportunity, especially if you are Wanderlei Silva. I think if Bisping can keep this fight standing he could win on points. You aren’t going to knock Dan Henderson out on July 11th simply because Dan Henderson has never been knocked out in his career. Never.
So where can Bisping lose this fight?
On the ground, being out wrestled and out gunned on cardio. Dan Henderson has continually demonstrated that when gets in trouble he simply takes you down and either holds you or begins his ground and pound. Rich Franklin just experienced it in Ireland in January. Henderson also has shown he can go into deep water and not tire, see his fight against Rampage Jackson or his knockout of Wanderlei Silva.
We’ll see what vegas thinks when the betting line is announced for UFC 100, but my thoughts are -200 Dan Henderson and +135 for Michael Bisping.