Dissection by Dallas: Wanderlei Silva x Michael Bisping

Strange and outlandish perplexities are astir at the tail-end of Wanderlei Silva's career.  Within that cold and dark place lies a motley host of vile and uncouth letters; all bearing the same appalling shape, all rearing their disgustingly putrid heads in near-perfect unison, all portending the proverbial kiss of death for the waning career of a historic warrior.

Losses, and a lot of them, surround the recent footprints that Silva has left leading into his clash with Michael Bisping at UFC 110 tomorrow night.  The man who was once considered unstoppable at 205 pounds, the killer who emerged without a loss after 20 consecutive fights in Pride against the likes of Mirko CroCop, Dan Henderson, Kazushi Sakuraba (in his prime), and Quinton "Rampage" Jackson, has lost 5 of his last 6 fights.  The days are dark indeed for Wanderlei Silva and his steadfast followers.

Needless to say, I get a little dramatic when it comes to Wand, and this will not be a fair and unbiased piece.

 The underlying theme for this crucial encounter is the imperativeness for Wand to elude three-straight losses and the potential fall of the UFC's guillotine that usually accompanies such a track record, but Michael Bisping should also be subjected to a certain extent of the same pressure to sustain his relevancy.

"The Count" is on the fringe of authenticating himself as the crème de la crème of UFC fighters, and the past two instances where he stepped up against elite competition in Rashad Evans and Dan Henderson resulted in the first and only losses on his 18-2 résumé.  Falling short tomorrow night equates to the door to the "A-list Club" being slammed in Bisping's face.

This is an extremely urgent and highly pivotal fight for both men.

Critical Factors

Footwork will dictate the way this fight unfolds.  Bisping's technically-adept evasion of Chris Leben's similar stand-up onslaught has been cited as the most effective strategy for Bisping to implement, and it's hard to argue a better gameplan.  Just as we know Wanderlei will be the aggressor by wading into close-range while winging haymakers, it's just as obvious that Bisping will backpedal, circle out, and seek open space while countering with crisp punches.  Therefore, the method in which Wand measures and accounts for Bisping's retreat will play a huge role in the level of offense that he'll be able to mount.

To digress slightly, Mauricio "Shogun" Rua, the longtime friend and training partner of Wand, has exemplified what I feel is the best attack for Wand to enforce in his fights with Chuck Liddell and Lyoto Machida.  Both Chuck and Lyoto were known for cleverly circumventing a continually pressing foe by shuffling away with precise angles that cultivated opportunities for counter-striking while taking minimal damage, and Shogun adjusted his aggressive blitz of oncoming strikes to compensate for the sideways and backwards movement he knew was coming:  versus Chuck, he threw his lead left hook extra wide in anticipation of Chuck's habit of circling right to counterpunch; versus Lyoto, he dashed a few extra steps forward to engage the champion, knowing that Lyoto would attempt to match his impetus by rapidly pulling back.  It's the same philosophy of a coach telling a wrestler to shoot a takedown on an imaginary foe that's a full three paces behind the actual.

The repercussions of the new weight class is another important facet.  This is Wanderlei's first official foray at 185 pounds, and if he can bring the same magnitude of head-cleaving combinations he's brought at 205, there's a good chance he can clip the Brit and drop him like Denis Kang and Henderson did.  Alternatively, if Wand's cardio or overall exuberance is affected whatsoever by the steep plummet to middleweight, it could be the anchor that pulls him beneath the surface.

The mechanics of a ground war between the two has hardly been speculated, but should this scenario ensue, Bisping may hold the advantage here.  He's shown sharp and accurate ground-n-pound skills from the top, and he has deceptive clinch and sprawl strength that was difficult for top-shelf light-heavyweight wrestlers like Rashad Evans and Matt Hamill to deal with.  This may reside as somewhat of a wise surprise attack for Bisping if Wand starts to find his rhythm on the feet.

Conclusion

To dismantle Wanderlei Silva, a sensible and enlightening blueprint has been laid out by footwork-driven strikers like Rich Franklin and Chuck Liddell; but Bisping hasn't shown a comparable level of power to those fighters, and he made an amateur, cardinal error against Dan Henderson by circling directly into his power hand.  This leads me to believe that Wanderlei can slightly rein in the ferocity of his infallible pursuit and institute a more calculated approach, but still allow him to headhunt with guns blazing--despite the reduced forcefield surrounding his chin.  Even if Bisping racks up more points on the score cards with a higher volume of cleaner punches landed, Silva will tip the scales back into his favor by landing a few meathooks that will take precedence as the more decisive strikes in the fight, or they may even end the night early for Bisping.

Dallas' pick:  Silva by KO          The Garv's pick:  Silva by KO