PARK: Michael Bisping brought crowd back after Dan Hardy's loss at UFC 120; doesn't want to face an opponent coming off of a loss

By: Chris Park, MMATorch UK Specialist

The London O2 Arena came to complete standstill on Saturday night as both Dan "The Outlaw" Hardy and Carlos "The Natural Born Killer" Condit threw simultaneous left hooks during the first round of their UFC 120 co-main event. The image of both shots coming in was reminiscent of Paul Daley vs. Dustin Hazelett, and the result was also a more than similar sight.

Both hooks landed at the exact same time, only one was harder and came armed with twice the accuracy. Ask any of the capacity crowd who they would put their money on in such a 50/50 exchange and the vast majority would have backed home-favourite Dan Hardy.

But that wasn't the case, and a gasp echoed throughout the Arena as Hardy went limp from the shot and fell to the canvass. Hardy pushed his chin up to keep himself in the fight, but ultimately placed his jaw on a shelf for the approaching Condit who rushed in to deliver an extra couple of shots to finish things off.

Hardy was dealing with the first knockout loss of his career, and when asked by Joe Rogan as to what went wrong Hardy humorously replied, ?I got punched in the face.?

With the O2 Arena in a state of shock from Hardy's loss, it was down to original British poster boy Michael Bisping to give the home crowd something to cheer about.

No sooner had the clock started ticking when Akiyama landed a solid right hand. The shot was hard and rocked Bisping, but the Brit took it well, going into retreat mode before covering up effectively. Bisping came forward to display superior technical striking, mixing up takedowns and successfully nullifying any attempts from Akiyama to impose his world class Judo game.

As the fight wore on, Akiyama appeared to wear down while Bisping showed why he is known to have some of the best cardio in the sport. Bisping headed back to his corner after the second round knowing that, despite a late flurry from Akiyama, in all likelihood he had taken both rounds. Also in the back of his head was that, should he keep out of harm's way for the final round, the fight was his.

Bisping refused to go into retreat mode and didn't try to take Akiyama down, which many Octagon-side spectators felt he should in order to secure the fight; instead "The Count" traded with "Sexyama," landing huge shots that would see many a man crumble. An accidental low blow left Akiyama rolling on the canvass in agony, and at one point it looked like he may take this opportunity of a way out.

As Akiyama returned to his feet Bisping apologised as the mutual respect that these two men shared for one another continued into the final minutes. Bisping kept pushing forward, picking Akiyama apart with almost everything he threw and finding success. As the sticks sounded for the closing stages both men swung wildly, but Bisping took the win and did so in style.

Bisping was triumphant in what will go down as his most impressive career performance to date. Since his loss to Dan Henderson, Bisping has gone 3-1, with all four fights being very strong performances. So strong that the Brit is now pushing for a No. 1 contender eliminator with another of the division's elite.

Speaking exclusively to MMATorch immediately after the post fight press conference, Bisping stated, ?Other than the Dan Henderson fight, that?s the only fight I have lost at middleweight. I know it?s controversial to say that but I feel like I beat Wanderlei Silva. Other than that I?ve beaten Wanderlei, Denis Kang, Dan Miller and now Akiyama. There's other guys out there in the same position; I think one more good fight against one of those guys, and if I get the win, it puts me there.?

One fight that could provide that final step towards the title shot could be whoever comes up short in next month's No. 1 contender eliminator between Nate Marquart and Yushin Okami. When presented with the idea Bisping was less than keen - to say the least.

"I don't really wanna fight the loser," Bisping said, "I wouldn?t mind fighting the winner but I don't really wanna fight losers. I wanna fight winners; if they have just lost a fight then they're not doing anything for me. Get to the back of the line."

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Chris Park is the MMATorch UK Specialist and guest columnist at ESPN.co.uk. Please email any comments or questions to Chris at: mmatorchuk@gmail.com or look us up at http://www.facebook.com/mmatorchuk2 our new MMATorch Facebook home for UK Fans!

[Michael Bisping art by Cory Gould (c) MMATorch.com]

Source: http://www.mmatorch.com/artman2/publish/ukscene/article_7221.shtml

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