Michael Bisping survived a wild ending to the third round and beat Anderson Silva with a unanimous decision in the main event of UFC Fight Night 84 on Saturday night.
Silva, and numerous ringside officials, thought Silva had won the fight near the end of the third round after Silva knocked down Bisping with a Muay Thai knee just before the bell. Before the blow, Bisping (18-7) had signalled to referee Herb Dean after losing his mouthpiece, and Dean ruled the fight would continue to the fourth round. To add to the tension, Bisping was struck with a low-blow, while Silva (16-3) was inadvertently poked in the eye.
Read more: Omar Al Raisi's pre-UFC Fight Night 84 interview with Michael Bisping
Bisping was bleeding from several cuts on his face by the end, but the final scorecard had him winning unanimously 48-47.
“I wanted this fight my entire life,” Bisping said. “I don’t know what to say. I’m crying.
“I worship this guy. This guy is the greatest martial artist of all-time. That’s why I’m so emotional right now.”
Earlier, Gegard Mousasi landed the majority of significant strikes in his war of attrition with Thales Leites, coming out on top via unanimous decision after three rounds of lacklustre action.
“My standup was better,” Mousasi said. “I played it smart because (in) the last fight, I took chances, and I paid for it.”
Tom Breese’s victory over Keita Nakamura showed neither man in a positive light, with the outsized Nakamura mostly holding on to the Englishman, and Breese hardly looking like a fighter with a previous 9-0 record in MMA competition.
“It was very frustrating,” Breese said. “I told everyone, this guy’s a tough guy. ... I’ve got to get more cage time.”
In the opening contest of the main card, Londoner Brad Pickett took a split decision victory over Francisco Rivera. The American was picking off “One Punch” in the first round, landing accurate blows, but Pickett rebounded in the second and controlled the fight on the ground in the third.
“I want to be someone within the sport, and if I felt I couldn’t compete – not just compete at the level but win at this level – then I would’ve hung my gloves up tonight,” an emotional Pickett said. “I had a lot of inner demons that I was fighting, and I am so happy to come away with the win.”
On the preliminary card, Davey Grant beat Marlon Vera by unanimous decision despite suffering a nasty forehead cut in the first round, while Makwan Amirkhani made it three wins out of three in the UFC with a unanimous decision win over Mike Wilkinson.
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