Union Jerk: Why Michael Bisping’s Actions Cannot Go Unpunished
In Europe a count is a nobleman and the title refers to a specific rank within the hierarchy of royalty. A count, representing the crown, should aspire to carry himself with dignity, class, and nobility. Based on even the loosest definition of the term it should now be plainly apparent that “The Count” is not an appropriate nickname for a fighter like Michael Bisping. His actions at UFC 127 are a black eye on what was otherwise an entertaining card, and the time has come for him to be held accountable for what he’s done.
It started at the weigh-ins where Bisping and opponent Jorge Rivera got into a heated face-off and had to be separated. While the camera rolled to film the event for Dana White’s video blog Bisping dropped an infamous homophobic slur towards Rivera. This word may not have the same social impact as some other vilified terms and phrases, but in the year 2011 it is not an acceptable term to use in a public setting. Of this there can be no argument. The UFC’s production team should have bleeped the word on the video blog, but more importantly Bisping shouldn’t be using it when he’s publicly representing the UFC (or at all, really).
Then we come to the fight itself. After the staredown at the weigh-ins it was clear that emotions would be running high. Regardless of that fact Bisping cannot claim that his illegal knee to Rivera in the first round was unintentional. Bisping is a veteran of more than 20 professional fights, and he has been fighting in the UFC for almost five years. He has never come close to delivering a foul like the one he gave Rivera on Saturday. He claimed in the post-fight press conference that he simply pulled the trigger too early on the knee, but that’s a laughable claim as well considering the fact that Rivera wasn’t even making an effort to get back to his feet. The fight should have been stopped right then and Bisping should have a DQ loss on his record.
Inexplicably the fight was allowed to continue and Bisping eventually “triumphed” with a TKO win in the second round. After getting the win most fighters would be gracious in victory and then proceed to make amends with their opponent for whatever bad blood may have been spilled. Instead Bisping spat at Rivera’s corner before getting in Jorge’s face to demand an apology. I don’t care if Bisping claims he was just trying to spit at the ground in front of Rivera’s corner men. It’s the complete opposite of good sportsmanship and it’s not the sort of thing the UFC should tolerate.
Can you imagine what the NFL would have done if, after winning Super Bowl XLV, Aaron Rodgers had run over to the Pittsburgh Steelers’ bench and spat on the ground in front of them? Rodgers would have probably been fined, possibly suspended next season, and the sports media would have had a field day. White is lucky that Mixed Martial Arts isn’t a bigger sport than it is right now because if that was the case then he’d see one of his homegrown stars dragged through the mud on cable sports networks and talk radio airwaves all over the world.
Some are already trying to claim that Rivera has some responsibility for this whole mess as well. These people want to point a finger at Rivera for the ethnic stereotypes he negatively portrayed in his YouTube videos while claiming that it’s somehow the same as what Bisping did this weekend, but there’s a pretty big difference there. Rivera’s videos may have been in poor taste but the only one that’s represented poorly there is Rivera himself. Bisping’s homophobic slur was on Dana White’s video blog which is posted to the UFC’s YouTube, Facebook, and Twitter accounts. His actions during the fight itself were obviously seen by millions of fans around the world. Everything Bisping did wrong was done while he was on the UFC’s dime, and as a representative of the company he failed miserably.
White and the UFC need to start holding their fighters accountable for their actions in the octagon. If a fighter is exhibiting behavior that casts the company in an unfavorable light then the company should punish that fighter. Bisping should be fined a portion of his purse and then either suspended or moved down the card for his next fight. His actions were inexcusable, despite his best efforts to make excuses for them, and the UFC needs to make sure that the rest of their roster knows what kind of behavior is expected of them. The best way to do that is to make an example out of Bisping, and I for one hope that that’s exactly what the UFC brass chooses to do.
PHOTO CREDIT – UFC
who could disagree with this?
Hot debate. What do you think?
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I touched upon this a while back when I was dabling as a mma scribe in my spare time… check it out for some more thought on bad sportsmanship in MMA…
http://fiveouncesofpain.com/2010/10/02/is-bad-sportsmanship-just-part-of-the-mma-fight-game/
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Bisping…………Let’s just drop the “o” and I think it’s right!
Michael “the Cu#t” Bisping
I think I’m done here.
Madmax
Well-Done.
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I think Rivera would’ve won that fight w/o the knee to his head!…. Any illegal strike landing that flush and hard should have a mandatory 5 minute recovery period! Its like most refs forget about that rule & pressure the hurt fighter with questions like “can you continue to fight” & “are you OK?” etc, etc…. Ask the guy after 4 1/2 minutes!!!
Hot debate. What do you think?
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Then Bisping won’t Shut Up afterwards! Really shows he’s pure euro trash!
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Hidden due to low comment rating. Click here to see.
Weak-Sauce.
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you’re bonkers, MCM. I won’t even bring up the sport-building or sterotype reinforcing arguments. The man shot bodily fluid at his opponent’s coach and you don’t think a suspension is warranted? Can you imagine any other league in any sport where this deed would go unpunished? Bisping called Rivera a “faggot” on live TV – also another easily suspendable offence in any organized athletics. How can you defend this? Bad sportsmanship’s a part of MMA? Well, ya if it goes without discipline, sure. And weren’t you sounding off on Lesnar after 100?
Hot debate. What do you think?
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totally agree MCM.
also i’ve had the misfortune of meeting Michael a few times, long before he was a UFC fighter, and can confirm that he is, indeed, a cunt. cant stand him as a person, however his actions, while unadvisable, weren’t particularly severe.
“After getting the win most fighters would be gracious in victory and then proceed to make amends with their opponent”
see now i totally disagree with that. if a guy has been berating and insulting you for weeks, and you’ve just kicked his arse, i can fully side with the flipping a of a bird and saying ‘why the fuck am i gonna shake your hand, fucker?’ maybe in time you can make amends, but not every one is the same. and i agree fully with michaels actions of demanding an apology after the fight.
on the note of lets make an example out of him, maybe if the UFC had made an example out of Dan Henderson for his nasty second punch on Bisping 18 months ago, especially seeing as how he admitted it right after the fight that he knew he was out but felt like punching him one more time anyway, maybe if they had suspended him and docked him pay todays fighters may have learned the lesson? i guess thats ok cos Bisping’s a cunt and everyone loved seeing him catching a vicious, leaping, life threatening punch like that.
UFC could have taken these actions years ago on multitudes of fighters. maybe they should take a stance against steroid users too? and sack them? for ever? naaaaaaaah, right?
Hot debate. What do you think?
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How could they make an example out of Hendo that punch was LEGAL bottom line… Do I think Hendo was concerned for Bispings safety.. umm no BUT he was well with in the rules of the sport sooo therefore no harm no foul. It’s not the fighters job to stop the fight… and it’s not his job to gauge his opponents ability to defend himself intelligently. There’s many ways to look at all this but that’s not one of them.
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bigbadjohn,
I don’t remember sounding off on Lesnar after UFC 100, but I sure as hell did after the Herring fight. I called him a “dick” and “unsportsman like” and a few other things. But I never said he should have his pay docked or that he should be suspended. I don’t think anyone is gonna argue that Bisping is not a dick, that’s pretty evident. But being a dick is not and should not be punishable by suspension.
hindsightufuk,
Right on Man. I was gonna bring up the Hendo fight too. As Adam Tool said in the article, Bisping is a veteran of 20+ pro fights, well Hendo was a veteran of 30+ fights and he intentionally delivered a skull crushing blow to an unconscious opponent. Call it legal all you want Rece, but Hendo went out of his way to mess up a guy that talked a ton of shit to him for months. All Bisping did was spit in the direction of several people that went out of their way to talk a ton of shit to him for months.
Look. Michael Bisping is a dick. He talks a ton of trash about other opponents, but can’t take it when they talk back. He’s sensitive. But everyone is blowing this shit WAY out of proportion. Nothing he did after that fight was actionable, and to have Jorge’s crew demanding action and half the damn MMA “journalist” demanding action is ridiculous in my opinion.
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I am with you all the way MCM and Hindsight, no way should Bisping have spit on Jorges cornner or hit him with the illegal knee- which was completly on pourpose- but it isnt even close to warenting a suspension. After all the shit Jorge talked Bisping backed it up and then some, I cannot recall one other time he acted like that post fight so I would attribute it to all the shit Jorge talked and call it a day.
Props to Jorge though for hanging in there after a very hard illegal knee that could have rightfully been the end of the fight.
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Gus Johnson says “Sometimes these things happen in MMA”.
Sorry it had to be done.
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Thanks for reading everyone.
@MCM If Bisping’s actions went unpunished then that sets the precedent for this type of behavior to be repeated. What happens if another fighter chooses to spit at his opponent’s corner and then those corner men initiate a cage wide brawl? Letting these actions go unnoticed opens the door for more problems. Punishing Bisping sends a clear message to the rest of the roster that this type of behavior is not to be tolerated.
@hindsightufuk What happened in the Hendo fight is nothing like what happened here. Hendo was well within the rules to punch Bisping again before the referee stopped it. Based on what he said afterwards I think the UFC would have been within their right to slap some sort of punishment on Hendo, but it’s not as though he was flagrantly violating any rules. You can’t say the same for Bisping. If he didn’t want to squash the beef after the fight then that’s his choice, but spitting at the corner and getting in Jorge’s face only serves to escalate the situation
The long and short of it is that if Dana White really wants the UFC to be the biggest sport in the world he needs to make sure his athletes are conducting themselves in a manner that does no harm to the company’s image. Clearly White realizes this as well as he’s already confirmed to Mike Chiappetta that Bisping will be punished for his actions.
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The kind of ideology that defends spitting on an opponent or their coaches prior, during or after ANY sporting event is what hurts combat/ high contact sports. I can’t believe I’m sitting here reading this from MCM and others whom opinions are usually carefully thought-out and which use reason and precedent. How can you let fighters literally spit on their competition and yet defend their sportsmanship to millions of MMA haters, comparing our sport to any other? You can not. What if Bisping pissed on Rivera’s corner? Sounds absurd, but saliva isn’t any less dangerous than urine, so what gives?
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much as we disagree i’m pleased 5oz has picked itself up with some decent articles and a bunch of intelligent readers (mostly) who can discuss this stuff with out assuming everyone with a different opinion is new to the sport and ends every post with the word /THREAD
i know the Henderson thing wasnt the same at all, its just one of many examples you could give for the UFC not cracking down on actions inside or outside of the cage that would help give this sport a better name in the mainstream
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“I can’t believe I’m sitting here reading this from MCM and others whom opinions are usually carefully thought-out and which use reason and precedent.”- BBJohn
WORD !!!
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Stop comparing team sports to fighting, the atmosphere and mentality is totally different.
While I do think Bisping acted like a douche bag but to say Jorge’s corner didn’t instigate any of those acts with their videos and putting the blame squarely on Bisping is unfair.
What would happen if the Miami heat dressed up as a bunch of leprechauns making fun of irish people in an attempt to piss off the Boston Celtics? They would be fined etc….
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The most fitting punishment Dana and Co. could give Bisping right now would be to match him up with Sonnen for his next fight. It would show the fraud he is as a fighter and the trash talking leading up to the fight would be mind blowing. He could barely handle Riviera’s weak attempt at trash talk…Sonnen will make his head explode.
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I dont see how bisbing can still be so disrespectful after he caught hendo’s h bomb flush.
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If Bisping gets punished for actions done after the fight, will Jorge get punished for actions done before the fight? Yes, spitting could insight a riot from the opposite camp, but going onto the worlds most public forum and insulting a man, his family and his nationality, could wind up putting you in the hospital. Was one misplaced piece of spittle done in the heat of the moment, so much worse than weeks worth of carefully planned and executed public humiliation.
Everyone seems to focus so much on one little incident that they are forgetting every other time Bisping was able to keep himself in check. He kept cool when the vids first came out, he even asked Jorge to stop them now that the match was official, but Jorge just made a video about that. He got into his face at the weigh ins, but never raised his fist to him even though you could tell he wanted to. Even riding his adrenalin high after the fight, he still never took a shot or raised his hands to Jorge even though he got close enough for Jorge to half way hug him.
And at the end of the day, he did hug it out with Jorge and he did apologize for his outburst. For taking so much verbal abuse and humiliation for so long, I think he showed a tremendous amount of self control.
for the record, I am not now, nor have I ever been a Bisping fan. And this will be my last post on the subject as I have devoted far to much time today to defending his ass.
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First off, I have to say the Bisping is the most gigantic douchebag in the UFC. I have no respect for him as a person much less a fighter. He is utterly classless and I am more than glad that the UFC is going to punish him, and I hope it is harsh. Then when whatever action they take is completed, they have to match him up with Sonnen. I want this for two very obvious reasons, Sonnen is the trash talking king and two he will literally annihilate Bisping.
To compare Riveras pre-fight actions to Bispings in fight and post fight actions is laughable, they are not even in the same country let alone ball park. Other fighters have been attacked personally and simply enter the cage, destroy their opponent and that is the end of it. Bisping CLEARLY cheated his way to victory…not once but TWICE….he grabbed the cage for all he was worth to stop the take down and absolutley kneed Rivera to the head on purpose that was no accident. Any other fighter had they made a legit mistake would have been apolegetic right away….not Bisping the Douche King….he celebrated it and berated Rivera.He should of had his sorry ass disqualified right then and there, if Jones got DQ’d for the elbow the knee should have gotten the same….His classless douchebaggery after the fight was so over the top I cannot understand how anyone could defend him in any way.
I do not want him cut from the UFC only so that I can watch Sonnen destroy him…..I would say let Anderson do it, but Bisping in no way deserves a title shot in any world even if only to see Silva kick his head clean off his shoulders….It is really to bad that he is the poster boy for MMA in the UK, as there are clearly much better representatives the UK has to offer…..
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I think this whole thing is being blown way out of priportion. First off I don’t condone Bisping spitting at the corner but the rest of it he was well within boundries to do. Rivera had been making derogatory comments about Bisping for months. How is making comments about a mans nationality and character any less wrong then calling a guy a faggot. Fine Bisping his win bonus for the spit and call it a day.
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The illegal knee is what it is, an action that took place during the fight and what happened after that was the responsibility of the referee and other officials NOT Bisping. However Bispings actions after the fight were inexcusable and I believe that he should face some sort of punishment for his disgusting behaviour.
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Bisping should be fined and suspended. He’s not a true martial artist. Besides the fouls you mentioned, he also intentionally grabbed the fence to prevent Jorge from sweeping him. The illegal knee was blatant. Instead of showing any remorse for the knee, he starts calling him names and raising his clapping hands to the crowd to egg Jorge into continuing. He already gets treated better than any other fighter by the UFC and he pays them back with him being an idiot all the time. He is one of the few fighters to get easy fights. He loses to a contender, and then gets fights he should win to build him back up so they have him for England shows. At his point, he’s not needed to be big in the U.K. Dana should treat him like any other fighter. Make him fight only contenders, he will lose 2-3 times in a row, and then cut him. Preferable in the order of Sonnen, Marquardt, and then Vitor.
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Paulo stay out of my head dude. I dont know what else to add????? Shit you even have the order of fights the same as I have it. Thats just wired man. Just damn wired.
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Me thinks Mr. Tool doth protest too much…
MMA’s “image” will survive unscathed, as has boxing after many much more outrageous conflagrations in the ring. Fine Bisping and let’s move on. Next fight…
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