After tons of smack talk, the Michael Bisping-Jorge Rivera ended in a TKO win for Bisping, and featured an illegal knee and poor sportsmanship at UFC 127 in Australia.
Bisping made the first effective move, taking down Rivera after a minute but the fight didn't stay on the ground. Bisping got another takedown but as he returned to his feet, Rivera was on two knees, and Bisping threw a clearly illegal knee. The bout was stopped as the doctors tended to a visibly shaken Rivera. The fight was allowed to continue after Rivera said he was OK to continue, and one point was deducted from Bisping's score from the first round.
When the bout started again, Bisping started swinging for the fences, but the strikes weren't effective. His takedowns were. As the round ended, the two started to jaw at each other, echoing their scene at Friday's weigh-ins.
Rivera started the second round by tagging Bisping, who then dropped down to try for a takedown. He couldn't finish it, but he then landed punch after punch. Rivera tried to cover up but he finally fell to the ground, and the fight was stopped at 1:54 in the second.
The drama didn't end there, though. Bisping yelled and spit at Rivera's corner, then yelled at Rivera to apologize and said, "Go home, loser!" as referee Marc Goddard pushed Bisping away from Rivera, who was being tended to by medical personnel. It was an odd show of bad sportsmanship, as fighters generally hug and congratulate each other after their bouts. He backtracked a few seconds later, saying the emotion got to him.
"I apologize. I just got a little worked up, and Jorge touched a few nerves. I'm a sensitive guy," Bisping said.
Unfortunately, it's hard to tell if Bisping would have won so easily had it not been for the knee, which landed flush on Rivera's face. This fight ups his record to 21-3, and Rivera is now at 19-8, but it's hard not to discount this fight from both fighters' records.
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