Michael Bisping Confirmed

 

January 29, 2005

Ponds Forge Centre

 Sheffield, England

 

 

Special Thanks go out to Ian Dean and Cagewarriors.com for the following article:

 

UK powerhouse Michael “The Count” Bisping looks to start 2005 with a bang in his

 Cage Kickboxing debut against David Brown at the Ultimate Fight Club Show

at Ponds Forge, Sheffield this Saturday  

 

Sheffield, UK  January 27, 2005 - Not since the early days of the UK MMA scene has someone made such

an impact in his debut year as Bisping amassed five straight wins in MMA (two of which were potential fights

of the year). All this happened despite a quiet start on the MMA circuit which saw him go to 2-0 with two sub

90 second wins on the undercards of smaller shows in the 1st quarter of 2004.  

 

However, Michael shot to fame when he appeared on Sky Sports in an epic two round war against the gritty

and experienced London striker Mark Epstein where he claimed the Cage Rage title and began his

lightening quick journey to the top of the Light-Heavyweight UK MMA tree.  This epic encounter which

memorized the crowd and tested Bisping to the limit as he survived an opening onslaught from the granite

jawed Londoner and showed some neat ground defense for a big man before taking the fight by the scuffle of

the neck in round 2 and unleashed a devastating battery of offensive power against Epstein which forced the

stoppage and gave “The Count” the Title as Bisping was about to tee off at Epstein’s head with another

unanswered knee.  

 

Bisping then racked up another quick victory before he took on Epstein again in November. Bisping

successively defended his title in another crowd pleasing display of striking as he controlled the fight with

some excellent boxing skills which frustrated Epstein.  Despite a late leg kick which wobbled the

Nottingham based star, Bisping finally managed to connect with a counter which sent the Londoner crashing

to the mat and subsequently sent Bisping's stock sky high. 

 

Now undefeated in MMA with a record of 5-0, Bisping looks to solidify his reputation in 2005 and now aims to

further increase his reputation in the kickboxing world by making his debut in Cage Kickboxing. However,

Bisping is no stranger to the Kickboxing circuit as in 2004, he won the British super-heavyweight WAKO belt

after defeating Coventry’s Barrington Patterson in Spring 2004.   

 

Now Bisping faces a different test in a different arena as he steps inside the now famous 32ft CWFC

Octagon, which is being used for this event, when he takes on David Brown who is trained by the

Cagewarriors North organizer Paul Murphy.   

 

Brown, who is also making his Cage Kickboxing debut, has shown that he likes to mix it up standing in

previous performances at both UK Storm and at the Goshin Ryu Championships.  His MMA record is 1-1

having been stopped at UK Storm by his corner who failed to stem the flow of blood from Brown’s nose and

mouth, although the event report stated that he "seemed fit and most importantly willing to continue." 

 

But despite that loss, Brown answered the 11th hour call from matchmaker Dougie Truman, and is willing

to take this "Rocky-esque" opportunity after Bisping's original international opponent unfortunately had to pull

out.  

 

Also appearing on the inaugural Ultimate Fight Club show will be the rampant welterweight powerhouse Paul

“Semtex” Daley (6-0 in Hybrid kickboxing bouts) as he takes on the one and only Paul “Hands of Stone”

Jenkins.  Jenkins, who is one of the best known and most active UK MMA fighters, is also an experienced

kickboxer in his own right.  These two athletes take each other under Cage Kickboxing rules in a repeat of

their September 18th Cagewarriors 8 MMA clash in which Daley won by KO in the main event.  

 

The undercard also features two other rematches as Daley’s Roughouse Gym team mate Dan Hardy looks

to revenge the submission defeat he suffered in his Professional MMA debut against the versatile Lee Doski

from the Tsunami gym.  Hardy has been in scintillating form in the UK and opened Cagewarriors 9 in

“xtreme” style with a 13 second KO win over the North East’s Arran Barrow.  Doski will yet look to avoid

Hardy’s offensive and take the fight to the floor where he won by rear naked choke last time out.   

 

The Ultimate Fight Club UK also sees another rematch in MMA action as Mark “Spenna” Spencer looks

to even the score against Team Savage’s Ollie Ellis who walked away with the glory in their first encounter

via judges’ decision after 15 minutes of action at Cagewarriors 8.  This card will feature a total of eight

exciting MMA and Cage Kickboxing matches. 

 

To view the full card go to http://www.cagewarriors.com/page.asp?ID=713

 

To buy your tickets online for this event go to http://www.cagewarriors.com/ufcticket.asp or contact the

Ticket hotline on 0800 389 0223.  Standard Tickets are still available at £20/ £25.

 

And stayed tuned to www.cagewarriors.com as we will be bringing you all the fallout from the first Ultimate

Fight Club show this Saturday night in Sheffield.

 

PRESS RELEASE BY: Ian Dean and cagewarriors.com (with a little editing from us, color, highlights, etc...)

 

For more information (or to report errors and omissions) please e-mail the CWFC News/Media Manager Ian

Dean at iandean@cagewarriors.com

  

 

(1/28/05)