Saturday, September 22 – 10:15 p.m. ET Air Canada Centre – Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Michael Bisping (22-4) vs. Brian Stann (12-4)
Middleweight bout Line: Bisping -170, Stann +140
Notorious trash talker Michael Bisping will look to put his money where his mouth is as he faces Brian Stann in the middleweight bout on UFC 152’s main card Saturday night in Toronto.
After winning four fights in a row against impressive competition, Bisping fell his last time out to Chael Sonnen in a bout that would have given him a shot at the middleweight belt. Notorious for his power, two of those four victories came via TKO. Stann is 4-1 since moving to the middleweight division in 2010, with that one loss coming as a second-round submission to Sonnen. And Bisping isn’t the only one with power in this fight—all three of Stann’s most recent wins have been knockouts. Both of these fighters have seen considerable success in UFC play with Bisping tallying a 10-4 record and Stann a 6-3 one. Ultimately, this may come down to how these two fighters have recovered from their injuries—Bisping was forced to withdraw from a previous bout with a knee injury and Stann had to do the same with a shoulder ailment. In the end, Stann has too much potential to end this fight early for the odds not to be closer. Play on the underdog STANN to take this one before the final bell.
The MMA Odds Breaker crew gives their fight predictions based on the opening lines for this bout:
Bisping gave Sonnen an incredible fight, with a controversial unanimous decision coming from the judges. In the fights prior to that, Bisping earned TKOs over Jason Miller and Jorge Rivera and decisions against Yoshihiro Akiyama and Dan Miller. Before that, he lost a decision to Wanderlei Silva. At 6-foot-2, he has an inch height advantage over Stann and is one of the best kickboxers in the sport. That explains why 14 of his 22 career wins have been knockouts. But with Stann’s counter power and the uncertainty of the injuries, play against this favorite.
Stann has won his past three fights via KO over Alessio Sakara, Jorge Santiago and Chris Leben. Before that he earned the lone submission of his career against Mike Massenzio in his middleweight debut. The former marine is also a kickboxer, but also mixes in some Jiu-Jitsu and other grappling tactics that makes his attack truly multi-dimensional. And with the power he has displayed as of late, he certainly has the potential to outfox Bisping.
