November 15, 2009
A Bitter Sweet "Fight of the Night" for Kang.
Bisping and Kang both received the "Fight of the Night" bonus for their back and forth bout at UFC 105. A bout that saw Bisping get dropped early in the first round but pull off a successful fight stoppage late in the second.
Here's how it went down.
Round 1.
Bisping took the center of the Octagon early keeping Kang on the outside. After a minute of measuring each other up, Bisping seemed anxious to get inside and lunged forward right into a glancing over hand right that buckled his legs and sent him to the Canvas. Coming in for the kill Kang ended up in the Bispings guard, however Bisping recovered enough to avoid any solid blows. Both fighters worked hard countering each others attack. Bisping showed some good hip work keeping Kang from holding a dominant position for long. At one point Kang was able to take mount but was unable to capitalize.
Round 1 - Kang
Round 2.
In the first 2 minutes both fighters measured each other up with Kang getting the better of the exchanges. Not wanting to risk getting caught by the right hand again, Bisping executed a well timed take down that took the BJJ black belt to the ground. Bisping began a flurry punches from the top keeping Kang extremely busy in the guard. Bisping landed a few glancing shots but nothing significant. Kang however looked worn down when finally managed to get to his feet. Sensing Kangs exhaustion, Bisping continued his attack. Knowning Kang was still dangerous on his feet, Bisping took Kang down again. Kang rose to his feet again backing Bisping up with a few tired but heavy swats. Bisping went for a third take down and continued swinging. Kang covered up from any heavy blows, he showed his heart and stood yet again. But Bisping showed no sign of letting up. Referee Dan Miragliotta sensed the exhausted Kang could no longer defend himself and stopped the fight at 4:24 of the second round.
TKO - Bisping.
As in the debut fight against Belcher, it seemed Kang ran into cardio problems once again.
Denis's cornerman Bill Mahood responed, "I dont know what happened. I think Jet Lag had a big part in it. It's something we haven't been able to solve for the trans-atlantic fights. We thought 5 days would be enough. Denis had a great (weight) cut and was in good shape. Cannot think of why he got so tired so fast. I dont want to sound like we're making excuses or want anything to be construed that way. We're just not sure what's happening with his cardio despite having a great camp."
Two things can be drawn from this fight. We now know Bisping has a suspect chin that will likely be his barrier to the middle weight title and Kang needs to reassess his cardio issues that seem to be plaguing him since he came to the UFC. Tough night for the Canadian – no doubt it's one he’ll want back.