Michael Bisping has responded to allegations of biased commentary during the middleweight title fight between Israel Adesanya and Robert Whittaker at UFC 271.
Adesanya defeated a game Whittaker to win the rematch by unanimous decision to retain his title this past weekend at the Toyota Center in Houston, Texas. ‘The Last Stylebender’ dominated the first round, where he used stance switching and leg kicks to devastating effect, also knocking down ‘The Reaper’ with a solid left hand.
Whittaker found some rhythm in the second round, and improved as the fight progressed, landing counter shots as well as four takedowns, although he wasn’t able to hold Adesanya on the ground. The Nigerian-New Zealander remained the aggressor in the championship rounds, while the Aussie adopted a counter-attacking approach, which wasn’t enough to get him the win on the night.
The rematch between the two middleweight phenoms was certainly more competitive than their first fight at UFC 243, where Adesanya won the title by knocking out Whittaker in the second round. The former 185-pound kingpin performed better than he did the last time around, however, many fans complained about commentators, especially Bisping, being biased in favour of the current titleholder.
Michael Bisping Responds To Criticism
Taking to Twitter after the fight, Bisping rejected the allegations that he was biased, saying that he called the fight as he saw it.
“Lots of people saying I have biased commentary. That’s crazy. I called it like I saw it. Big opening round for Izzy. Then real close rounds after that, but I had Izzy winning most. 5 was Rob’s best round. 2 probably went to him also. Close fight, very technical, well done to both,” Bisping tweeted.
Bisping stepped in as a late replacement for Joe Rogan, who was supposed to commentate at UFC 271 but had to withdraw due to a ‘scheduling conflict’.
Do you believe Michael Bisping was biased in favour of Israel Adesanya at UFC 271
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