Dana White: 'I had Bisping two rounds to one'

source: The Underground

In terms of signficance, the most important fight at last night's UFC on FOX 2 was Chael Sonnen vs. Michael Bisping - the winner would go on to meet Anderson Silva, the undisputed pound for pound best in the sport.

The decision, which went to Chael Sonnen, was controversial.

While there was fervent disagreement on the other side, by a reasonable margin fans felt the decision was the correct one. Among those who thought the decision did reflect what happened is UFC President Dana White.

"I actually, I did score that fight, I had Bisping two rounds to one," said White to Ariel Helwani in a UFC on Fuel TV post-fight interview. "I was actually saying before the fight, this isn’t a five to one underdog. Bisping wrestled with Rashad, the way Bisping wrestled with Hamil. There is debate as to who won the Hamill fight. He was in there with Hamill. Bisping has great wrestling, good stand up and great submissions, too."

Sonnen too thought that Bisping might have won.

“The only round I knew I had was the third,” Sonnen admitted at the post-fight press conference. “I thought I might have had one of the first two, but I didn’t know I had it.

“That was my goal, was to win a controversial split decision. So I was a little disappointed that it was unanimous.”

“I said (to Michael Bisping prior to the winner announcement), ‘Hey, what do you think?’ And he said, ‘I don’t know, I think I might have gotten the first two.’ I said, ‘Yeah, you might be right.’

“That doesn’t mean I disagree with the judges. They were close rounds. Even a 30-27, I would agree he should have gotten a round in there somewhere. You can have a 30-27 fight that is still a very close 30-27. If it would have gone the other way, I don’t know if I’d be complaining.”

However, when a fight is left in the judges hands, no one's opinion matters but theirs, and it is Chael Sonnen who will go on to face Anderson Silva for the world middleweight championship.

In addition, the often eerily accurate Fight Metric had Sonnen as the winner.

Few disagree that Chael Sonnen held the edge in grappling. He got four takedowns on seven attempts, a pass to half-guard, and one to Bisping's back. By contrast Bisping was only successful on one takedown.

Striking was a bit of a surprise, Sonnen actually outlanded Bisping in both total strikes (135-102) and significant strikes (40-30). The only area "The Count" had the advantage was in head strikes, in which he landed one more (80-79).