QUOTABLES: Rashad Evans believes Michael Bisping would be competitive against UFC Middleweight Champ Anderson Silva

By: Jamie Penick, MMATorch Editor-in-Chief

"Michael Bisping is something else, because he doesn't really show well but when you're in the cage with him he absolutely is a lot better than he shows. That's one thing I learned by fighting him. And his takedowns have gotten a lot better, I have been impressed by that and by his transitions to those takedowns.

See it's one thing to be able to hit a takedown - anybody at this level in MMA, we all know how to take someone down. But its the little things that make your takedown effective and one of the things is your transition from your punches to your takedown. Bisping has gotten really effective at that transition. That happens to be Anderson Silva's Achilles Heel, the takedown, so it could be a completive fight.

And another thing that Bisping does is, sometimes he just doesn't care, you know? He just doesn't care, he just goes for it. So for people to say it wouldn't be a fight or it wouldn't be close? I wouldn't say that about someone like Michael Bisping.

And I am not like some huge Bisping fan, I just think he can scrap and he is very competitive. Put him in with anyone and he will give it a competitive fight. But then Anderson is something else? put it this way, put Bisping in with Anderson and it would be interesting."

-Rashad Evans praises former opponent Michael Bisping in an interview with Fighter's Only, and believes the Brit would be competitive against Middleweight Champion Anderson Silva.

Penick's Analysis: Despite the negative perception that always seems to surround anything Bisping, the Brit is a supremely talented fighter. He's shown that in his battles with a lot of very good opponents, and I agree with Evans that I think in a fight with Silva he could be competitive. Now, that's not to say I think he would have much of a chance to actually pull off a victory, but I also don't think Silva would necessarily run right through him. I think Bisping would put up a good fight, and if he keeps picking up wins he might get a chance to do just that. With a potential Silva-GSP fight increasingly cooling down, it opens the door even further for Bisping as a possible challenger down the road. He needs to win probably two more fights at the least to get that shot, but he could get there still.

[Rashad Evans art by Cory Gould (c) MMATorch.com]

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