Michael Bisping sees the UFC Perth headliner as such an evenly matched fight that he switched his prediction at the last possible moment. Dominick Reyes and Carlos Ulberg will throw down in Australia, with the winner this weekend being well-positioned for potentially the next crack at the 205-pound crown.
While many think of ‘The Count’ as a 185-pound fighter, being that he’s a former UFC middleweight champion, Bisping does have several light heavyweight accolades too. Bisping captured and defended the Cage Warriors light heavyweight belt multiple times as well as the fact that he also won season three of The Ultimate Fighter as a 205-pound fighter.
On his personal YouTube channel, breaking down the next marquee-topping UFC Fight Night offering, Bisping said [via MMA Weekly],
“The main event is a fight that has massive title fight implications in the light heavyweight division. I am of course talking about Dominick Reyes taking on Carlos Ulberg. If he [Ulberg] beats Dominick Reyes, the man’s fighting for a belt. Simple as that.”
“If Dominick Reyes, the Comeback King, can get this done then that will be sensational as well because Dominick Reyes, we all know the story. He fought Jon Jones. A lot of people thought he beat Jon Jones. Regardless, on the records books he lost.”
“Then he got knocked out against Jan Blachowicz viciously, gets knocked out by Jiri Prochazka with a spinning back elbow. A vicious knockout, and then he got knocked out by Ryan Spann as well. It looked like the end of the road for Dominick Reyes, but then the man comes back with three knockouts… Whoever wins this fight has a really good chance of fighting for the belt next.”
Michael Bisping on UFC Perth headliner: “You could flip a coin”
Further breaking down the machinations of this main event matchup on Saturday at UFC Perth, Bisping continued,
“I’ll make a prediction right now. Carlos Ulberg is a really, really good striker, very tall, very quick, very slick. Trains at City Kickboxing with Israel Adesanya, some of the best training partners in the world. Dominick Reyes hits harder. Simple as that. He does hit harder. He’s got experience at the highest level. He’s got better wrestling than Carlos Ulberg as well.”
“I think we’ll see Dominick Reyes use the wrestling in this one. I’m going to go with Carlos Ulberg. He’s got the cleaner striking. I don’t know. It’s one of those. Honestly, you could flip a coin. I’ll say, I’m going to say Dominick Reyes. That’s my gut feeling… Yeah, Dominick Reyes. There it is. That’s the pick.”