However, Sonnen is a solid stand up fighter, who uses his hands quite well. Is he one of the best on his feet? No. But he's much tougher than most give him credit for, which often serves to boost his advantage on the canvas a tad.
Of course, the major weakness with Sonnen is his submission defense. Eight of his 11 career losses have come by way of submission. And that one he lost by triangle armbar to Anderson Silva still hurts.
What Michael Bisping brings to the table: Bisping is a very good and diverse striker. He's also a very good Brazilian Jiu Jitsu/submission artist. Beyond that, he's pretty athletic, tough, and comes to fight in shape. In other words, Bisping is a very well-rounded fighter.
That said, if there was a weakness, it would be in his wrestling.
Chael Sonnen vs. Michael Bisping Prediction: If this fight were to stay standing, Bisping would win a decision. If it were to go to the ground, guess is that Sonnen would dominate from a ground and pound perspective against a guy whose submission skills just wouldn't be able to put him over the top. So where does the fight go?
Sonnen is simply too good a wrestler for Bisping, in my opinion. I think that leads to a decision victory for Sonnen.
Chael Sonnen defeats Michael Bisping by decision.
