One of the most anticipated fights of UFC 100 is Dan Henderson vs. Michael Bisping. Most expect the fight to be won or lost on the ground. This being so, the biggest question is, who will have the overall advantage? Can Bisping out-wrestle a former Olympic wrestler? And does Henderson, who now primarily relies on his fists, still have the wrestling skills to overcome Michael Bisping?

MMA veteran Dan Henderson, is a former olympic wrestler and PRIDE middleweight, and light heavyweight champion. He is also, as of more recently, a largely one -dimensional fighter. One would think that Henderson relies mostly on his strengths in wrestling; in fact, he is criticized for not fighting to his wrestling strengths. He has found most of his success in his cannon right hand.

Michael Bisping is a former kick boxer. He is 18 and 1 in the UFC, his one loss being a close split decision. Bisping is the former Cage Warriors Fighting Championship light heavyweight champ, and former Cage Rage light heavyweight champ. He was also winner of The Ultimate Fighter television series during the show’s third season.

Let’s take a look at both fighters’ wrestling backgrounds.

In high school, Henderson wrestled at both the 1987 and 1988 California State Wrestling Championships, and received medals there for his accomplishments.

The first part of Henderson’s collegiate career took place at Cal Stat Fullerton, and then at Arizona State, where he wrestled at the 1993 NCAA championships.

A year earlier he represented the country in the 1992 Olympics, and then again three years later at the 1996 Olympics.

Since his recent reentry into the UFC in 2007(Henderson participated in the late 90’s, when the UFC was still a single tournament, rather than a “league”) he has fought some of the best strikers and wrestlers. Among the ones he has beaten are Rousimar Palharis at UFC 88 and Rich Franklin at UFC 93.

Henderson made it very difficult for Palharis to get him on the ground, and when he did, Henderson showed superior wrestling skills. In the win against Rich Franklin, Henderson showcased his wrestling abilities by dominating Franklin on the ground for most of round 2, which was the decider in his split decision victory.

Bisping’s background in wrestling is not nearly as heralded as Henderson’s. Originally, he was a kick boxer who had some success and won a British light heavyweight kickboxing title. It was not until 2004 that Bisping entered the sport of MMA.

Bisping relied heavily on his kick boxing experience to carry him to 10 and 0 record in the Cage Warriors league, and made the transition into the UFC in 2006.

He was featured on The Ultimate Fighter, and received training under legendary fighter Tito Ortiz. Although he went on to win the show, he realized that expanding his ground game was crucial to his success in the UFC.

Bisping faced a three time NCAA D III wrestling champ in Matt Hamill at UFC 75, and came out with the split decision win. He showed good resilience to Hamill’s take downs, and a strong ability to get back to his feet. The Hamill fight proved to be one of his best ground-oriented fights.

Since then he has much improved. Bisping faced Rashad Evans at UFC. He took his only loss in the Evans fight, but demonstrated much-improved ability on the ground, only allowing 5 of 15 attempted takedowns as recorded by MMA Madness.

Bisping is also currently training with renowned wrestling coach Zach Lite of the famed, Wolfslair gym. Lite also trained UFC light heavyweight sensation, Quinton “Rampage” Jackson. Lite is also going to be a coach on The Ultimate Fighter season 10. He is very confident in Bisping’s refined wrestling skills. “He will take Dan Henderson down more than one time in the fight. He will, that’s how he is going to win the fight. That is how I see it. When they start trading I think Mike will win the scrambles,” Lite said in an interview with Fighters Only Magazine.

We will have to settle for making Comparisons and educated predictions while we wait for them to meet in the octagon on July 11th, at UFC 100. The fight is largely up in the air though, and it is anyone’s guess who will come out on top. This is part of the reason it is such a fan favorite. Will the former wrestling star, get the better of the ground action? Can the kick boxer come out on top with the win? Well, we will just have to wait to find out.

In a clash of two accomplished wrestlers, ex-PRIDE star and

Randleman let another one get away

former UFC champion Kevin Randleman grabbed defeat from the jaws of victory by letting Mike Whitehead take a decision victory at Strikeforce: Lawler vs. Shields

After two uneventful rounds where Whitehead laid on Randleman, Randleman smashed Whitehead with an overhand left in the third round, but somehow failed to finish Whitehead. Whitehead eventually recovered and rode out the rest of the round.

Randleman’s handling of Whitehead after that left hook was a prime example of why a modern MMA fighter needs to cross-train many disciplines. Randleman could’ve had any submission he wanted but didn’t even try for one, allowing victory to one again elude him.

Overview -This DVD set features former 2-time light heavyweight Shooto World Champion and now world renown MMA coach, Erik Paulson.  Also featured is Greg Nelson, veteran MMA coach and trainer for UFC Heavyweight World Champion, Brock Lesner, and former UFC Lightweight World Champion, Sean Sherk.  Erik Paulson and Greg Nelson share and demonstrate tons of  standing to ground the material. Valuable training tips, techniques, and drills are presented throughout this series.   

Review -  This video is over four hours of MMA techniques and drills.  Erik Paulson and Greg Nelson are two of the most recognized MMA coaches in the world and train some of the best fighters in the world for a reason. This video covers everything a student and fighter of any level would want in an MMA instructional video.  Paulson and Nelson demonstrate multiple techniques and tips in all areas including: boxing, kickboxing, submissions, ground and pound, clinching, strength training, wrestling, and much much more. 

Rating – (5 out of 5)  In my opinion, CSW 2008 Camp DVD is one of the best Mixed Martial Arts instructional videos available today.  This is one of those videos that you will have to watch numerous times just to gather all the information.  It is worth every penny! Have a notebook ready!!

How to Order - Visit www.erikpaulson.com for purchasing information

Review By: Bruce Lombard, Certified Combat Submission Wrestling Coach. Titan Fitness, State College, PA

As the MMA world recovers from Strikeforce: Shamrock versus Diaz and gears up for UFC 97, fight fans can be pleased with the fact that they are now spoilt for choice in terms of MMA options. In the post-EliteXC world, the UFC, Strikeforce, Affliction, and the WEC can all put out quality fight cards with quality fighters.

But from the ashes of Pride FC, two newer Japanese promotions are finally bringing the heat back to the Asian MMA scene. Both DREAM and World Victory Road had struggles at the beginning; Japanese MMA isn’t as popular as it was during the Pride heyday, and many of the cards had a “circus freak” feel to them in an effort to garner attention and TV deals. But now both promotions have started to right the ship, and for fans who either have HDNet or don’t mind staying up way into the morning, there’s a treasure trove of significant fights coming up from the Land of The Rising Sun.

Some of the highlights include:

Hatsu Hioki vs Ronnie Mann (World Victory Road Presents: Sengoku 8 – May 2)

With both DREAM and Sengoku currently holding featherweight tournaments, Hioki is the torchbearer for Sengoku’s tourney, as well as the hot favorite. The big and flashy names may most be on DREAM’s side, but Hioki is the man which most MMA publications rank as one of the top five featherweights in the world. With wins over WEC veterans Jeff Curran and Chris Manuel on his resume, Hioki will look to continue his tournament journey with a win over English-Japanese fighter Mann, who brings a 16-1 record with him to Sengoku’s tournament quarterfinals.

Tatsuya Kawajiri vs Gesais Calvancante (DREAM 9 – May 26)

Before the second coming of BJ Penn and the rise of fighters such as Shinya Aoki or Eddie Alvarez, the consensus top lightweight in the world was American Top Team fighter Gesais “JZ” Calvancante. As a middleweight, Calvancante won back-to-back K1 tournaments, and big things were expected from him when he moved to DREAM’s lightweight division. A series of nagging injuries and a decision loss to Aoki halted the JZ hype, and Calvancante will look to get back in the lightweight title picture with a win against Tatsuya “Crusher” Kawajiri.

Former Pride standout Kawajiri, who was denied his desired matchup with Caol Uno when Uno re-signed with the UFC, will look to take out his frustrations on Calvancante and position himself as the next contender to Joachim Hansen’s DREAM lightweight title, as former number one contender Alvarez has signed exclusively with Bellator Fighting Championships.

Jason Miller vs Ronaldo Souza (DREAM 9 – May 26)

Most American fans will now recognize Jason “Mayhem” Miller from his MTV show “Bully Beatdown”, where Miller offers alleged-teenaged bullies money to let professional MMA fighters rough them up on national TV. Miller will have slightly loftier ambitions at DREAM 9, when he faces Ronaldo “Jacare” Souza for DREAM’s newly vacated middleweight title.

Souza, one of the MMA’s finest Jiu-Jitsu fighters, already has a victory over Miller from DREAM’s earlier tournament, but when tourney winner Gegard Mousasi decided to immediately jump to light heavyweight, the door was opened for Miller and Souza to fight a second time, this time with a title on the line.

Best of the Rest:

Former Japanese MMA golden boy Norifumi “Kid” Yamamoto will face Greco-Roman wrestling champ Joe Warren at DREAM 9as part of DREAM’s featherweight tourney. Yamamoto received a bye into the quarterfinals.

Also slated for DREAM 9 is a matchup between former DREAM middleweight champ Gegard Mousasi, who will fight former Pride and UFC fighter Rameau Thierry Sokoudjou at light heavyweight.

At Sengoku 8, reigning Abu Dhabi champion and grappler extraordinaire Alexandre Ribeiro will have his second MMA fight against Team Grabaka fighter Kei Yamamiya. Ribeiro’s first MMA fight was a submission victory over pro wrestler Takashi Sugiura at Sengoku 5.