Matt Hamill- Read for Bisping?

[sousuke22]

New article from UFC.com. What do you guys think? I was originally picking Bisping for this fight but the more fights I watch with Hamill and the more I think about how their styles match up, the more I'm leaning toward the wrestler in this match-up. Is Hamill ready for the big show?

Hamill Ready to Settle Unfinished Business
By Thomas Gerbasi

When Matt Hamill stepped into the Octagon in his home state of Ohio this past March, he said he could feel the crowd, which for a deaf person is probably as close as they will get to the sensation of hearing. That made it an emotional night to say the least for the light heavyweight prospect, who then went on to delight his fans with a first round stoppage of Rex Holman at UFC 68.

But a week from Saturday, the thunderous cheers will be for Hamill’s opponent, Michael Bisping, when the two tangle at London’s O2 Arena in a highly anticipated UFC 75 bout.

“It will definitely be an asset not to hear the crowd,” said Hamill in an e-mail interview. “But I’m used to it. Nothing could be worse than when I won the Gold Medal at the 1998 Pan Am Games in Cuba. I was actually scared for my life. The Cubans hated me because I beat their national hero.”

Bisping, Hamill’s housemate on season three of The Ultimate Fighter, is approaching that ‘national hero’ status at a breakneck pace, with each victory moving him closer to that rarefied space where he transcends the mixed martial arts world into the realm of celebrity across the pond. Hamill hasn’t hit that point yet in his five fight pro career (all wins), but he doesn’t begrudge Bisping any of his success thus far.

“I believe that everything happens for a reason,” he said. “I am happy with my place in the UFC. I jumped right in to MMA right before TUF 3 so the extra time out of the spotlight has been good for me to train, learn and get better.”

And Hamill has shown improvement. Whereas in his second UFC fight with Seth Petruzelli, it appeared that if Petruzelli was able to keep it standing a few moments longer he would have hurt and finished Hamill, in his bout with Holman, Hamill showed confidence in his entire MMA game, and the results proved it. Bisping will be his toughest test to date though.

“Mike Bisping is an excellent fighter and I am excited to finally fight him,” said Hamill. “I will be ready for an all out war, and I hope he is ready for the same.”

It should be a heated battle for as long as it lasts, mainly because of the history between the two on The Ultimate Fighter and some of the comments that have flown back and forth since the taping of the show ended, with Hamill calling Bisping out, and Bisping responding by calling Hamill an egomaniac who is trying to make a name for himself by beating the British star.

“People who really know me don’t
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think I am an egomaniac,” said Hamill. “But Bisping is welcome to think whatever he wants to think of me; I don’t think I will lose any sleep over it. As for making a name for myself off of him, that’s a joke. I will put my three UFC wins against his three UFC wins any day.”

As for life back in the TUF3 house, there is no question that there were some sore feelings when coach Tito Ortiz chose Hamill first for his team and then seemingly gave him more attention during training sessions on the show.

“I can’t speak for Tito and tell you why he picked me first,” said Hamill, but there was no question that the sparring sessions between the two were heated, with Hamill eventually sustaining an arm injury when grappling with ‘The Count’, who went on to win the series’ light heavyweight title by stopping Josh Haynes. ‘The Hammer’ doesn’t put much stock in those sparring sessions though, and he claims that he is an entirely different fighter now.

“When I trained with Bisping on TUF 3, I was a one-dimensional fighter,” said Hamill. “I relied on my wrestling to get me through. I have spent the last 18 months training to be a well rounded fighter. But for his lack of wrestling experience, Bisping was not that bad at wrestling.”

Bisping’s true strength lies in the standup game though, and that would be the department where Hamill could use the most improvement. So it’s no surprise that Bisping is promising to introduce his shin to Hamill’s chin next weekend.

“I am working on my striking everyday,” said Hamill. “I guess you will have to wait until September 8th to see how it is coming along.”

And after fight fans waited for the two to fight on The Ultimate Fighter but saw their dreams dashed due to a concussion suffered by Hamill in his win over Mike Nickels, another week of waiting won’t hurt anyone. But you can be certain that for Hamill and Bisping, each day until the bell rings at the O2 Arena is torture, because they’ve got a fight to finish.

“If I beat Bisping,” said Hamill. “I will feel like I settled unfinished business.”

Sorry about the Typo on the thread name...

[baba]

Matt Hamil can't "fade into obscurity" because he's already firmly entrenched in it.

And when Bisping's done with him, he's gonna look even more like Sloth from the Goonies.

[gogoplata]

"he said he could feel the crowd, which for a deaf person is probably as close as they will get to the sensation of hearing. "

lol this author is a complete dick... what a way to start this article

[sousuke22]

Originally Posted by gogoplata

"he said he could feel the crowd, which for a deaf person is probably as close as they will get to the sensation of hearing. "

lol this author is a complete dick... what a way to start this article

Haha, yeah, way to belittle the main focus of your article right off the bat. I'm sure he meant well, but the wording could have been thought out a little more carefully.

As for Hamill "fading into obscurity"; looking back, you're probably right, but he's definitely going to take quite a popularity hit if he loses this thing.