Ever get the sense that Anderson Silva is just bored with fighting? Crazy, right?

Chael Sonnen is convinced that Anderson Silva is afraid of a rematch. He tells people that, in his mind, he won that fight and that he’s the true Middleweight Champion.

It’s easy to dismiss that coming from Chael, though, because the guy’s a buffoon, a cartoon character, and a convicted liar. But when it’s coming from someone with more respect and consistency, such as Dan Henderson, people start to take it seriously.

Henderson recently went on the MMA Hour and told Ariel Helwani that he believes that Anderson Silva is, if not lying about, at least milking injuries to avoid fights with legitimate competition:

“[Silva] wants to ensure that he retires for the next how many fights he has without losing,” Henderson said. “Anybody that has a chance of beating him he doesn’t want to fight. That’s just my take on it. Obviously, Chael has show he’d probably beat him up if they ever fought again as long as he doesn’t get caught with something stupid at the end of the fight.”

Like anybody else who’s been watching the sport for more than five minutes, I respect the Hell out of Dan Henderson and value his contribution to the sport. But I don’t put too much weight into this, and I base that on my observation of Silva himself.

I personally don’t think Silva is afraid to fight Chael Sonnen. I don’t think he’s afraid of a rematch with Henderson, either, nor does he see anyone at Middleweight that provides a real challenge.

And that’s the problem.

Anderson Silva isn’t afraid of losing. In fact, he doesn’t think he’ll lose. I think he’s just bored. For the last two years he has appeared at times listless, agitated, and downright drowsy about the sport. He’s so good that he’s all but walked through fights with the likes of Demian Maia and Forrest Griffin, but having that great of a talent disparity at Middleweight means that you eventually get the mindset that you’ve done all that you need to do and no longer need to prove yourself. With that comes a diminished drive and desire to even get in the cage in the first place.

We have to start thinking about the possibility that it isn’t a case of Anderson Silva not wanting to fight Chael Sonnen. Maybe he just doesn’t want to fight, period.

For what it’s worth, preparations are being made for a fight with the winner of Sonnen vs. Munoz in the Summer, with the idea of it main eventing another card in Brazil.

The UFC has released the full card (sans a couple prelims yet to be decided) for UFC on Fox 2 on Saturday, January 28th.

In addition to the previously announced main event of Rashad Evans vs. Phil Davis and co-main of Chael Sonnen vs. Mark Munoz, both presumably to determine the #1 contenders for their respective divisions, the speculated fight between Michael Bisping and Demian Maia will happen on the UFC’s second primetime network event.

Earlier this week, Dana White told journalists to expect another “big” fight, saying it would be comparable to the other two in terms of prestige and importance. I’m not quite sure Bisping and Maia is quite that important to the fans, but it is an important fight for Michael Bisping. White has also said in recent interviews that the two-hour broadcast is likely to include at least three fights.

Bisping will go into the fight just seven weeks after his dominant win over an out of shape and unprepared Jason “Mayhem” Miller at The Ultimate Fighter 14 Finale. Despite being in the UFC for seven years and compiling a 22-3 record, Bisping has only fought a Top 5 fighter twice in his entire career. The last time was the now legendary knockout loss to Dan Henderson at UFC 100 over two years ago. Before that, he lost a highly controversial and disputed split decision to Rashad Evans in 2007 at UFC 78. That loss, ironically, was the closest he’s come to beating a legitimate contender in any weight class; Evans went on two fights later to win the UFC Light Heavyweight Championship from Forrest Griffin before immediately being dropped by Lyoto “The Dragon” Machida.

The problem is that Bisping is British. No, I’m not trying to be funny, and no I’m not going to bore you again with my treatise on the grappling deficiency overseas. Rather, it makes him a commodity to the UFC that they have actively sought to protect, though they’d deny it and be able to provide circumstantial evidence to suggest timing has always been the issue. Still, the fact is that Bisping is easily their biggest British draw, and he’s important to maintaining a presence and further penetrating the British market.

But the UFC can only coast on Bisping for so long. His drawing power has been diluted by a resume that’s not quite as impressive once you get past his record. It’s certainly not his fault, since he seems eager to face better competition and has been making no secret of the fact that he’s getting restless and chomping at the bit to be given a chance to prove himself.

To an extent he’ll get that against Maia. A suspect chin has kept him out of the Top 5 at middleweight, and he hasn’t finished a fight in over two and a half years. He’s not facing the Maia that went on a tear after his UFC debut with five consecutive decision wins. But he’s still a lot more dangerous than Jason Miller, Jorge Rivera, and Yoshihiro Akiyama. A win against Maia goes a long way towards legitimizing Bisping at Middleweight and could, realistically, put him within one fight of title contention.

The rest of the card:

Rashad Evans vs. Phil Davis
Chael Sonnen vs. Mark Munoz
Michael Bisping vs. Demian Maia
Evan Dunham vs. Paul Sass
Michael Johnson vs. Cody McKenzie
Cub Swanson vs. George Roop
John-Olav Einemo vs. Mike Russow
Demetrious Johnson vs. Eddie Wineland

After showing up looking like he’d lost some muscle mass and with none other than comedic actor Kevin James in his corner, Jason “Mayhem” Miller completely bombed out after an aggressive but sloppy first round and became easy pickings for his nemesis, fellow TUF 14 coach Michael “The Count” Bisping.

Miller won the first round, but it wasn’t pretty. While his style has always been described as unorthodox, his swings were wild and undisciplined. He went for several takedowns and was successful in one of them, pinning Bisping’s back against the cage and controlling his legs and lower torso. However, he was unable to do anything once in the position and ultimately burned himself out.

Michael Bisping won a lopsided fight against Jason "Mayhem" Miller, but the real story is still what he couldn't do.

As soon as the second round started, it became clear that something had gone wrong in Miller’s camp during preparation for this fight. He didn’t just look tired, he was straight up exhausted. Even the lightest jabs from Bisping gave the appearance of Miller being out on his feet, gasping for air and taunting Bisping with his hands down. It would take another round before the action was mercifully – for Miller and the fight’s spectators – stopped.

Afterwards, commentators Mike Goldberg and Joe Rogan invoked the phrase “adrenaline dump,” which is only used when someone wants to excuse a fighter they like for his poor conditioning and preparation. Dana White wasn’t so diplomatic after the event, calling it one of the most lopsided fights he’s ever seen and hinting that Miller, making his first foray into the Octagon since a similarly overwhelming loss to Georges St-Pierre in 2005, might not be long for the promotion. Bisping took pride in his performance and said that Miller felt like a little boy, but also took issue with suggestions that Miller became tired. He suggested instead that it was the tenacious beating he put on Miller that caused the exhaustion and lack of effort from his opponent.

To his credit, Bisping did what he needed to do in order to win the fight. His boxing looked crisp and he was fairly light on his feet despite a very rough weight cut that took him three attempts on Friday to make the 186 pound cut-off. But if that fight on Saturday night was an audition for title contention or even placement in the Top 5, he failed it miserably.

To be unable to capitalize on an exhausted fighter who was beaten by poor preparation before he even got into a cage is not quite inexcusable given Miller’s reputation, but his tentativeness and the lack of power behind the free and open shots Bisping was handed is a troubling prospect in a division currently ruled by the best pound for pound fighter in the history of the sport. Even the first round, which on most peoples’ scorecards went to the sloppy but still more effective Miller, is a sign of trouble down the road for Bisping. Miller was practically – if not literally – throwing wild chimpanzee punches with his eyes closed. Bisping did very well in not panicking and trying to get into a slugfest with Miller, which is a mistake most fighters would have made and might have cost him dearly. But he also didn’t show enough when opportunities presented themselves, and in being patient also showed the same tentativeness and lack of instinct to finish that led to the knockout loss to Dan Henderson that continues to haunt him.

His inability to finish Miller, though, isn’t the only major stumbling block to title contention. There’s also his severe and heretofore unaddressed grappling deficiency. In the first round, when Miller was able to successfully take him to the ground, Bisping kept looking to the ref and requesting that he stand it up despite the fact that Miller was throwing strikes and improving on his position. He conveyed frustration and tried to convince the world that Miller was doing nothing at all, but that wasn’t the case.

In that moment I had a sudden realization that gave me pause: it is 2011 and Michael Bisping, despite now having over seven years of experience in this sport and five at its highest level, has absolutely no grappling game to speak of.

This is going to be a big problem when he moves up to the upper echelon of his division. Bisping is praised for his takedown defense, employing a strategy similar to the one popularized by Chuck Liddell. What fighters like Bisping and many commentators overlook, however, is that the style worked for Chuck Liddell because he had the knockout power that Bisping lacks and was an NCAA Division 1 wrestler at Cal Poly. Liddell had the grappling background that allowed him to hold his own and not panic if it did in fact go to the ground. And when he sprawled, it wasn’t with the idea to simply prevent being taken down, but to also get the fight back to where he wants it to be. Bisping’s takedown defense has improved, but is still only good enough to make it hard – but not impossible – for a good wrestler to take him to the ground. Once the inevitable happens, Bisping is still completely lost and at the mercy of his opponent.

Just imagine Bisping, who was overwhelmed by Miller’s competitive but comparatively mediocre grappling skills, having to fight someone like Chael Sonnen or Mark Munoz. As things stand now, he’d be smothered and pounded into the canvas.

Bisping’s next fight is speculated to be against Demian Maia, a Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu expert with an above-average grappling game. He can and will get Bisping to the ground, but unlike Miller, he’s going to be able to do something to Bisping.

It’s easy with all the resentments and apprehension that fans have towards Bisping to take him to task, but it’s not entirely his fault. As I’ve written countless times on this space, European and especially UK fighters have a severe grappling deficiency owing to the lack of competitiveness on lower levels and absence of high-level amateur wrestling programs. That makes becoming an MMA fighter and making the move to the highest level of the sport a precarious, if not dangerous, proposition. Paul Daley, Dan Hardy, and others have shown the same problems Bisping has: they are contenders until the moment someone with enough skill and gas left in their tank secures a takedown.

It’s not impossible for Michael Bisping to do something to address this problem, but the time to do so was yesterday and he faces an uphill battle. With children and a family to care for, Bisping won’t and can’t be expected to make the move stateside. But there has to be a sacrifice made somewhere if he or any other British fighter ever expects to hold a title in the UFC.

Last night it was reported that Strikeforce Middleweight champion Luke Rockhold will defend his title against “The Dean of Mean” Keith Jardine on Saturday, January 7th.

The news was met online with an avalanche of ellipses and “wait, what?”

Rockhold won the Middleweight title from Ronaldo “Jacare” Souza in September. Jardine was a contestant on the second season of “The Ultimate Fighter” and is most famous for knocking out Forrest Griffin in 2006 and defeating UFC Hall of Famer Chuck Liddell by split decision in 2007. After the latter upset, he went 1-5 in the UFC and was let go after a loss to Matt Hamill. Jardine’s most recent outing was his debut for Strikeforce, where he fought Gegard Mousasi to a draw.

If you’re wondering how any of that entitles Jardine to a title shot, you’re not the only one.

But this is the Strikeforce Middleweight Title we’re talking about. That’s not meant to be a knock against Rockhold, a very talented Top 5 Middleweight with strong finishing skills and a lot of depth in his game. But he, especially as champion deserves a better quality opponent.

But that’s the problem with Strikeforce: outside of its Heavyweights, their divisions are anemic. As a result, you’ll see guys like Jardine (and in some cases fighters coming off a loss!) getting title shots.

The thing to understand is that Strikeforce started out as a regional promotion that went national after some high-level signings and its deal with Showtime. Over the last few years they’ve built a roster that, on paper, looks pretty solid to the hardcore MMA fanbase. But its stars are littered across several divisions, meaning that it’s had no shortage of superstars but few fights that could draw an audience outside of its niche. As a result, it has worthy champions who don’t have challengers; in particular Nick Diaz, Luke Rockhold, and Gilbert Melendez, each of whom is a legitimate Top 5 fighter in their respective weight divisions. It wasn’t a problem when the goal of the promotion was, by its own admission, to put on entertaining fight cards.

Now that they’re owned by Zuffa, though, there’s going to be increased scrutiny over its matchmaking and it will face more questions as to its legitimacy and relevance.

In my mind there’s three options. One is to simply absorb guys like Rockhold into the UFC so that they can get the opportunities (and paydays) they deserve. The second would be to simply do away with the title belts and put the focus on having entertaining fight cards. Some might balk at that idea since there’s a prevalent belief that championships are a requisite for any fight promotion. But if MMA can learn anything from professional wrestling, it’s that a title is meaningless and doesn’t add a cent to an event’s live gate if it’s not perceived as relevant, let alone prestigious.

The third option, which is only viable if the UFC plans on keeping the Strikeforce brand and promotion operational in the long-term, is to restructure its roster from the bottom up and start scouting regional promotions for talent. This would, naturally, create the perception of Strikeforce as the UFC’s farm system. Realistically, though, that’s already the case. And being perceived as a breeding ground for UFC fighters is better than its current reputation as a promotion treading water while Zuffa figures out what to do about the Showtime contract.

I’d love to see them go with the third option. Not only do I think it would make Strikeforce’s divisions and fight cards more competitive and intriguing, but it would also make the UFC itself better by weeding out fighters who look great on paper until they’re put at a level they’re not mentally or physically prepared for and wash out. Strikeforce also already has, to an extent, some of the infrastructure required to make this happen. After all, Rockhold himself emerged from their “Challengers” series, which sought to do the sort of thing I’m suggesting they do with the promotion as a whole.

Regardless, something has to be done, because as much as I like Keith Jardine, him as a challenger for a title simply doesn’t cut it.