The plan from Spike TV and UFC for the next season of Ultimate Fighter, which would air September through December, is to have Chael Sonnen and Michael Bisping as coaches to build to a PPV match in December. The winner would likely be in line for the first middleweight title match of 2012.

Bisping and Sonnen have already started publicly trash talking. Neither UFC nor Spike can publicly announce this due to Sonnen not being licensed in Nevada. Keith Kizer, Executive Director of the commission has said he would not rubber stamp Sonnen’s license due to his contention that Sonnen lied in his California State Athletic Commission hearing in December when he claimed he and Kizer had spoken and that Kizer had approved his testosterone use exemption for Nevada due to a claimed medical condition.

The decision, rumored for weeks, is controversial and will likely be heavily criticized if it does happen. Some will say Bisping and Sonnen are being rewarded at a time when both should not be rewarded. On the flip side, the belief is that the two, because of their strong personalities and interviews, can create another dynamic similar to Rashad Evans and Quinton Jackson, or Ken Shamrock and Tito Ortiz, which resulted in not only the two highest rated seasons in the history of the show, but also huge PPV numbers in each case.

read more

What this ultimately looks to come down to is how commission members will vote on Sonnen, or if UFC wants to risk Sonnen going before the commission given Kizer’s assertion, that all evidence is true, that Sonnen lied, using his name, to get his California suspension for failing a steroid test reduced ... This could go a lot of different ways. If the feeling is Sonnen won’t get the votes to get a license, rather than him apply and be turned down, I would think they will change plans.

Bisping is coming off spitting in the direction or at the cornermen of Jorge Rivera on the 2/27 show in Sydney, as well as giving him a controversial and brutal knee while Rivera was still down. Due to the legitimate bad blood between the two leading to the fight, many believe the knee delivered in the first round was intentional ... There was almost a consensus belief that Bisping should have been disqualified in the fight, but it was allowed to continue. Rivera may have never fully recovered, although he did knock Bisping down early in the second round. Rivera got tired shortly after and Bisping finished him.

Bisping was punished financially regarding the incident in a quiet manner. The exact details have not been released but a very significant bonus that he was going to receive coming from the Rivera fight was withheld by UFC as a fine based on his actions that night.

Bisping also needs to get licensed in Nevada, and his actions in Australia could make that also not a rubber-stamp. But it is Sonnen’s being approved that will likely be more difficult. Ultimately this will come down to a vote of the Nevada commissioners should Sonnen apply. If he is denied, it will make it difficult for him to fight in a number of states. If he does not apply, it is doubtful he would be denied the right to fight anywhere but Nevada, since he has served his California suspension, which ended in February. But if he does not apply, he would not be able to coach, eliminating a major boost to his career, name recognition and drawing power, as well as eliminate him from a major fight. Sonnen would be favored to win such a fight, and then earn a title shot. If Anderson Silva is still the champion, such a fight would be expected to do huge business, and even if Silva isn’t champion, Sonnen with his verbal skills and coming off a high-profile win and challenging for the title would be expected to do strong business.

source: f4wonline.com