Not fair, in my opinion.
Like I just got finished saying in the Cage thread about Bisping... what Bisping did was no worse than what Lesnar did to Mir when he beat him at UFC 100, yet did Lesnar get punished for it? Absolutely not. Did Dan Henderson get punished for the extra punch he hit Bisping with? Nope. Why is Bisping being held to a double standard?
Moreover, Rivera and his guys deserved it. They made constant videos pushing Bisping's buttons, and they were all unwarranted. Hell, one even insulted the dude's wife. What did Bisping do to deserve that kind of bashing? What, because he was a dick on the Ultimate Fighter? Please, Bisping has been nothing but a professional since joining the UFC, and he's put on some pretty damn good fights for the company, too. Just because he overreacted a bit ONE TIME doesn't mean he should be punished. Had Bisping acted like that after he beat, let's say Denis Kang, then okay; I'd be more understanding of a punishment. But Rivera and his corner didn't deserve "professionalism" from Bisping since they showed zero of it leading up to the fight. Hyping the fight is one thing, but making videos like they did, insulting a man's wife... I mean, they had it coming.
Oh, this is MORE than fair, but I'll break down why it's more than fair.
1. During the pre-fight press conference Bisping got physical with Rivera shouting numerous obscenities and calling him a "fucking ******" with the whole world watching.
2. The knee (I know this stuff happens all of the time, so let me move to number 3 so I can explain)
3. Celebrating in the octagon and calling for cheers while Rivera was on the ground trying to recover from Bisping's "unintentional" knee. Bisping was fucking celebrating that he'd just knee'ed a man in the face, illegally, from the Thai Clinch. If an NFL or NHL player had illegally hit an opposing player and ran around celebrating while doctors and referees checked on him, he'd probably get his ass kicked by the guys teammates and UNDOUBTEDLY suspended by Bettman or Goodell. Precedent has been set for this in other leagues. Especially people who revel after they've injured another player.
4. Bisping spit on Rivera's cornerman after the fight. I don't care what was said or done before the fight, whether it was about his wife, or the English, the fight's over. You just beat the man behind all of the videos by TKO. You do NOT need to spit on a cornerman. Anyone who's buying his bullshit about "trying to spit on the ground" is smoking some seriously good shit. I mean seriously, how can this many "accidental" outbursts happen in one fucking fight? You do not spit on people, ever. Once again, in the NFL, NBA, MLB, or NHL, he would have been suspended and fined.
5. Australia doesn't have an athletic commission. If this event had taken place in Nevada, all of Bisping's actions combined would have certainly gotten him suspended by the NSAC. The UFC is acting in place of a SAC by imposing their own punishment on Bisping.
Dana is trying to push this sport to the next level and have it accepted in the mainstream, having your fighters flipping off and spitting on cornermen, calling other fighters "fucking ******s" while on camera, and celebrating after they had illegally injured someone is bush league. No respectable network wants to have that happen on their broadcast or risk putting someone like that on a broadcast. Nevermind the fact that all of these actions were committed by ONE man in a 24 hour period. Yeah, Bisping has been NOTHING but classy.
If you don't understand why Bisping needs to be punished after all of this, then I don't know what to tell you.
Brock didn't spit on any cornermen. Dan Henderson hadn't actually been told by the ref to stop fighting when he threw that final elbow/punch to a knocked out Bisping. Neither fighter threw an illegal strike and then celebrated while their opponent was being medically examined.
Also, Dana most certainly gave Brock the tongue lashing of a lifetime after his fight with Mir, Brock and Dana both admitted to this and Henderson hasn't fought in the UFC since his fight with Bisping.
