At UFC 78, Bisping became the first British fighter to compete in a UFC main event. In 2013, he became legally blind in his right eye after fighting Vitor Belfort, in which a fight-ending head kick had left Bisping with a detached retina. Three years later, Bisping won the UFC middleweight title by knocking out Luke Rockhold at UFC 199, becoming the first British fighter to win a UFC Championship.[6][7] He defended his title against Dan Henderson at UFC 204, but lost it to Georges St-Pierre the following year at UFC 217. After his knockout loss to Kelvin Gastelum three weeks later, Bisping retired from the sport. He was inducted into the UFC Hall of Fame on 5 July 2019.[8]
Michael's Polish paternal grandfather, Andrew (Andrzej Bobola Bisping von Gallen), was born in what is now Masaliany, Byerastavitsa Rayon, Hrodna Voblasts, Belarus, descended from German nobility who moved to Poland in the Middle Ages and was a member of the noble Polish Zamoyski family (through his mother), while Michael's English paternal grandmother, Mary Greenwood, was from Clitheroe.[12][13]
Andrzej Bobola Bisping von Gallen fled with his family from Poland to England after the Soviet invasion in September 1939. Many members of the noble families were pursued and executed by Soviet Red Army during World War II, including Andrew's father, Jan, [13] who was named after his own grandfather (Andrew's father), served in the British Army.[14] Michael's mother is from Northern Ireland.[12] Bisping has described himself as "English through and through".[15] He began training Jujutsu at the age of eight. In 1994, at the age of 15, he competed as an amateur in Britain's first "no holds barred" competition, a precursor to modern MMA, called Knock Down Sport Budo (KSBO).[16]
At the age of 18, Bisping decided to abandon his martial arts training "to pursue real-life".[17] Less than a year later, Bisping began training in boxing, kickboxing, and karate on the advice of Allan Clarkin, owner of Black Knights Kickboxing, who saw potential in him. Bisping enjoyed a short but successful kickboxing career, winning the North West Area title and later the Pro British light heavyweight kickboxing title.[16]
After again briefly quitting competition in 1998, Bisping returned to kickboxing to take the Pro British light heavyweight title for a second time. Soon after winning his second kickboxing title, he was forced to abandon his full-time training for a "real job". In addition to working at factories, slaughterhouses, and demolition companies, he was also an upholsterer, postman, tiler, plasterer, and salesman.[18]
Mixed martial arts career
Early career
Bisping made his professional mixed martial arts debut at Pride & Glory 2: Battle of the Ages on 4 April 2004, taking a 0:38 submission victory over Steve Mathews. Just one month later, Bisping scored his first knockout against John Weir at UK MMA Challenge 7: Rage & Fury. In his third MMA match, Bisping was scheduled to face the experienced Renato Sobral at Cage Rage 7 but his opponent pulled out ten days before the event. Instead, Bisping defeated Mark Epstein by technical knockout and became the Cage Rage light heavyweight champion. Bisping went on to defend his championship title in a rematch against Epstein at Cage Rage 9 in a knockout victory that solidified Bisping as one of the top light heavyweight fighters in England. It also earned him the moniker "The Great British Hope", by UFC . com.[19]
At The Ultimate Fight Club UK: Natural Instinct on 29 January 2005, Bisping made his cage kickboxing debut against David Brown in a light heavyweight contest.[20] With Brown badly cut, Bisping picked up the win via doctor stoppage in round 2.
Bisping made his debut for the promotion at Ultimate Force on 30 April 2005, defeating Dave Radford to win the vacant Cage Warriors light heavyweight title. Bisping then competed in another light heavyweight cage kickboxing contest, against Cyrille Diabaté at CWFC: Strike Force 1 on 21 May 2005, losing via decision after the end of the first extra round. He captured the FX3 light-heavyweight title on 18 June 2005 and, for a time, reigned over the UK's major federations. In his first Cage Warriors title defense, Bisping defeated Miika Mehmet at CWFC: Strike Force 2, on 16 July 2005.[21]
In September 2005, Cage Rage stripped the light heavyweight title from Bisping due to "management issues",[22] though Cage Warriors stated that "Bisping was willing to defend his title but is being punished by Cage Rage due to his Wolfslair and Cage Warriors links".[23] Towards the end of 2005, Bisping again successfully defended the Cage Warriors title, this time against Jakob Lovstad[24] and Ross Pointon in the CWFC: Strike Force series of events, leading to a record of 10 wins and no losses.[25]
The Ultimate Fighter 3
Bisping in 2007
In early 2006, Bisping was featured on the UFC's The Ultimate Fighter 3 reality television series as a contestant training under Tito Ortiz. He won a preliminary bout against Kristian Rothaermel by TKO, followed by a semi-final win against Ross Pointon by submission after landing a flying knee and a series of strikes. In the finals, Bisping finished Josh Haynes by TKO at 4:14 into the second round, making Bisping the second Light Heavyweight winner of The Ultimate Fighter television series.[26][27]
Ultimate Fighting Championship
Five months after his victory in the TUF 3 finals, Bisping was slated to fight Eric Schafer at The Ultimate Fighter 4 finale, but withdrew because of problems acquiring his visa.[28] The fight was rescheduled and held on 30 December at UFC 66. Bisping defeated Schafer by TKO at 4:24 in the first round.[29]
On 21 April 2007, Bisping scored a TKO win over Elvis Sinosic at UFC 70 in Manchester, England.[30]
Bisping was a special guest referee at the Cage Warriors events Enter The Wolfslair on 5 March 2005 and CWFC: Strike Force 6 on 27 May 2006.[31]
On 8 September 2007, Bisping faced former Ultimate Fighter 3 rival Matt Hamill in London, England. Bisping won the fight by split decision. The decision was controversial with many believing Hamill won the fight.[32][33]
Bisping's next match at UFC 78 against fellow Ultimate Fighter winner Rashad Evans resulted in his first loss, via a split decision.[34]
Since the start of his MMA career, people had been advising that Bisping was undersized for the light heavyweight division and would do better at middleweight. With the support of UFC president Dana White, Bisping decided to drop down a weight division, following his loss to Evans.[35] On 19 April 2008 at UFC 83, Bisping made his middleweight debut against Charles McCarthy. Bisping won by TKO, as McCarthy was unable to continue after the first round due to a forearm injury he sustained after receiving an unanswered series of knees and uppercuts from Bisping.[36]
Bisping's next fight was scheduled to be on 7 June 2008 at UFC 85 in London, against Chris Leben. However, after Leben was sentenced to jail for 35 days and unable to compete, Jason Day stepped in.[37] Bisping won the fight in dominant fashion by first round TKO; it was his second 1st round TKO in a row.[citation needed]
Bisping instead fought Leben in the headliner of UFC 89 on 18 October 2008[37] and won by unanimous decision.[38] After the fight, Leben tested positive for Stanozolol and was suspended for nine months.[39][40]
Bisping was confirmed as one of the coaches on the ninth season of The Ultimate Fighter.[41][42] The other coach was the former PRIDE 205lb & 185lb Champion Dan Henderson. After the show's conclusion, Bisping fought Henderson at UFC 100 on 11 July 2009 at Mandalay Bay.[43] The fight was believed to be an eliminator for the UFC Middleweight Championship top contender spot. Bisping was knocked out by Henderson with an overhand right while he was circling to his left. Henderson followed up with a strike after Bisping had fallen to the ground before the fight was stopped. It was Bisping's first knockout loss.[44] Bisping could not remember the fight after the knockout, thinking that the fight was scheduled to take place two months later.[45]
I fought Dan Henderson in 2009 and I lost and that was at UFC 100. UFC 100 was the biggest pay-per-view the company's ever done. 1.6 million pay-per-view buys, watched all over the world, and of course, I get knocked out cold after talking lots of smack leading up to the fight. So I got my just desserts [sic] in that one. After the fight, I don't remember anything. I remember being in the showers and I didn't have a clue what was going on. I was saying to my manager at the time, 'I can't be knocked out cause I'm not fighting for another two months, what the hell are you talking about?' and then these people come and go 'Michael we need to take you to the hospital. I'm like I'm not going to the hospital and then I'd say again, 'what's going on', I'd just keep repeating myself.[45]
Bisping faced Spirit MC and PRIDE veteran Denis Kang at UFC 105 on 14 November 2009.[46] Bisping won by second round TKO.[47] The fight was awarded Fight of the Night, giving both Kang and Bisping a $40,000 bonus.[48]
Bisping faced and defeated Yoshihiro Akiyama on 16 October 2010 at UFC 120, winning 30–27 on all three judges' scorecards.[53] Though Bisping was rocked early in the fight by Akiyama, he regained his composure and landed combinations repeatedly on Akiyama to sweep all three judges scorecards.[54] The fight was awarded Fight of the Night award.[55]
Bisping faced off in an emotionally charged fight against Jorge Rivera on 26 February 2011 at UFC 127. Both fighters had trash-talked each other before the fight and were restrained at the weigh-in during a verbal argument. Bisping dominated the first round scoring a few takedowns until he delivered an illegal knee to the head of Rivera. A point was taken from Bisping and, after a lengthy halt to the action, the fight continued. The fight ended with a TKO from Bisping in the second round. Bisping spat at Rivera's cornerman after the fight and angrily confronted Rivera about pre-fight comments that Bisping thought disparaged his family. Rivera denied the comments and attempted to make amends but Bisping told him to "go home" and called him a "loser." He immediately apologized in the post-match interview.[56] In the aftermath of the incident Bisping faced "disciplinary actions" and was fined his win bonus.[57] Multiple fighters subsequently came forward and said that they wanted to fight Bisping in light of the incident, including UFC middleweight notables such as Chael Sonnen, Vitor Belfort, Demian Maia, Alan Belcher and Nate Marquardt.[58][59]
On 27 May 2011, it was revealed that Bisping would be one of the coaches of The Ultimate Fighter 14 opposite Jason Miller.[60] There were concerns that Miller had spies in Bisping's training camp, but Bisping was confident that was not true.[61] Bisping defeated Miller via third round TKO on 3 December 2011 at The Ultimate Fighter 14 finale.[62]
Bisping was expected to face Demian Maia on 28 January 2012 at UFC on Fox 2.[63] However, an injury forced Mark Muñoz out of his bout on the same card with Chael Sonnen and Bisping instead fought Sonnen for a chance to challenge Anderson Silva for the Middleweight title.[64] Sonnen defeated Bisping via unanimous decision.[65]
Bisping was expected to face Tim Boetsch on 21 July 2012 at UFC 149.[66] However, Bisping was forced out of the bout with an injury and replaced by promotional newcomer Hector Lombard.[67]
Bisping faced Brian Stann on 22 September 2012 at UFC 152.[68] Bisping won the fight via unanimous decision.[69]
Bisping faced former UFC Light Heavyweight Champion Vitor Belfort on 19 January 2013 at UFC on FX: Belfort vs. Bisping in a fight which would have given Bisping a title shot had he won. However, he lost the fight via second-round TKO after getting hit flush by a head kick. According to Bisping, this kick caused the retinal detachment of his right eye. Fear of not being able to compete again prevented him from seeing a doctor.[70]
Bisping went on to face Alan Belcher on 27 April 2013 at UFC 159. In the first round Bisping managed to out-box his opponent and score a brief trip takedown, in addition to landing a solid knee. Bisping then stepped up the pace of the fight in round 2, landing some heavy kicks and multiple combinations of punches. The fight was stopped at 4:29 of round 3 as Bisping inadvertently poked Belcher in the eye, rendering Belcher unable to continue. Bisping won the bout via unanimous technical decision.[71]
Bisping was expected to face Mark Muñoz on 26 October 2013 at UFC Fight Night 30.[72] However, after symptoms of his detached retina became too bad he decided to undergo surgery.[73] He pulled out of the bout on 27 September and was replaced by Lyoto Machida.[74]
In April 2014, it was reported that both Bisping and Brad Tavares were interested in a potential fight.[77] However, in May 2014, it was announced that Bisping would face Cung Le on 23 August 2014 at UFC Fight Night 48.[78] Bisping won the one-sided fight via TKO in the fourth round.[79] The win also earned Bisping his first Performance of the Night bonus award.[80]
Bisping faced Luke Rockhold on 8 November 2014 at UFC Fight Night 55.[81] He lost the fight in the second round after being dropped by a head kick and then submitted with a guillotine choke.[82]
Bisping was expected to face Robert Whittaker on 15 November 2015 at UFC 193.[87] However, it was announced on 30 September 2015 that Bisping had withdrawn from the bout, citing an elbow injury, and been replaced by Uriah Hall.[88]
Bisping was briefly linked to a fight with Gegard Mousasi on 27 February 2016 at UFC Fight Night 84.[89] However, on 24 December, Bisping was pulled from the bout in favour of a match-up with Anderson Silva at the same event.[90] Bisping won the fight via unanimous decision.[91] Both participants were awarded Fight of the Night honours.[92]
UFC Middleweight Champion
With an injury to Chris Weidman forcing him to pull out of the fight, Bisping stepped up on only 17 days' notice to face champion Luke Rockhold for a second time on 4 June 2016 at UFC 199.[93] He won via knockout in the first round to become the UFC Middleweight Champion and the first British UFC champion.[94] He was awarded Performance of the Night honours.[95] The result was considered by many MMA media outlets to be one of the biggest upsets in the UFC title fight history, as Bisping took the fight on short notice and had been submitted in their first encounter 18 months earlier.[96][97]
Bisping faced Dan Henderson in a rematch on 8 October 2016 at UFC 204.[98] Bisping won the fight via unanimous decision and retained the UFC Middleweight Championship.[99] Both fighters were awarded Fight of the Night for their performance.[100]
On 1 March 2017 while on SportsCenter, Dana White announced that Bisping's next title defense would be against the returning former UFC Welterweight Champion Georges St-Pierre sometime in 2017.[101] However, on 11 May 2017, White announced the fight had been cancelled. The UFC and Bisping had wanted to have the fight at UFC 213, as part of International Fight Week in Las Vegas, but St-Pierre announced on his Instagram page that he needed more training to meet the 185-pound weight and would not be ready to fight until November.[102] The pairing eventually took place on 4 November 2017 in the main event at UFC 217.[103] Bisping lost the bout via technical submission due to a rear-naked choke in the third round.[104]
On 28 May 2018, Bisping officially announced his retirement from MMA competition.[108] In late December 2018, Bisping appeared on The Joe Rogan Experience, elaborating on his retirement from MMA, which he said was due to eye injury suffered in the fight with Kelvin Gastelum.[109]
I started having issues with my good eye as well after the Gastelum fight. I was like, this isn't worth it. The reason I retired was the Gastelum fight.
In 2018, Bisping was announced as one of the four presenters of the reality competition series Hyperdrive, which would be released on Netflix on 21 August 2019.[118]
In November 2020, it was announced that Bisping would be playing the main role in a boxing movie titled The Journeyman, based on Mark Turley's book.[119] That same month, Bisping appeared as a tournament fighter, Dolph, in the HBO Max series Warrior.[120]
Bisping suffers from strabismus, which is a condition in which the eyes are not properly aligned when looking at an object. This was caused by a detached retina injury from the fight with Vitor Belfort at UFC on FX: Belfort vs. Bisping in 2013, which Bisping lost via technical knockout in round two. The loss was considered controversial, as at that time Belfort was on testosterone replacement therapy. Bisping stated his satisfaction after Belfort lost via a knockout from a front kick by Lyoto Machida on 12 May 2018 at UFC 224, in his retirement fight.[125]
It's very satisfying to see him [Vitor Belfort] lose if I'm honest. I don't care for the guy. I think he's built a career off being a cheat. The amount of insane steroids over his life, over his career, is evident to see. I mean you go back and look at his early career, the guy was insanely jacked. When we fought he was insanely jacked, and now you look at him and he looks like a f*cking beat up old man. And he's getting knocked out like so and performing like so.[125]
Bisping later lost all vision in his right eye, and wore an unsatisfactory cosmetic lens for some time before learning of an optician near his home who was able to manufacture a latex cosmetic which perfectly matched his real eye; he wears these to this day, calling it "the best three thousand dollars I ever spent in my life."[126]
Bisping's moniker, "The Count", was given by a ring announcer during a fight.[127]
My old manager told the ring announcer to introduce me as The Count. I said no at first, but I'm actually a Count in Poland (grandfather was a Polish Count). It embarrasses me a little bit. I made the mistake of telling someone at school and I was subsequently made fun of.[127]
