Bisping (2021)

1. I've had people write me off constantly.

2. Constantly throughout my career

3. saying I wasn't good enough, wasn't strong enough

4. just wasn't skilled enough.

5. Bisping has reached his plateau.

6. Your career is not going in the right direction any more.

7. And all these fucking journalists and all these people

8. that wrote me off and talked shit about me

9. after what I've been through?

10. Go fuck yourself.

11. They don't know my journey. They don't know what I'm capable of.

12. They don't know my mindset.

13. They don't know how mentally tough I am.

14. You forget how much he's had to sacrifice

15. to get to where he's gotten.

16. Bisping is a fighter.

17. He doesn't care who you are

18. how tough you think you are, how tough you really are.

19. If you think you're better than him, you think you can beat him?

20. Bisping's down to find out. This is what he was born to do.

21. There isn't anything after. There isn't a back-up plan

22. because if this doesn't work, if this doesn't pan out

23. I'm fucked. I've got nothing.

24. When I was younger, I never really thought about the future.

25. Didn't care about anything.

26. All I wanted to do was have a good time.

27. That all changed once my family came along.

28. Fortunately, the same things that got me in trouble as a kid

29. well, they would set me up for a life that I had never thought possible.

30. Almeida's here.

31. - Quick. - One picture and that's it.

32. - One picture. - I gotta go.

33. Sorry, guys.

34. Back home in England as an analyst for the UFC.

35. The UFC never told me

36. that they'd be announcing my induction into the Hall of Fame.

37. I was under the impression that I was just going to say "Hello"

38. and wave to a few of the home town fans.

39. I'm hoping that I get a good reception, but you never know.

40. They might be, "Ugh". You know. Little golf clap.

41. You know. Ah yeah.

42. Or are like, "Listen, mate. You retired. Fuck off.

43. We don't care any more..." You know?

44. Thank you.

45. There's our moment, Adkins.

46. Oh shit. Wow.

47. There's only one Michael Bisping, and there is never gonna be another.

48. Look how long he lasted in the UFC.

49. It's tough to win a world title, and he's done it all.

50. And Michael Bisping truly deserves to be in the UFC Hall of Fame.

51. - As a Hall of Fame... - Yeah.

52. - I'm in the Hall of Fame? - You're getting inducted

53. into the Hall of Fame.

54. Thanks. Goodnight, guys.

55. - Selfie! - Yes.

56. Alright.

57. I was raised in Clitheroe. You know, England.

58. Bangers and mash.

59. Sticky toffee pudding.

60. England.

61. You know, growing up as a young lad in the Northwest of England

62. well, it had its ups and its downs.

63. The Iron Lady of the Western world.

64. Put it this way

65. there was a lot going on culturally in England in the '90s.

66. Negotiations to end the siege...

67. Strangeways jail in Manchester

68. is said to have reached a critical point.

69. Tonight, we look at the growing concern over acid house parties

70. which attract thousands of young people in the region.

71. Every weekend, there'd be a news report about

72. an illegal rave happening somewhere in the Northwest of England.

73. The police view is that these are purely criminal events.

74. They promised that within a month these parties will be history.

75. And of course, the world was shocked

76. about the tragedy, breaking news of Princess Diana.

77. Now there is confirmation

78. that Diana, Princess of Wales

79. has died

80. in that car accident in Paris.

81. You know, growing up in the UK

82. especially at times when, like, I grew up when Mikey grew up.

83. You know, it wasn't easy.

84. Working class areas.

85. Most people come from humble beginnings.

86. The rich people is a very small percentage.

87. A lot of towns in the north of England

88. and throughout England, you know.

89. Great places to live, but not a lot of opportunity there.

90. This is my mum, Kathleen.

91. She's from Ireland.

92. A tough lady that had a hard life.

93. This is Jan, my Dad.

94. He ran the house.

95. A no-nonsense father that used to be a sniper in the British Army.

96. And this was our house. That was my bedroom, up there.

97. And there was 8, 8 of us here.

98. This is a 4-bedroom house, you know, so my mom and dad in one room

99. and then two kids each in the other 3.

100. It was just a very busy household

101. and we didn't have a lot of money

102. so I think there was stress with that.

103. Well, it's not easy being a parent

104. and especially when you got 5-6 children

105. 'cause you're trying to do your best with all of 'em.

106. He had to retire from the army

107. a lot sooner than he wanted to due to injury.

108. My mom didn't work. She was a stay at home mom.

109. You know, to be honest, I mean

110. yeah, you know, money was tight

111. but I never remember it being tough, you know.

112. It was just the way it was.

113. Michael was the youngest of 3 boys at the time

114. and he was always competing against his older brothers.

115. You know, even at Christmas, you know, how much was spent

116. on Christmas presents for his older brother.

117. And Michael would then price everything he had got for Christmas

118. and say, "Well, next year

119. I want you to spend the same amount of money on me".

120. You know, and he'd even add inflation into it.

121. If you have any words to describe Michael

122. it's, "Fun," and he's really, really funny.

123. It's not easy as a child growing up in our situation.

124. You know, I wasn't wealthy, and, but we managed

125. and I like to think they had a pretty good childhood.

126. These snobby kids would make fun of us

127. and I just said to myself, "Well, that's it now". You know.

128. "Anyone that carries on talking shit

129. then I'm gonna take care of it," and that's what I started doing

130. you know, and it felt nice.

131. This one guy in particular was, you know, bullying me

132. and I said, "I'm not gonna fucking take this any more". You know.

133. And I punched him in the face.

134. It was good. It was rewarding, you know, because

135. they changed their tune.

136. They shut the fuck up.

137. There's always idiots around, you know, so

138. getting into fights when I was younger

139. unfortunately when I was a kid, yeah, there was a lot of that.

140. He was always full of life, full of energy.

141. He didn't know what he was gonna do next

142. and my husband thought

143. it'd be a good idea

144. to put that energy into jiu-jitsu

145. and, you know, a hobby.

146. The culture at the time

147. said that this guy one day will be a world champion in martial arts

148. and I thought, "Well, if you see that

149. then I'll keep bringing him down to train".

150. You know, I never played sports when I was a kid.

151. When I was at school and we picked teams

152. they picked that guy, that guy, that guy, that guy.

153. There'd be me at the end with, like, the disabled kid

154. and they'd pick the disa...

155. I'm like, "Come on. For fuck's sake. Are you serious?"

156. So I was never a gifted athlete at school, but I could fight.

157. I mean, I started doing martial arts when I was 8 years old.

158. Fighting was something that I liked, to be honest.

159. It was 100% effort or nothing

160. and he always gave 100% effort.

161. He would keep coming for you.

162. He's take a few shots

163. and he's still coming at you, and get hurt, and still come at you

164. because his attitude was absolutely phenomenal.

165. Say, when he was 11, was fighting in the under 13's and winning it.

166. The under 16's and winning it

167. and invariably winning the under 18's

168. and doing well in the adult competition.

169. His dad, his brothers

170. the entire family was well-known around Clitheroe.

171. You know what I mean. You didn't fuck with him.

172. Be careful, because I've heard that Bispings are violent.

173. It was a volatile household.

174. Well, it was really strict, because I think of the army

175. and he used to shout, and people all could hear him

176. and they used to say, "Oh my god. Jan is off again," wouldn't they.

177. If I ever wanted anything

178. I would always go up, "Dad. Are you in a good mood?"

179. He'd be like, "Yeah. Why?"

180. I'm like, "Well, I wanted to ask you something".

181. Yeah. People always say, "What was your dad like?"

182. And I'm like, "Well, he was a bit of a psycho when he was younger.

183. He's a calm guy now.

184. He's very, very calm, in fact,"

185. but when he was younger, definitely a bit of a maniac.

186. Everyone in the neighbourhood, they were all shit scared of him.

187. I remember one time

188. my brother was in the school football team

189. and it was Saturday morning.

190. We went to watch him play, and we're standing there on the sidelines

191. and he fouled somebody

192. you know, and the referee called foul, gave him a yellow card

193. and my dad's like, "What the hell? What the fuck are you doing?"

194. And he shouts something out to the referee

195. and the referee, you know, says something back to my dad.

196. Storms onto the pitch.

197. I'm like, "Jeez, Dad. What are you doing? No way."

198. Boom.

199. Cheeky little head-butt, drops the referee.

200. I'm like, "Dad, what are you doing? I'm never gonna live this down."

201. He walks off, he grabs me, "Come on, son.

202. Let's get in the car, get out of here".

203. So yeah. There you go. That's what my dad was like.

204. That's just one of, you know, many, many instances I can go to

205. but you know, as I say, you know, "I love my dad".

206. He had a quick temper. I've got a quick temper.

207. But because of that, I think, I feel like

208. we all got the reputation for, like, being tough, and I'm not.

209. You know, I never had a lot of friends and stuff

210. but then, when I started fighting

211. you know, it kind of makes you more popular

212. so, you know, I kind of gravitated towards that a little bit

213. because, you know, I don't know.

214. All of a sudden, I had a bunch of friends.

215. Yeah.

216. By the way, I'm talking 16-17-18 years old.

217. You know, when you're that age, you don't have any of the cares.

218. Fuck you, motherfucker.

219. You can't, you can't say that.

220. With his friends at the time

221. they would say, "Michael, this one's done this to me.

222. This is, can you sort it out?"

223. And Michael used to think, "Oh. I'll sort it out for you,"

224. but he ended up in trouble then himself.

225. And that's like just typical Michael.

226. You know, just kind and always looks after you.

227. Growing up, all people cared about

228. was football and going to the pub, and if you combine the two

229. the football with the pub and the drinking and the booze

230. you know, it's a good time.

231. The match finishes. Everyone's screaming.

232. They're chanting. They're throwing their beers in the air.

233. "Will Grigg's on fire".

234. And of course, you know, when you combine

235. the English's passion for football and you throw in a few beers

236. then what's gonna happen?

237. Well, shit's gonna kick off. Simple as that.

238. And once again British soccer supporters found themselves

239. at the centre of a shameful display

240. of running battles, knife attacks, and sheer hooliganism.

241. You know, Mike's from a tough part of the world

242. that the further up north you go, the bigger and meaner they get.

243. That's the good thing about England, I think, personally

244. because we don't have a gun culture.

245. You're more likely to just get into a scrap.

246. There was a problem, you had a fight

247. you settled it with your fists, and that's the way we did it.

248. It's funny, 'cause we'd go, went around Clitheroe

249. filming for Reebok

250. and we're walking down the street going to this set

251. and it's only me and Mike, and he says, "See that pub there, Daz?"

252. I said, "Yeah". He said, "I got thrown out of there.

253. See that pub over there?

254. 6 doormen started on me.

255. You see that pub over there? Well, this happened.

256. You see that pub there? That happened...

257. And every street corner in Clitheroe, Mike can tell you

258. a story of when he's had a scrap or a trouble with somebody.

259. At that point in his life, he wasn't really going anywhere as such.

260. You know what I mean. He was just going down the road

261. that any of the guy of that edge from Clitheroe was going.

262. I worked at a slaughter house.

263. I remember, you know, that was like.

264. Anyone that, you know, needs a job, they could put

265. they probably did a stint at the slaughter house in Clitheroe

266. and my fist job was to go around

267. and pick up all the heads that hadn't landed in the bin

268. and put the heads in the bin

269. and I'm like, fucking having a mini heart attack here

270. so I've got a shovel, and I'm like shovelling the heads up

271. and they're like, "Michael, they're not gonna bite you.

272. You're okay. Just grab 'em and put them in the fucking bin.

273. I'm like, "Dude. That's a sheep's head that's just been cut off.

274. I'm done. I'm out of here. Fuck this.

275. Stick it up your ass...

276. What else? Door to door salesman, and got to work and

277. walk around all fucking day in the rain and the cold

278. and you knock on people's doors, and they'd open the door

279. and I'd go, "Hi. Hello, sir. Sorry to bother you.

280. Are you aware of deregulation with the gas rules," or whatever.

281. Some bullshit.

282. Door shut. Next.

283. Just all day, doors slammed in your face.

284. Like, "You fucking asshole.

285. I thought I was gonna get a sale there".

286. Working in fucking shitty dead-end factories wasn't who I was.

287. That's why I was so unhappy.

288. Certainly, me and my friends, we'd work Monday to Friday

289. and then at the weekend we'd go and do the pubs.

290. People would just come over to him, and like, "Oh, you think you tough?"

291. Like, "Fight. Fight me,"

292. and he would say, "No," and they would hit him

293. and he would always finish it

294. but it was defence, and it got him in trouble.

295. I know this one particular occasion, I was.

296. We were in a bar.

297. This is the bar, right here.

298. So, we come out here, and one guy that punched me

299. so I'm like, "Okay. Well, it's on". You know?

300. And he grabs this girl

301. and he grabs her, he's in, like, a full nelson.

302. He's stood in the middle of the road.

303. He's got this girl grabbed.

304. I'm like, "Oh my God. What are you doing?

305. You're acting like a tough guy, but now you're using a girl

306. as a human shield.

307. As I'm standing here like this, I can see the other one.

308. He's getting closer and closer.

309. He's edging closer

310. and the other guy's talking, so he's got my attention

311. and the other guy's edging closer and closer.

312. And I could see him, but he didn't

313. I didn't let him know that I could see him.

314. Boom.

315. Head-kicked him.

316. He hits the deck.

317. I was laid in bed, it was summer so the window was opened

318. and I heard a knock at the door. It was super early.

319. And I peer out the window.

320. There was like 3 cops at the door. I'm like, "Shit. What do they want?"

321. Kind of had an idea.

322. And I looked out the door there at the back

323. and there was like 4 cops there as well.

324. I'm like, "Oh shit. What is going on?"

325. I thought, "I'd better go down". It's like 7 in the morning.

326. So, I go downstairs, and then

327. I'm trying to talk to the cops, and like, "You're under arrest".

328. It sounds awful, but it was kind of normal

329. and...

330. I think this time was different because he was in trouble.

331. You know, and it was this time it was big trouble.

332. The judge sentenced me to 28 days in prison.

333. This is the fucking dregs of society. I am not one of these people.

334. I'm better than this, and I said to myself there and then

335. I said, "That's it. That's it. I am fucking done with this.

336. I will never be back in this type of environment ever again

337. and I will never throw another punch in my life...

338. You know, I learned my lesson.

339. You know, and I thank that judge for that

340. because he did teach me a lesson.

341. I was kind of reckless. I was an idiot.

342. We've all got volatile tempers. We all do things we regret.

343. You know, but it made me the man I am today.

344. It made me who I am.

345. I had a good childhood. I had a great childhood.

346. I saw a lot of violence.

347. Saw a lot of violence as a child, way too much violence.

348. I love my parents dearly. They did their best by me.

349. I think I was forced to be mentally tough, to be honest. Yeah.

350. I mean, I saw things that, you know, a child my size, age

351. shouldn't have seen, you know, but...

352. Just, you know...

353. I don't really want to say it, to be honest.

354. I love my mum and dad, so I don't want to throw 'em

355. under a bus, you know.

356. So...

357. Yeah. Just stuff at home.

358. Looking back now, as a man

359. you know, I can see what my dad was going through.

360. Probably a bit of depression. Maybe a bit of PTSD, whatever.

361. You know, he, as I say, was a sniper

362. and he was a sniper that was put to use.

363. So he had a lot of demons to deal with, and as I say

364. money was tight, and it was a volatile household, you know.

365. But I'm not here to shit all over my parents.

366. They loved us dearly. My dad's my hero, in fact.

367. My dad's an amazing person. He really is, and so's my mom.

368. Love 'em both to death.

369. I feel I was born to love Michael and to support him

370. and that's my role in life.

371. If it wasn't for her

372. we wouldn't be sitting here having this conversation.

373. Period. I wouldn't have been a fighter.

374. I wouldn't have, you know...

375. I wouldn't be a success in life, you know.

376. I know it sounds arrogant, but it's true.

377. You know, it's all down to Rebecca.

378. I love him from the absolute bottom of my heart

379. and I know that he feels the same for me.

380. I never thought I was good enough for Rebecca.

381. When I met her, I thought I didn't deserve her.

382. I thought her family was too good for me.

383. I thought she was too good for me.

384. It was very different to what I was used to.

385. There was a lot of shouting.

386. Lot of swearing. Things like that.

387. So, one time Michael and I are on a night out.

388. We came back to Michael's house

389. and we just watched some TV and fell asleep on the couch.

390. In the morning

391. Michael's mom came down the stairs, and she was so angry at me.

392. - Livid. - Oh my God.

393. I'm some embarrassed.

394. But, yeah, he did.

395. He brought her in in the middle of the night, you see.

396. And I guess she kind of thought

397. that maybe we were up to no good, you know. Being inappropriate.

398. For all I knew, she could've been anybody, you know.

399. People that sleep around. I don't know.

400. She's calling me like a whore, and

401. you know, hussy and to get out and how dare I.

402. She's got children upstairs.

403. And I said, "Becca. Come here. Come here."

404. I says, "I'm so sorry".

405. I says, "Just I've got a house full of children

406. and I don't want them to think that's what you do".

407. Our house was so volatile.

408. I couldn't understand it when I went, I first went to her house

409. at Christmas, you know

410. and like everyone was like so respectful and nice

411. and there was no argument and no shouting

412. and I just, I felt, it was weird.

413. But I didn't know how to mentally process it all.

414. I was like, "Fucking. At some point...

415. At some point she's gonna kick off of him

416. and he's gonna throw a glass of wine in her face

417. and he's gonna get slapped, because it's all gonna kick off any minute,"

418. 'cause that's how it was in my house.

419. I'm like, "Any minute now," but no.

420. Everybody sits respectfully

421. listens to what the other one has to say

422. and the, "Ha ha," which is great.

423. It's awesome, but I was like, at first, I was struggling with it.

424. I'm like, "What the fuck," but this is how it's meant to be.

425. That's how life should be.

426. I was a fucking asshole. Let's be honest.

427. I was going out trying to fight everybody, you know.

428. And that's no way to live your life.

429. And I was working at the time as an upholsterer.

430. On a Sunday night, we get a phone call.

431. My sensei, when I was younger

432. he was like the head of the organization.

433. He always took a special interest in me

434. and said I could go a long way.

435. He said, "Mike, is this what you want to do for the rest of your life?"

436. I'm like, "Fuck no".

437. Told me all about the explosion of the UFC

438. mixed martial arts, Pride FC out in Japan, and said, "Guys

439. that can fight well in martial arts can make real money now".

440. Every single martial art tournament I ever entered when I was a child

441. I won, and I felt like this was who I was always destined to be.

442. Rebecca will tell you.

443. She knew that right back then, when that phone call happened

444. things were going to change. So, he made me an offer.

445. He said, "If you quit work, move down to Nottingham

446. train here Monday to Friday, go home, DJ at the weekend

447. to make a little bit of money,"

448. he said, "If you can make it top 5 in the UK

449. I'll give you loss-of-earnings at the job you were at...

450. Mike used to DJ at a club called Munroe's.

451. It was open all night.

452. You know, every villain, wanna-be gangster, undesirable

453. was in this club, and Mike used to DJ in there

454. and you know, he had the name is "DJ Mikey B", and

455. back in the day he was more famous for spinnin' his records

456. than he ever was for fighting in the UFC.

457. I moved down to Nottingham, and that's what I did.

458. Started training. You know, I'd sleep in my car.

459. It was freezing cold, 'cause obviously money was tight beforehand

460. but know we quit work.

461. Money was extremely tight in the early days.

462. We had none.

463. He would sleep in his car, because

464. because we couldn't afford

465. like a hotel room or a B&B or something like that.

466. Oh, I'm gonna quit work and go live in another city

467. and have a jolly old time, by myself

468. while you stay here and slug it out with two fucking kids by yourself.

469. How many women would let you do that?

470. Not many. She was selfless.

471. She helped me.

472. You know, made me realize that, you know

473. the way I was living my life and my mental approach was all wrong.

474. This is 2003 in England, okay?

475. No one knew what MMA was.

476. I remember doing this radio interview with this lady

477. and she entirely proved my point.

478. This is Mixed Martial Arts. That's what it's known as.

479. It's not Fight Club or anything. It's not for barbarians.

480. It's not for thugs, you know.

481. If I take it you haven't watched the sport.

482. - No. I haven't watched. - Okay.

483. But, you do look like a barbarian.

484. Well, thank you very much.

485. You know, I'll keep my comments about you to myself.

486. You know, I'm not a barbarian. Far from it, you know.

487. You've just met me.

488. Michael "The Count" Bisping.

489. He unleashes the strikes

490. and that's what makes him a champion.

491. I'm proud to say I quickly became

492. one of the top fighters in the UK

493. so now, my focus

494. was on the UFC in America

495. and making it on to The Ultimate Fighter show in Las Vegas.

496. Michael Bisping!

497. The UFC wasn't allowed on Pay Per View.

498. As a grown adult

499. you couldn't make the decision to buy this on Pay Per View.

500. Porn was on Pay Per View.

501. UFC was not, so that was the uphill battle we had.

502. The Ultimate Fighter was our trojan horse

503. because we knew we had to get on television

504. but the networks were terrified of this product

505. so we put together a reality show.

506. You're watching Ultimate Fighting

507. but it's in a reality show format

508. which doesn't make it feel as hardcore.

509. So I earned the shot in The Ultimate Fighter show.

510. Put me one step closer to my dream of being a UFC fighter.

511. My name is Mike "The Count" Bisping

512. and I've flown halfway across the world for this.

513. I feel I can I've got what it takes

514. to make a real living out of this.

515. You know, a real career.

516. I love fighters that are confident.

517. I love fighters that wanna be world champions.

518. I love fighters that believe they're the best

519. and wanna prove it to everybody

520. and that's why Mike Bisping and I hit it off so well.

521. Stop it right there. Stop it right there. That's it.

522. Nice!

523. So, obviously, at the end of The Ultimate Fighter

524. the prize is a contract in the UFC.

525. By that time, all I was thinking about was

526. "If he gets to the final, I'm booking a flight to Vegas,"

527. which is what we ended up doing.

528. Who will be crowned

529. the Ultimate Fighter

530. and go on to receive a 6-figure contract with the UFC.

531. How is he still standing?

532. Haynes is in trouble.

533. It is all over!

534. Michael Bisping is the Ultimate Fighter.

535. All that time as a kid, when I was younger, you know

536. being a little dickhead, gettin' in scraps

537. it's all paying off now.

538. It's worked, you know. This crazy plan that we had.

539. A lot of people doubted us.

540. I just remember sprinting up the stands to Rebecca.

541. It brought a tear to my eye, it really did.

542. I had no idea

543. that the people of Great Britain were watching

544. and were behind me the way they were

545. and I will never ever forget that.

546. So I dominated Elvis Sinosic at UFC 70

547. and I got the TKO from my first ever UFC win on English soil.

548. I went on to beat Matt Hamill in UFC 75

549. in a very hard-fought split decision victory.

550. I fought Rashad Evans

551. and I was kinda just happy to be there

552. and unfortunately, I took my first ever loss by split decision.

553. I was kinda in awe of him a little bit

554. and I was a fan of this guy, you know.

555. So, that was the problem with my mentality back then.

556. I'd say, "Ah, well, I'm crying all the way to the bank,"

557. and I think deep down, that was just me trying to mask it.

558. From that moment on

559. I made sure I was in the right mindset for all of my fights.

560. I fought Charles McCarthy.

561. First-round TKO.

562. I then fought Jason Day.

563. First-round TKO.

564. I never lost a fight in 2008, and I thought

565. "If I could beat Dan Henderson at UFC 100, I had to get a title fight".

566. I knew how big that fight was.

567. It was at the time the biggest card

568. in UFC history, UFC 100.

569. Prior to UFC 100

570. Michael Bisping and I were coaches on the ultimate fighter

571. and it was the first time they did country verse country, USA versus UK.

572. During the show, Michael talked a lot of smack.

573. Taking it to the yanks.

574. Is that the best you've got?

575. Look, man... A lot of people weren't fans of his after that.

576. Michael was definitely the "bad guy"

577. definitely the "bad boy", the smack talker.

578. I understand why a lot of people didn't like Michael

579. and really wanted to see him get his butt handed to him.

580. Mike, I talk so much shit to you on Twitter

581. and you never blocked me, and now I'm a fan.

582. You can kiss my ass.

583. The main challenge this week I suppose

584. is just making weight and getting into the octagon nice and healthy.

585. But it's all gonna go swimmingly smooth, I'm sure.

586. I can't remember anything. I don't remember leaving the octagon.

587. I don't remember anything.

588. I didn't know what was going on.

589. I had no idea why I was in a locker room and I just fought.

590. In my mind, I wasn't... I was fighting, 3 months' time.

591. He was circling towards that direction.

592. He ran right into the big right hand of Dan Henderson.

593. He is still out cold.

594. And I'm thinking, "What do you mean I just fought?"

595. They're like, "Yeah, yeah, yeah. Michael, you got knocked out".

596. I'm like, "No, no, no. I'm fighting in 3 months".

597. They're like, "No, Michael. You fought tonight".

598. I'm like, "Hold on.

599. What, did I step in for somebody at the last minute?

600. Did somebody get injured?" They're like, "No. Michael.

601. Right, you need to go to the hospital".

602. So, I start having a shower

603. and I come out, and my manager was there.

604. I say, "Hey. Come here. Come here."

605. I said, "What's going on?"

606. He said, "You've been knocked out. You need to go to the hospital".

607. I said, "No. Ah, yeah. I'm fine. I'm fine, I'm fine, I'm fine.

608. Go back into the shower.

609. 30 seconds later.

610. From out behind the towel. I'm like, "Come here. Come here.

611. What's going on?"

612. He's like, "You've been fucking knocked out.

613. You need to go to the hospital". I was, "I'm fine. I'm fine, I'm fine"

614. and anyway, that went on a few times, and like

615. "You need. To go. To the hospital, okay?"

616. 'Cause I didn't have a fucking clue what was going on.

617. Yeah. I was in the back of an ambulance with Frank Mir.

618. Frank Mir just been fucked up by Brock Lesnar

619. and me and Frank Mir in the back of an ambulance

620. like two sorry assholes

621. and yeah, then it all started.

622. I was sitting there, and I just went, "Fuck".

623. And he went, "What? What?"

624. I said, "Nah". I said, "Now it makes sense.

625. Now I remember," 'cause before I had no idea.

626. I couldn't put it all together

627. and my brain had finally started working

628. to the point where I could piece it all together.

629. I was like, "Shit. I lost the fight".

630. You know. Oh well. What are you gonna do?

631. Those were two nasty, nasty, nasty punches.

632. I mean, that's like the punch that

633. you know, when you punch that damn bag at the carnival

634. the thing that registers how hard you punch?

635. That looks like that punch.

636. You know, when you just take a...

637. If you wind up and give it all.

638. Getting fucked up in a fight

639. where it was your choice

640. to enter into the fight

641. you decided

642. you're gonna get into a cage with another man?

643. It takes a special kind of person to choose to do that.

644. I have this mask

645. that I'm supremely confident and this and that

646. but that's probably the opposite.

647. When I see a fighter lose, especially lose

648. a big important fight by spectacular knockout

649. like, a perfect example is when Conor McGregor knocked out José Aldo.

650. You knew that the pain that he was feeling right there

651. inside the octagon

652. was just the beginning.

653. He was going to be haunted for years.

654. Because when you win a fight, it's the best feeling in the world

655. and then when you lose, it's horrible.

656. Of course it hurts physically

657. but I don't give a fuck about physical pain, you know.

658. That doesn't bother me, but the emotional pain

659. the heartache, yeah, that fuckin' hurts.

660. You're a failure in that objective.

661. You failed, and you told the world you were gonna win

662. you did the press conferences...

663. I'm gonna win.

664. And you failed, and you lost.

665. It's not just the disappointment of failure.

666. It's the rotting pain inside your soul

667. that this person took something from you.

668. Every minute of every day, whether you're playing with your children

669. or going to the movies, or having dinner with your wife

670. in the back of your head, you're like

671. "That motherfucker knocked me out in front of the whole world".

672. The mindset of the fighter is...

673. is a very chaotic place.

674. Don't you understand?

675. What I've been doin'.

676. To get in that cage.

677. There's been a lot of times I've been in my very darkest points

678. as a fighter, like no other.

679. I remember sitting in my hotel room at Mandalay Bay

680. and just sitting in the shower

681. and just tears coming down

682. my eyes of just... defeat.

683. Anger.

684. I've let all my fans down, let all my family down.

685. As a fighter, there is something that overwhelms everything else.

686. I mean...

687. I'll give you an example.

688. When I played Mike Tyson

689. I had to hear everybody's Mike Tyson story.

690. So you got Robert De Niro over here, you got former president

691. you got a governor here

692. and Mike Tyson walks in the room, everybody's gonna look at him.

693. In a male-dominated society, the pugilist trumps everything else

694. because deep down people want that power more than anything else.

695. The power to dominate another person

696. that goes deep into the psyche of men.

697. It can be a very lonely, lonely existence.

698. You know, bless those who

699. don't define it as their only connection to value.

700. I'm not sure

701. that any form of extreme success

702. comes without some isolation

703. and comes without some deep soul-searching.

704. What's wrong?

705. I never spoke about it too anybody.

706. I never opened up about it at all

707. and I was in bed one day watching the Rocky movie.

708. Stallone portrays the emotions

709. that fighters go through just perfectly in those Rocky movies.

710. I can't stop my hands from shaking.

711. He never felt this thing.

712. You gotta see a doctor.

713. No, I just wanna go home.

714. - Home? - Yeah.

715. - Not see a doctor? - I'm just tired.

716. Just tired.

717. I just burst into tears, started bawling my eyes out

718. and my wife ran up. She's like, "What's wrong? What's wrong?"

719. And it was the first time I'd released

720. any emotion about the fight you know.

721. Of course I was disappointed.

722. You know, I thought I was gonna be fighting for the world title.

723. I'd sacrificed so much to win that fight, you know

724. but as always, I just put a smile and a joke on the end of it

725. and don't relay my emotions.

726. You know, I always bottle things up.

727. And I remember Joe Rogan, Joe Rogan saying...

728. It takes incredible mental strength to believe in yourself.

729. Do you really wanna do this?

730. Can you regroup and get back in to become a world class fighter?

731. Some people can't.

732. And I think that night a lot of people celebrated

733. the fact that Michael Bisping was done

734. that he was like essentially dead.

735. Like Dan Henderson had just killed him, and killed him off for good.

736. We had been rid of the boogeyman.

737. You know, I was, "Fuck him". I was mad. I was angry.

738. I've had people write me off constantly, constantly

739. throughout my career

740. saying I wasn't good enough, wasn't strong enough

741. just wasn't skilled enough.

742. "It's over. You're never ever gonna get a title shot again".

743. Everybody said, "You cannot come back from a knockout like that".

744. Or maybe I should retire, 'cause this isn't good for my health.

745. I was like, "Fuck that.

746. There isn't anything else.

747. There isn't a backup plan

748. because if this doesn't work, if this doesn't pan out, I'm fucked.

749. I've got nothing.

750. And all these journalists and all these people that wrote me off

751. that wrote negative articles, that write shit on Twitter

752. that are on these forums

753. of the utter hatred

754. and negativity that people have brought about me over the years

755. and I thank you, because that fuelled me.

756. That fuelled me more than anything, to prove you all wrong.

757. To say that I'm fucking done? You think I'm over?

758. You think I'm fucking finished in this sport?

759. I'll fight anybody, anywhere, anytime, right fucking now.

760. You line them up, I'll knock them down.

761. That's the way I've always been

762. and you motherfucker want to sit there behind a desk

763. and write a fucking article on your laptop and talk shit about me

764. after what I've been through?

765. Go fuck yourself.

766. Being an alpha is a pain in the ass.

767. I mean, just to be real.

768. I mean, anyone that's a real alpha will tell ya, it's a drag sometimes.

769. That's, and that's real.

770. But it's who you are.

771. You can't change who you are.

772. I've lost a bit of respect in the fighting world.

773. I want to take that respect back

774. and first thing on the list is beating Denis Kang.

775. Michael Bisping never turned down a fight.

776. How pumped up he is.

777. Y'know what? That Dan Henderson loss

778. could have created a monster.

779. Fight started, by the way, and boom.

780. I got hit with a right hand and put down pretty much straight away.

781. And right down the guard.

782. And I recovered.

783. I said, "Hold on. Don't worry about this. We got this...

784. Kang took a knee.

785. Kang's in trouble.

786. - That's it. - It is all over! Wow!

787. Tremendous performance. He had his back up against the wall.

788. It felt good. It felt good.

789. It wasn't just the winning, you know.

790. It was shutting up all the critics, all the people, all the naysayers

791. the teachers at school, the people in my home town

792. a lot of people that don't want to see you make it

793. and so it felt good.

794. It felt very good.

795. I really do believe that behind every man is a good or great woman.

796. I had the pleasure at Rebecca's and Michael's wedding

797. announced him walking into the reception as man and wife

798. as they walked down the aisle of love for the first time forever.

799. I know I did it in a very funny way

800. and I introduced both of them individual

801. and my big thing when it comes to weddings

802. is they walk in, it's like

803. "Mr. And Mrs.

804. Michael and Rebecca Bisping".

805. Like that.

806. And at that time, of course, I was going on a good win streak.

807. I was looking impressive in the octagon.

808. I was starting to get the recognition from the media and from the fans

809. and it felt great, and to be honest, I thought I could beat anybody.

810. He has quickly become

811. one of the most exciting and one of the most popular fighters in the UFC.

812. Like always, I got the knockout or the TKO.

813. Anyone, everyone, they'd better watch their fucking back.

814. I got matched up against Vitor Belfort.

815. Huge clip... Vitor Belfort has done it again...

816. The narrative from everybody.

817. All the media, the UFC, Joe Rogan, I remember he said

818. if I beat Vitor Belfort, I'm next in line for a title shot.

819. Michael Bisping has been beating the drum for a shot at the title

820. for a long time.

821. Now finally, he has an opportunity. If he can get past Vitor Belfort...

822. Pray to the MMA gods

823. Vitor Belfort does not enter that fucking thing juiced to the gills.

824. - Oh, he's going to. - Have you seen his tits lately?

825. - Oh my God. - Yeah.

826. There's something happens to Vitor when he fills up with super unleaded.

827. Dude, it's like peanut butter and jelly.

828. He got dick veins out the side of his neck.

829. He's got more muscle than all of us together.

830. Like, some people don't do well with 'roids.

831. They get all red and shit.

832. He looks great. His skin's vibrant.

833. His tits are poppin'.

834. He's all tanned. His teeth get whiter.

835. He was at a level

836. with his testosterone that no human ever reaches.

837. You don't get there.

838. It's not real.

839. Like there's a human, and then there's this...

840. there's this new slot

841. that you can fall into if you get just enough juice in your system.

842. I mean, he's fucking red lining his engines. It's like...

843. So he was going into that cage red lined

844. and that's who Michael Bisping fought.

845. When they were at the weigh-ins

846. Bisping leans over to Vitor and says, "Jesus isn't real".

847. Which, in retrospect

848. probably wasn't the best thing to say to a juiced up TRT Vitor.

849. See, this is a tough fight.

850. He's been knocking everybody out with head kicks recently.

851. That left high kick. And Bisping is over...

852. Went down. Followed it up with some shots.

853. I was okay, actually.

854. But then the referee stepped in.

855. - Vitor Belfort... - Huge high kick.

856. has knocked out Michael Bisping.

857. I think he's a piece of shit is what I think.

858. I'm not sure if I'm getting my point across

859. on how I feel about him, if I'm honest.

860. Bisping was all over Vitor about that.

861. Yeah, back in the day

862. there were definitely guys who fought guys who cheated.

863. So it turns out that kick to the head from Vitor

864. that would soon become my worst nightmare.

865. Can you imagine, that kick to the head

866. - from Vitor. - The curtain's closing.

867. My worst nightmare.

868. It crept in like this, and it stopped there

869. it was like the curtains that had been shut all the way

870. and if I close this eye, that's all I could see.

871. It was all black, and then a strip of vision in the middle

872. and I was like, you know

873. you ain't gotta be a doctor to figure that that isn't normal

874. so I called my eye doctor.

875. "I think I've got a detached retina,"

876. and he said, "Well, why do you say that?"

877. I said, "Because when I put my hand in front of my face

878. and wiggle my fingers, I can't fucking see them,"

879. and he went, "Yeah, you need to come in here right now".

880. Sure enough, detached retina.

881. I am gonna do everything in my power

882. to make sure that I still fight in Manchester

883. so, you know, it's just a bump in the road, hopefully.

884. The surgery lasted over an hour.

885. They injected oil in my eye, they used a laser

886. they put a silicon sponge around the outside

887. and eventually reattached my retina.

888. Dana White calls, and he says, "Have you spoken to your doctor?"

889. And I said, "No".

890. He said, "Well, I have".

891. I said, "Right. Okay. Go on. What'd he say?"

892. And he said, "Well, I'll just cut to the chase.

893. He said you're never gonna fight again.

894. He said, "He said, 'Your eye is a mess'".

895. Obviously. You know, that wasn't an easy phone call to take.

896. Fighting was my life. Still I never gave up hope.

897. After recovery, I wake up one morning with a headache

898. but I still decided to go for a run

899. then the pain got increasingly worse.

900. The pain my head was like nothing I'd ever experienced ever

901. so when I got back my wife called my doctor.

902. A regular person's eye pressure is between 9 and 20.

903. They checked my pressure. It was like 90-something.

904. They said they've never seen someone's pressure as high.

905. They said, "Go to this other hospital".

906. I went to this other hospital

907. and they have a procedure where they use laser

908. where they can clear the drainage in the eye

909. and they give me some medication. They sent me on my way.

910. It felt like my eyeball was gonna explode.

911. I get home.

912. Head's still fucking exploding.

913. It's like the worst pain

914. you could ever imagine.

915. Gets to like 2 o'clock in the morning

916. I'm still like this.

917. So we drove off to Pasadena

918. the only doctor that was open at that time of night.

919. Literally, I wasn't a very pleasant person to be around.

920. I'm screaming, howling in agony.

921. We get this huge needle, shove it right in my eye.

922. "The drain in your eye is blocked. You've got glaucoma".

923. He pulls out this piece of plastic.

924. He says, "I'm gonna put this in your eye

925. and it'll relieve the drainage".

926. They're operating, and I wake up a little bit beforehand.

927. The anaesthetic had worn off.

928. The pain.

929. The pain was the worst thing I've ever experienced

930. and I could see the doctors, like, "What's going on?"

931. Sticks another needle in my eye, more medication

932. and boom, puts me under.

933. And so they had to go in, undo the operation

934. take the drain out, and start all over again.

935. Cast your mind back to the film, Rocky 2.

936. - You have to retire. - I ain't gonna

937. I don't want to retire. You know.

938. This ain't the time to retire. You know. Not in here.

939. Not in no office.

940. Mike Bisping is the true, he's the true epitome of a Rocky movie.

941. He really is.

942. Love him or hate him, that is a true testament of the character.

943. I spoke to Michael a couple of times about ending it

944. without saying, "Okay, I think it's time".

945. He knew how I felt.

946. You know, of course it was taking its toll on him.

947. Do you love me?

948. Yeah, I love you. Now, what, why do you ask that?

949. Because if you love somebody, you live with him

950. you live for them.

951. You don't gamble with a life.

952. Rocky, I don't care about the money.

953. It's you.

954. That's all that matters.

955. Please. We'll be okay.

956. We'll be fine.

957. That was a very... dark time in his life.

958. The life just seemed to go out of him, and...

959. my guess is I, he just felt like his identity was gone as well

960. as well as his livelihood, you know.

961. The pressure of, "What am I gonna do now?

962. This is all I know.

963. How am I gonna support my wife and my kids now?"

964. I mean, that pressure on top of

965. having to go through that kind of injury

966. I can't imagine what that must have been like for him.

967. One thing about fighters is we feel more than other folks.

968. You know that you're embraced by somebody who would

969. basically die for you.

970. Even though we take the moniker of the monster

971. but we wouldn't be those monsters

972. if we didn't have something to protect

973. and that's, our true nature is loving individuals.

974. Michael lives for his children.

975. Everything he does is for them.

976. Has such a close bond with them.

977. Hello.

978. Hello.

979. - Hey, Dad. - Hiya, Dad.

980. Hiya Dad...

981. Thomas Magnum, I presume.

982. You must be Coburn.

983. Alright. Let's keep this simple.

984. Our guy for yours.

985. I started focusing on everything I could do

986. to build for want of a better expression

987. a brand outside of fighting.

988. I started to try to focus on movies, on TV, on podcasts

989. doing anything in the media, anything I could.

990. I think he could translate his career

991. into films quite easily

992. because he's such a fun

993. charismatic, very chatty, funny guy.

994. You do as you're fucking told

995. - and get in the van. - Who do you think you're talking to?

996. You keep telling me what to do, and you're pissing me off.

997. We're running around the streets with fucking machine guns.

998. Look at the eyes on us.

999. You work across the street.

1000. Yeah.

1001. Diamond exchange.

1002. That's right.

1003. Beer's on me.

1004. No, I think Michael is a good actor.

1005. When you have that mindset of learning, and you can absorb things

1006. you're always gonna improve at what you do.

1007. So, if you look at his performance in earlier movies to now

1008. you're gonna see a vast difference, but that goes back to fighting.

1009. You look at his performance when he was coming up as a fighter

1010. to later on

1011. there's a vast difference.

1012. I started getting treatment.

1013. You know, obviously, post-surgery, you know,

1014. treatment and recovery, and you gotta go back for check-ups and things.

1015. My doctor wasn't there one day, and I saw a different doctor

1016. and this doctor said

1017. "My dad told me there's two types of people in this life.

1018. One type of person, swings through the jungle on a vine

1019. and waits until they have hold of another vine

1020. before they let go of that one...

1021. He said, "The other type of person swings through the fucking jungle

1022. and they let go and they hope they catch a vine."

1023. He said, "Something tells me you're that second type of person."

1024. I said, "You fucking bet your ass I am".

1025. He said, "Okay". He said, "We'll start training

1026. and then we'll see how that goes

1027. and then hopefully down the line we'll book a fight."

1028. So I came out there with the biggest sense of joy and relief.

1029. You know, I was so happy.

1030. The reality is, off-camera, is that, from when I opened

1031. not for camera.

1032. No, apart from, yeah, yeah.

1033. I could see a little bit.

1034. If you're following what I'm putting down

1035. 'cause I got a camera in my face.

1036. Just roll with the punches, Mike.

1037. Having a doctor tell me to start training again

1038. and getting medically cleared to fight

1039. that's two very different things.

1040. I had to pass the test that said I had a minimum of 2200 vision

1041. and even though 2200 vision is classed as clinically blind, for me

1042. well, let's just say that was very challenging.

1043. I know you all wanna know how I got medically cleared to fight again

1044. but I can't talk about that.

1045. I'm not gonna go into details, but if you know me

1046. then you know there's nothing I won't do to take care of my family

1047. and I did what I had to do in order to fight again and take care of them.

1048. That's all I can say.

1049. But long story short, I got cleared to fight

1050. but let me tell ya, it wasn't easy.

1051. I walked out, "Fucking come on!"

1052. I was so fucking happy, so happy, so happy

1053. because I was cleared. I was done.

1054. I dodged a bullet again.

1055. It's amazing how he bluffed the doctors

1056. he bluffed the UFC

1057. he got through the commissions.

1058. And it was always a ride.

1059. You know, every time he had a fight after the Belfort fight

1060. it was, "Am I going to get pulled? Am I gonna get caught?

1061. Or am I get pulled from the fight at the last minute and career over.

1062. And he just kept going.

1063. I've got zero depth perception, you know.

1064. The brain's an amazing thing, you know.

1065. Once I actually touch the guy

1066. once I actually got my hands on him

1067. I could physically touch him

1068. my brain could figure out exactly where he was

1069. and then I'd have more success

1070. but it was definitely an evolution all the time.

1071. I challenge anybody, put your hand over your right eye

1072. and then ride a bike

1073. drive a car

1074. let someone punch you, try and defend it.

1075. I guarantee that 99 out of 100 would struggle very, very badly.

1076. How is this guy actually going to compete with one working eye?

1077. This guy should be retired. What is he doing?

1078. How is he gonna fight?

1079. Who does this guy... I mean

1080. someone needs to tell this guy he needs to stop.

1081. This is ridiculous.

1082. It is difficult enough with two eyes.

1083. He's gonna do it with one?

1084. Man, this is insane.

1085. So he has one eye that looks almost like cross-eyed

1086. and it's kinda black, like he's on Ecstasy, like one pupil's dilated.

1087. It's very weird, and he doesn't give a fuck.

1088. He's got that one eye fucked up, and he doesn't give a shit.

1089. He's still going in there and slinging.

1090. That guy's born for this.

1091. This is the main event of the evening.

1092. His eye was a big part of our training.

1093. And I would test it as well

1094. because I wanted to know what he was seeing and not seeing.

1095. Believe me or not, but a lot of the movement and the positioning

1096. to how he would stand and move

1097. I was always kinda trying to work

1098. around keeping him at an angle where his lead was kinda

1099. focusing on where you're going.

1100. So he had to compensate for that

1101. by being absolutely 150% in every other area

1102. and that's what he went and did.

1103. That's the Michael Bisping we have known since 2006.

1104. Look at that. Great cardio. Combinations.

1105. Cung Le goes down. Bisping looking to finish.

1106. It is all over!

1107. Took some time off, had some problems.

1108. This is what I'm capable of.

1109. Believe me, I want to be world champion.

1110. I know I have the tools.

1111. We have to back it up.

1112. This is the start of backing it up.

1113. Never ever, ever once did I contemplate throwing the towel in.

1114. Never once did the thought of quitting ever cross my mind.

1115. Never once did I think, you know, "I could go blind".

1116. I still had dreams I wanted to achieve.

1117. I still wanted to be the world champion

1118. and I wanted to set my family up financially

1119. and the only way I could do that

1120. was by still fighting, so I was willing to risk everything

1121. to, you know, to go and achieve those goals.

1122. There's an idiot called Luke Rockhold who doesn't stop talking about me.

1123. I think he has the hots for me, to be honest.

1124. Luke Rockhold, you called me out. If you want to do it, let's dance.

1125. Here I am.

1126. Luke and I, we have a bit of history

1127. and to say we don't like each other

1128. I guess that's a bit of an understatement.

1129. Luke Rockhold, I'm sure he's a nice enough guy.

1130. I don't really know him. I can't pretend to know him.

1131. But what I do know is I was training for a fight.

1132. He came down to help me spar.

1133. My boxing coach, Jason Parillo, he... he was friends with Luke.

1134. People used to ask me about that sparring session

1135. I'm like, "I don't even talk about it," because sparring is sparring.

1136. Guys get their ass kicked

1137. and kick other guys' asses all the time, you know.

1138. It's in the gym, and it is what it is.

1139. I got the better of him. I kicked his ass.

1140. Whatever you wanna call it, you know.

1141. And I was, you know, I was, "Ah. Sweet".

1142. I did a TV show in New York.

1143. The host of the TV show knew I'd sparred Luke Rockhold

1144. and baring in mind Luke Rockhold was the Strikeforce champion.

1145. He wasn't in the UFC. He was in Strikeforce.

1146. He was the Strikeforce champion

1147. and the host said, "How did that sparring match go?"

1148. I said, "You can't really talk about sparring.

1149. Well, let's put it like this.

1150. I'm the unofficial Strikeforce champion.

1151. So, and it was a joke.

1152. You know. It really was just a joke. That's my sense of humour.

1153. And yeah, you know, the little ego inside me wanted to put it out there

1154. that I got the better of him

1155. but it was just a sparring match, and it was just a joke.

1156. Well, he took offence to it.

1157. You know, shortly after he was in the UFC

1158. and he was going around talking smack

1159. that I'd said that, and I did say that

1160. but it was a joke, and it was a funny line.

1161. It got a laugh from everybody.

1162. That right there kinda started the...

1163. the I don't like you and you don't like me and we don't like each other.

1164. He talked so much trash about us, about England

1165. about everything, so...

1166. The thing is that

1167. fighters have strong personalities

1168. and you can't expect

1169. that everybody's gonna play nicely and everybody's gonna get along.

1170. It's not realistic.

1171. Okay. Here we go.

1172. Take 2. Luke Rockhold.

1173. Yeah. I don't.

1174. I don't give a fuck what people think

1175. about the situation and

1176. who's the good guy

1177. who's the bad guy.

1178. I know who I am, and I know who he is.

1179. And I remember at the time we did the show called.

1180. Counterpunch with Jon Anik, and we didn't like each other already

1181. but I'm telling you, after that, we hated each other.

1182. I made an off-the-cuff remark.

1183. - I was having a laugh. OK? - It's a tasteless remark.

1184. - Well, whatever. And I'll knock - Yeah.

1185. that smug look off your face, son. Believe you me.

1186. I'll knock that weak little beard off your face too.

1187. Oh my god.

1188. I think that's Rockhold's personality to be totally honest.

1189. I think, I don't know if he's the most understood guy.

1190. I don't care who Michael Bisping's fighting

1191. there's gonna be some shit-talking, and Mike's gonna stir the pot

1192. you know, and that's just the way it is.

1193. The fight was in Australia, and that's my wife's home country

1194. and when I was walking out to the octagon as usual

1195. the arena felt absolutely electric.

1196. Fight's started.

1197. I got head bumped.

1198. - Head bump. - Head bump, there.

1199. Stop. Stop. Michael

1200. Michael Bisping complaining of a head butt.

1201. Boom. He head butted me and opens the cut.

1202. That's the scar. That's the cut, is a big deep cut.

1203. From there the fight was downhill, all the way, as I say.

1204. Could only just see out a tiny bit

1205. if I turned a certain way out of this eye.

1206. Remember, the doctor only just cleared me.

1207. This eye.

1208. This eye, blood was pumping into it.

1209. I couldn't see. I'd wipe it.

1210. Everything'd be red.

1211. I'd blink a few times and I could see a little bit.

1212. He's been wiping the blood out of his eye.

1213. It seems to be bothering him a little bit.

1214. Yeah, the Count would be a little bit worried about that.

1215. Nice combination there.

1216. There's nothing really there, and so little by little I found his timing.

1217. Came back that second round and really kinda was more aware.

1218. Round number 2.

1219. The cut on Michael Bisping's left eye does not look like a good one.

1220. Found my shot right off the bat

1221. and then started working my kicks, and then I landed that...

1222. - Straight left. - Couple of my specialities.

1223. Front leg. Oh... A head kick.

1224. - Bisping's down. - Good leg kick.

1225. Oh my, could be it... This could be the finish...

1226. I guess I got kicked in the head and I didn't know what was going on

1227. and next minute I'm standing there and the fight's over.

1228. Takes mount position.

1229. Luke Rockhold. Wow!

1230. What a mounted guillotine.

1231. I knew exactly what I was gonna do.

1232. I did exactly what I was gonna do.

1233. I told him I was gonna pick him up off the canvas.

1234. Said, "You're gonna wake up. I'm gonna fuckin' give you my hand.

1235. I'm gonna pick you up off the canvas. Dusted him off...

1236. That's the difference between me and Michael.

1237. It just hurt inside

1238. because I knew that wasn't the best version of me

1239. but by saying anything highlighted

1240. that probably or maybe I shouldn't have been fighting.

1241. So yeah, it was a fucked situation, if I'm honest.

1242. I'm standing there against a world-class opponent

1243. one of the best to ever do it.

1244. And I believe that was the first time

1245. that Michael Bisping had ever been submitted

1246. and that was very notable.

1247. At the time, I really did think that that was the end

1248. that maybe he would stick around for a couple more fights

1249. but you can't beat Luke Rockhold.

1250. How are you ever going to find yourself back in the title picture?

1251. I'll still fight.

1252. I love doing this.

1253. Me? I'm going nowhere.

1254. It was shortly after my eye injury

1255. that I remember one morning I was running down here

1256. and I look over, and I see the Altarena

1257. and I've had many fights there, many main events

1258. and then when I saw the arena, that just hit home to me.

1259. I thought, "I'm never gonna fight there again.

1260. I'm never gonna fight. I've got one fucking eye.

1261. Got one eye, a bad knee, can hardly run on it.

1262. And I stopped and, you know.

1263. Yeah. I was crying, I'm almost crying thinking about it now.

1264. I am fucking crying, but yeah, no, it was, it was hard.

1265. It was hard.

1266. I thought, "I'm done. I'm over.

1267. I'm damaged. I'm broken. Can't do it anymore."

1268. I did everything I could to get past those medicals

1269. lied, fuckin' conned people, lied through my fucking teeth, cheated.

1270. It wasn't for me. It was for my family. You know what I mean?

1271. I want to give them everything I can

1272. and that was only through fighting

1273. and giving up never, never entered my mind for a second.

1274. I remember there was one moment in particular where he laid out a plan.

1275. He said, "I'm gonna beat CB Dolloway

1276. then I'm gonna fight this guy

1277. then I'm gonna fight another guy

1278. and around this time next year

1279. I'm gonna be a UFC middleweight champion,"

1280. and I remember sitting there

1281. and kind of thinking like

1282. "Man, this is a little bit sad

1283. because this is not going to happen.

1284. Mate, your career is not going

1285. in the right direction any more.

1286. You've got the eye issue. It's just not going well.

1287. So what's going on right now?

1288. He set it up with cookies, and the carrots

1289. and I'm gonna set up the milk and beer.

1290. Who are the carrots for?

1291. Reindeers.

1292. - And the cookies are for who? - Santa.

1293. - And who is the milk for? - Santa.

1294. And we're gonna give him a beer as well?

1295. - Yeah. - Yeah, 'cause he might get thirsty.

1296. Alright, let's put some milk in this.

1297. Okay.

1298. It was Christmas Eve.

1299. I got a phone call from Dana White Christmas Eve

1300. and I'm, you know...

1301. Dana's a good guy, but he doesn't usually call me on Christmas Eve

1302. to wish me Merry Christmas

1303. so I see Dana on the phone, on the screen.

1304. I'm like, "Oh. What's this?"

1305. Dana White. Better take this one.

1306. Damn. My phone's not working.

1307. Just approve. I'm trying to answer.

1308. It's dead. It won't answer.

1309. Bloody phone.

1310. - What? - It won't... Ah, there we go.

1311. Dana.

1312. Hey. What's up, buddy. How you doing?

1313. Long story short. He says, "Hey. Change of opponent.

1314. You're now fighting Anderson Silva.

1315. So, I'm, "Oh. Alright. Cool."

1316. He's like, "Yeah. Merry Christmas".

1317. The conversation, there was more to it than that.

1318. He asked me if I wanted to take it, but of course I did.

1319. I put the phone down, and I was elated.

1320. The greatest champion in UFC history.

1321. Anderson Silva was the most dominant champion the sport had ever seen.

1322. The way that he'd finish people was mind-blowing.

1323. The way, the creativity of his striking

1324. and all these type of things, he was just, it was marvellous.

1325. It was incredible. It was beautiful.

1326. And I always wanted to fight that guy.

1327. To fight in London, the nation's capitol

1328. against one of the greatest fighters that ever lived

1329. for me, it was just incredible.

1330. Merry Christmas.

1331. - Merry Christmas. - Okay.

1332. - Say, "Bye". - Bye!

1333. Have a good holiday, and Merry Christmas.

1334. How about Bisping-Anderson Silva?

1335. - Ah, you know what? - I was blowing your phone up

1336. - during that. Blowing you up. - Yeah man. You know what?

1337. - It was amazing. - I, first of all

1338. Bisping is one of the toughest fucking men

1339. - on the planet. - God.

1340. Yes. It's a tough test for me, but I believe I will prevail.

1341. I have to win.

1342. I'm not getting any younger, and I want to fight for the belt.

1343. If I lose, this isn't good for my career.

1344. I can't wait.

1345. I'm super excited.

1346. Before the fight, I was getting taped up

1347. and I remember I just felt so focused and ready.

1348. I remember I saw Anderson.

1349. He was walking out looking so loose and confident

1350. and you know, he should.

1351. I mean, he's Anderson Silva.

1352. The atmosphere was amazing.

1353. I remember him walking out to Song 2 by Blur

1354. and the place was just absolutely on it's feet.

1355. The main event of the evening.

1356. Michael Bisping versus Anderson Silva.

1357. I think a lot of us were a little worried

1358. because Anderson was still Anderson

1359. and sharp as hell and very dangerous on his feet.

1360. Everyone thought I was stupid.

1361. Everybody thought I was foolish, but I thought, "I can beat this guy.

1362. I know my style can beat this guy".

1363. Always wanted to fight him.

1364. Don't even want to say anything, John

1365. I'm right on the end of my seat right now.

1366. Boom, I catch him with a left hook

1367. and he uses his hand to support himself to stop him going down

1368. and then the round ends.

1369. Bisping found the target very nicely indeed.

1370. Silva looking to embrace.

1371. And then he comes over to give me a hug

1372. as if to say "Wow, good for you

1373. you managed to land some punches on the great Anderson Silva".

1374. Don't play those games with me. I'm not gonna fall for no mind games.

1375. I'm not hugging you. You're my fuckin' enemy.

1376. So fuck off.

1377. Michael Bisping needs to be confident

1378. in his punch placement.

1379. The hesitation will

1380. cause him to miss.

1381. And he's doing this, waiting for me.

1382. So I'm here

1383. tries to take a step back.

1384. The difference being Michael Bisping

1385. is considerably faster than Stephan Bonnar.

1386. When you fight, I'll fight. But I'm not gonna play your games.

1387. I'm not gonna fight a guy that's trying to mock me

1388. by standing in a completely defenceless posture.

1389. You know? That's an embarrassment to me.

1390. I'm not gonna play that game.

1391. Oh, and again...

1392. Falls down to the floor. I'm like "Holy shit, here we go". I run down.

1393. Anderson goes down for a second

1394. but an upper cut from Michael Bisping.

1395. And I just start teeing off on him. Ground and pound.

1396. I'm going to the body, I'm going to the head.

1397. Finished the round really strong.

1398. This definitely puts him

1399. in control in this fight so far.

1400. This is exactly where Michael wants

1401. to be going into the third round.

1402. Silva is looking to close the distance.

1403. My mouth piece, my gum shield...

1404. went out of my mouth.

1405. You know, and Anderson Silva's known for being a devastating striker.

1406. And my mouth piece has come out.

1407. I want it back in. There's a reason we wear them.

1408. Anderson Silva style, there's the Thai clinch.

1409. This is my bad eye, okay?

1410. Don't see out of this eye. I turn.

1411. I say "Ref, my mouth piece," pointing down there.

1412. And as I do that, I can't see Anderson there.

1413. Right? I can't even see my hand right in front of my face.

1414. I can't see that at all. That doesn't exist to me.

1415. So Anderson didn't exist.

1416. I go "Ref,"

1417. and then as I do that, I look around and he's fucking in mid-air.

1418. Boom...

1419. Jumping knee!

1420. Michael goes down!

1421. We're screaming at the top of the cage.

1422. The fight's not over to Herb Dean.

1423. As the knee lands...

1424. the round ends.

1425. And the referee comes over, Herb Dean.

1426. And I look at him, and I go, "I'm not out."

1427. And he says "Yeah, I know. Fight's still on.

1428. The fight's not over."

1429. And I slowly get back to my feet.

1430. Anderson's on top of the fence. He's celebrating.

1431. Anderson Silva is convinced that this fight is over

1432. but Herb Dean is saying it's not.

1433. Well and that's Michael Bisping.

1434. The fight's not over.

1435. People always say "Oh yeah, could you imagine

1436. the adrenaline dump that Anderson went through, right?

1437. Ooh, he won his fight and he jumped on top of the cage

1438. and then he found out he hadn't won the fight

1439. and the fight was still going on.

1440. He had a huge adrenalin dump.

1441. Can you imagine getting kneed in the fucking face

1442. and your brain nearly being knocked off

1443. your shoulders and your face being split open a million different ways

1444. and blood pouring out.

1445. I think that adrenaline dump is a little bit worse.

1446. I mean call me stupid

1447. but so that always kind of bothered me when people say that.

1448. When he gets up for round four against Anderson Silva

1449. Mike's unconscious.

1450. He doesn't know what day it is. He doesn't even know where he is.

1451. This fucking guy.

1452. This fucking guy right here, man, is just special, man.

1453. It's another animal.

1454. You know, it's...

1455. I could see his determination through his eyes.

1456. You know? And he only had one of 'em.

1457. Anyway, round four starts, no cut man, fuck it. Let's go.

1458. Michael Bisping is not giving

1459. Anderson Silva an inch here.

1460. I out-boxed the guy, backed him up against the fence here.

1461. He's there, he's trying to throw shots

1462. but I was putting together 6-7 punch combinations

1463. backing off just when I had to.

1464. Although Anderson Silva looks like he's playing

1465. Michael Bisping is landing shots here.

1466. Round four, we got one more to go, okay?

1467. Listen, we're still gonna win this fight, Mike.

1468. Jason Perillo had said the things that I needed to hear.

1469. I'm tired. I'm hurt.

1470. My face is falling apart.

1471. You know? But I'm like, he's gonna have to kill me.

1472. If he wants to win this fight, there's no way I'm gonna quit.

1473. I've never been beaten in England.

1474. I've walked in with the Union Jack over my shoulders.

1475. I've got 20,000 people at the most iconic arena in the world.

1476. The O2 Arena in London.

1477. If he thinks it's gonna take a few cuts on my face for me to quit

1478. he doesn't know who I am.

1479. Do you want to continue? Of course you want to continue.

1480. Are you Michael Bisping? Of course you want to continue.

1481. Oh! Front kick from Anderson Silva!

1482. And he hits me

1483. I kind of go down and hit the floor.

1484. I catch myself.

1485. And it is met by a huge cheer from the London crowd.

1486. And I'm standing there and I'm thinking.

1487. "Fuck, fuck, come on. Please". Biggest fight of my life.

1488. Everybody always said

1489. "Great fighter, good fighter, but he can never win the big ones".

1490. I'm like, "Come on, come on!" All of a sudden.

1491. For the winner by unanimous decision

1492. Michael

1493. "The Count" Bisping!

1494. Michael Bisping is tougher than a two-dollar steak.

1495. He is hard to put away.

1496. He is hard to finish. He is a brawler.

1497. See, that's what makes Michael

1498. so god damned dangerous

1499. is his will to win.

1500. I think the fan base that Michael has proves it.

1501. In the beginning, used to think "Oh, this arrogant guy running around

1502. telling everybody 'fuck you, blah blah'," you know.

1503. All those people that hated him now love him.

1504. For me, that was my World Title Fight.

1505. It was in England. It was in London, the nation's capital.

1506. 20,000 English fans screaming, going crazy.

1507. Every fibre in my body, every ounce of grit, determination that I had

1508. I had to muster to win that fight.

1509. Beating Anderson Silva

1510. was just something that Mike dreamed about for many years.

1511. It's something that, you know, anybody in that industry, any coach

1512. would love to have a victory over Anderson Silva.

1513. Any fighter would love to have a victory over Anderson Silva.

1514. I mean there's one of the greatest fighters of all time.

1515. And he run down from the ring and give me a kiss.

1516. And Becky was behind, he give her a kiss as well and run back up.

1517. But yeah.

1518. He's like that.

1519. That's it, that's it. We got a new champion.

1520. Luke Rockhold is the new UFC Middleweight Champion of the World!

1521. Wow.

1522. A device that controls every military satellite in the world

1523. has fallen into the hands of four very dangerous guys.

1524. We need someone who can move like them.

1525. I booked a movie on the XXX: Return of Xander Cage

1526. with Vin Diesel.

1527. Damn that feels good to be back.

1528. Samuel I Jackson, Ice Cube.

1529. Big movie.

1530. And I was in Toronto for almost three months filming that.

1531. XXX, yeah, I'll tell you about XXX.

1532. A part had become available

1533. to be a good guy with Tony Jaa and Donnie Yen.

1534. Now I've worked with Tony Jaa and Donnie Yen now

1535. but at the time, I hadn't worked with either of them

1536. and I really wanted to work with them.

1537. And I wanted to work with Vin Diesel as well of course.

1538. And being a big film like XXX, come on.

1539. I did a great audition.

1540. I thought it was great

1541. and thought "I stand a good chance of getting this,"

1542. and then eventually, I get the phone call.

1543. "Yeah, they've given it to Michael Bisping."

1544. I'm like, "Fucking bastard.

1545. Michael Bisping, you fuck."

1546. I mean, I'm a big fan of you, Mike, but what the fuck?

1547. Come on, mate. You're taking my roles.

1548. I was pissed off.

1549. You never know where you're gonna find your talent.

1550. You never know where you're gonna find your talent.

1551. So the irony is that...

1552. I first was introduced to Michael Bisping as an actor.

1553. And I critiqued him on that merit alone

1554. and I was impressed with what he had done in his audition tape.

1555. And then discovered about who he was.

1556. The injury bug strikes again.

1557. This time, it's Chris Weidman

1558. who is out of the Middleweight title fight against Luke Rockhold

1559. originally set the headline UFC 199.

1560. Weidman ends up getting hurt

1561. and the UFC is left without an opponent for Luke Rockhold

1562. and the card is around like, 21/2 weeks away.

1563. And I've never shared this before, but it is the truth.

1564. I found out that the fight was off

1565. and I told Michael Bisping that he should get very vocal

1566. and that he should probably call the UFC and ask for this fight

1567. before anyone knew that the fight was even available.

1568. Because I knew how much he wanted it.

1569. If you really want a title shot, this might be the way you get it.

1570. So I text Dana right then and there.

1571. And I think it was something along the lines of.

1572. "If none of those pussies can make it to the octagon

1573. you know where I am".

1574. And he sent back a nice message.

1575. You know, but he said

1576. Jacare, another fighter, Jacare's our first option.

1577. If he doesn't want it, you're next.

1578. And I thought well, I'm not getting the fight, because

1579. there's no way Jacare's gonna turn down a title shot.

1580. Get out of bed the next day.

1581. My phone, ping... starts lighting up like a Christmas tree.

1582. I'm like "What the hell?" And I look

1583. and all these tweets, and then I get a phone call from Ariel Helwani

1584. and I answer the phone. He says, "Congrats".

1585. I'm like, "Congrats for what?"

1586. - I've got some breaking news here, - Yeah.

1587. so let's get to it.

1588. Dana, who is it?

1589. Who's gonna fight Luke Rockhold

1590. in UFC 1999?

1591. The next guy in line

1592. is Michael Bisping.

1593. Really? I mean, number 1, it was great news.

1594. He hadn't told me. This is the first I'm finding out

1595. and if I had of known

1596. I wouldn't have had a couple of beers the night before

1597. so I was like, "Shit".

1598. I check my weight. I get on the scale.

1599. It was like 215 pounds.

1600. I've got 2 weeks to weight 185 pounds, so 30 pounds.

1601. I'm like, "Shit".

1602. So, alright. I'm panicking, my head's spinning, I've gotta run.

1603. I've gotta run. So I run out in the city.

1604. I throw my backpack over my shoulders

1605. and I'm just running through the city.

1606. And then Dana calls

1607. and I'm on the phone to Dana while still running.

1608. Bisping would never say, "No". Bisping is a fighter.

1609. He's... This is what he was born to do

1610. 'cause there's a lot of guys that try to pull some real stupid bullshit

1611. when you call and try to get them to fight last minute

1612. and they're actually real dirty about it.

1613. Bisping was never dirty about it.

1614. Bisping was always smooth in the way he handled himself.

1615. And as I'm running, I start thinking, "I don't believe this.

1616. This is so typical of my career.

1617. I've wanted a title fight my entire life...

1618. and here I am

1619. and in true Michael Bisping fashion

1620. I get it on 2-weeks notice against a guy that already beat me.

1621. I haven't been near a gym...

1622. You know, "I had a couple of drinks last night

1623. and I've got... And I've still got to finish filming XXX

1624. before I go home, and then focus on the fight."

1625. It was preposterous

1626. for him

1627. to take a fight in 11 days

1628. with a formidable fighter, like Luke Rockhold.

1629. It was a preposterous thought.

1630. And I think Rockhold kind of hand-picked Bisping

1631. because he bet him so easily the first time

1632. and felt like, 'Kay, two and half weeks' notice.

1633. The guy's out there filming a movie.

1634. I'm just gonna smoke him again.

1635. This is great. This is a perfect title defence for me.

1636. I call my coach, Jason Perillo.

1637. I'm telling him how I feel.

1638. He said, "Michael. What are you talking about?"

1639. He said, "You've been training your entire life for this moment".

1640. He said, "You just beat the greatest of all time in Anderson Silva

1641. just a few months ago".

1642. He said, "You fight all the time". He said, "The training is done".

1643. He said, "You're in shape. You look after yourself".

1644. He said, "We can get you ready in a couple of weeks

1645. but stop having these negative thoughts".

1646. He said, "We're gonna win this fucking fight".

1647. I thought, "You know, I'm actually in pretty good shape

1648. so yeah. Let's do this.

1649. Let's go win a fucking world title.

1650. There's 2 weeks left to train

1651. and I wanted to go make a big statement

1652. you know, and it was a big fight at the time.

1653. It is what it is. We're gonna get after it, and we're gonna fight.

1654. It seemed like Rockhold was loving life as champion.

1655. I remember him renting out this mansion. It was in California.

1656. It just seemed like he was very confident going in to that fight

1657. and he had every right to be confident

1658. because he had beaten him not that long ago in very dominant fashion.

1659. I knocked him out and choked him out last time, and...

1660. - Jeez. - It's gonna be hard to top that

1661. - but I'll do what I can. - What's left...

1662. I'm gonna knock his eye back straight.

1663. - That's... - Oh my God.

1664. I tried to just completely disrespect him

1665. and find a way to market this fight

1666. so I was doing everything I can, and

1667. obviously

1668. being through or going through what I was going through, I just...

1669. I did what I could.

1670. You like that, little bitch?

1671. Boom.

1672. How about that one?

1673. How about that one?

1674. After that fight, dusted myself off. I've tried...

1675. I dusted myself off and I came back and I fought.

1676. You ain't gonna dust yourself off after this one.

1677. You trying to promote a fight, and

1678. you know, I got caught up in the promotion of it

1679. and almost, you know, really believed what I was saying, and...

1680. and kind of forced it into my mind that I needed to do all these things.

1681. If you believe in something. If you know something's gonna happen.

1682. If you confident in that situation, you will achieve things in life.

1683. Believe it and you achieve it.

1684. I know that I'm better than this...

1685. Sounds like no self-help book you've ever read.

1686. Conceive, believe, achieve.

1687. Shut the fuck up.

1688. Listen. It is my destiny.

1689. I "believe", Luke. I "believe".

1690. Day of the fight. Felt fantastic.

1691. You know, I was backstage. I was, just felt great, you know.

1692. There's good days and bad days, and everything was just clicking.

1693. I felt awesome.

1694. Yeah, there was no one out there saying I was gonna win.

1695. That's for sure.

1696. You know, and fuck 'em. They don't know me.

1697. They don't know my journey.

1698. They don't know what I'm capable of.

1699. It felt like he knew something that we all couldn't see.

1700. He was so confident.

1701. Got to The Forum, and, I was overly relaxed.

1702. I was so focused on going out there and just

1703. having absolutely no respect for Bisping and forcing a fight

1704. like I said, that I don't need to force.

1705. A fighter's about to go out

1706. and put his blood, sweat, and tears on the line.

1707. There's certain fighters that react in different ways.

1708. I would be very surprised

1709. if anybody including Michael Bisping is not nervous, a little nervous

1710. in the service to whatever level before they walk out.

1711. Fighting is, it's one of the biggest rushes and thrills

1712. you can ever encounter.

1713. It's as scary as it gets, and it's as rewarding as it gets.

1714. It's exciting as it gets.

1715. You'll never feel anything like it.

1716. I mean, you're about to go to war.

1717. He comes in. He's being all goofy, and he's just trying to act too cool

1718. you know, and I'm like, "Fuck this guy".

1719. It's time!

1720. For me, growing up with my dad being a fighter

1721. obviously it was scary watching him fight

1722. but it was just kinda normal

1723. because it's all I've seen him do

1724. since he started when I was so young, so.

1725. Yeah, it was just, became normal to me.

1726. I was really nervous for that fight

1727. 'cause obviously, you know, 2-week notice

1728. he already lost to Rockhold, so.

1729. Introducing first, the challenger...

1730. During the introduction to the fight...

1731. I have never felt

1732. so confident in my life.

1733. The game plan was to look for the left hook.

1734. You know, plain and simple.

1735. Perillo had noticed in a number of his videos

1736. number one, he'll tall.

1737. Tall people generally tent to carry their chins quite high

1738. and he had this right hand low, 'cause he's a cocky son of a bitch

1739. and then when your chin's high and your hands are low

1740. boom, that left hand is there all day.

1741. Referee says, "You can touch gloves now if you want".

1742. I said, "Hey. Come on". He says, "No touch".

1743. I said, "What's that?" He says, "No touch".

1744. I said, "Oh. No touch, buddy".

1745. - Yeah, buddy? No touch? - I want you to fight clean.

1746. - Fight hard. You want to touch now? - No touch?

1747. - Go ahead. Good luck to both of ya. - Fuckin' touch?

1748. No touch?

1749. I'll touch you in a second, motherfucker.

1750. You ready? Are you ready? Let's get it on.

1751. Good straight left by Bisping.

1752. Trying to knock the motherfucker out, and I'm swinging.

1753. Try to sneak that in there a little bit more.

1754. Rockhold has his chin straight up in the air.

1755. I just start running forward and just

1756. trying to bang, trying to land shots.

1757. The more Rockhold throws those kicks

1758. especially to the legs

1759. the less movement

1760. we're gonna see from Bisping

1761. and that's his trademark.

1762. He just dug one into the body.

1763. Michael might be hurt.

1764. Never really felt it.

1765. Commentator said, "Oh. That one might've hurt Bisping".

1766. Not really. I'm here.

1767. And I'm looking for that left hook.

1768. I'm swinging a couple of times and they just missed.

1769. Rockhold has

1770. this air of invincibility

1771. mentally right now as well.

1772. Never more confident.

1773. And Jason was like, "The left hook. The left hook, Michael.

1774. That's what gonna land.

1775. That's what's gonna get it done in this fight.

1776. - He hurt him. - He got rocked!

1777. That hook to the body.

1778. Left hook over the top.

1779. "Holy shit". He just...

1780. He hits the ground, and I'm like, "Wow. Shit.

1781. I don't believe it. He's down.

1782. And he gets back up, and I'm like, "No, you don't, buddy".

1783. Bang.

1784. Bang. Bang. Bang.

1785. Hard fucking shots.

1786. Jason Perillo sat there in the corner and just did that.

1787. It was so fucking cool.

1788. Michael Bisping is the new UFC Middleweight Champion of the World!

1789. Oh my goodness.

1790. The fight is over and I'm the new middleweight champion of the world.

1791. I jump on top of the cage. I'm celebrating.

1792. It was the world recognizing his achievements

1793. and all the sacrifices that he'd made.

1794. All the injuries that he'd had.

1795. My wife come running in.

1796. The children, Callum and Ellie, my manager.

1797. Oh my goodness.

1798. That's why this is a crazy sport, ladies and gentlemen.

1799. Michael Bisping knocked out Luke Rockhold blind in one eye.

1800. He was blind in one eye.

1801. There's no ifs, no buts. There's nothing about it.

1802. He goes blind in one eye.

1803. Michael has always been

1804. an underdog all his life

1805. and he proved everybody wrong.

1806. I wanted to be like him

1807. and be able to inspire people

1808. like Michael Bisping did.

1809. And I actually had tears pouring down my face.

1810. I was so happy.

1811. The emotion was incredible.

1812. I'm smiling because this anecdote

1813. that is his life-changing anecdote...

1814. includes a phone call to me on that day.

1815. In some small way I can feel like I was a part of that moment in history.

1816. I kind of still...

1817. get emotional just thinking about it

1818. just because...

1819. he went out there and he became champion, man.

1820. The new undisputed UFC Middleweight Champion of the World.

1821. The way he did it, you know, and... he made me proud, man.

1822. He made me proud that we had that fight that day, man.

1823. Yeah.

1824. This is a very peculiar style of fighting 'cause...

1825. Oh, he head kicked him.

1826. Oh, he hurt him.

1827. It is all over!

1828. Dan Henderson with a knockout!

1829. So I fought Luke Rockhold, UFC 199 on Saturday.

1830. On the Monday morning, I was still hungover from Saturday night

1831. and I get a phone call from the UFC, it was Dana White.

1832. And they offered me a rematch against Dan Henderson.

1833. Obviously he knocked me out at UFC 100.

1834. He'd fought on the same card where I'd beat Luke Rockhold.

1835. Had a great knockout.

1836. So they said "Let's do a rematch

1837. you versus Dan Henderson in Manchester".

1838. Dana called me two days after the fight

1839. said "We want to do Dan Henderson".

1840. I said "Yeah, sure, line him up.

1841. Fred Flintstone's gonna get knocked out".

1842. This fight came about

1843. mostly because of the fans.

1844. Because of what I did to him.

1845. It felt damn good knocking out Michael Bisping.

1846. Of course as a fighter, you know, you've got to ooze bravado.

1847. You've got to sell the fight.

1848. You've got to be confident, say you're gonna win.

1849. But you can't lie to yourself.

1850. And I knew the last time I stepped into an octagon with that man

1851. he knocked me out, and the whole world laughed at me.

1852. The self-doubt starts to creep in.

1853. You know, and as I say, you can lie to all the journalists

1854. and the press and your opponent and everybody.

1855. Oh yeah, and you're like, oh yeah, don't worry, I got this, I got this.

1856. You can lie to all them. But you can't lie to yourself.

1857. But you've got to put all of that to the back of your mind

1858. and walk out there, step in an octagon, and fight.

1859. Bisping and Henderson will finally do battle.

1860. And this right here is revenge.

1861. Went out there. It was a tough fight.

1862. He caught me with a big right hand in the first round. Boom.

1863. Actually broke my orbital bone on this side

1864. and I gave him a little smile.

1865. I was dominating the fight, I was winning the fight

1866. I was outboxing him, outstriking him, putting together fluid combinations.

1867. Redemption for all those people that mocked me on the internet.

1868. And still

1869. the undisputed UFC middleweight champion of the world.

1870. Only ever British champion to defend the belt in Manchester.

1871. It was a dream come true

1872. and it's an experience I will never ever forget.

1873. I'll take it to the grave with me.

1874. When I stopped 2014

1875. I knew it was very big possibility

1876. that I would... I would come back.

1877. GSP is back. He is returning to the octagon.

1878. UFC 217 at Madison Square Garden.

1879. My trainer always told me, he said

1880. "Georges. You're too much of a nice guy.

1881. There's no drama involved, you know?

1882. You're too much like a robot, and need more drama...

1883. Now, I'm attempting to do something new and fight Michael Bisping.

1884. He's the winnest fighter in UFC at the time

1885. great career as a champion.

1886. That's the reason why I came back and fight Michael Bisping.

1887. Georges. You think you're gonna come back

1888. step up a weight class and take my belt?

1889. You're out of your god damn mind.

1890. One moment during the promotional tour

1891. we're on a set doing an interview, and we're going back and forth

1892. and he's insulting me.

1893. That's one of the things that you can say about Michael Bisping.

1894. He knows the fight game. He knows how to create those moments.

1895. You still have your sunglasses on, Michael?

1896. No. I took 'em off for you, dickhead.

1897. I'm on the next dog park. Come and see me.

1898. See, if anyone spends fucking 5 minutes talking to Georges St. Pierre

1899. you wanna fucking kill yourself.

1900. Fuck this. Fuck that. Damn you. Ah, fuck, pussy...

1901. That's all you got to say?

1902. Create those emotion moment

1903. to drive the promotion, to sell the fight.

1904. These are the Irish Bispings.

1905. - Quick. Quick. - See? I knew that was gonna happen.

1906. - Yes. - Real quick. Alright. I gotta go.

1907. What do we say? Who wins? Me or GSP?

1908. - You, easy. - Come on.

1909. - You easy. - Come on, champ.

1910. Are you, you're just saying that.

1911. Don't let him wrestle you.

1912. Thanks for the advice.

1913. I didn't think of that one.

1914. I'm the headline of Madison Square Garden.

1915. Place was sold out.

1916. There was fans everywhere, you know.

1917. It was big. It was huge.

1918. It was definitely the pinnacle of my career

1919. the biggest fight I've ever had.

1920. I am so fucking excited to be here at Madison Square Garden tomorrow night.

1921. Michael Bisping is gonna tear GSP's head off.

1922. It's gonna be fucking insane.

1923. I've come here from the UK to watch Michael Bisping fight.

1924. He can scramble

1925. and he's got the jab, and the good looks of a British man.

1926. Fucking Michael Bisping, ladies and gentlemen.

1927. Michael fucking Bisping.

1928. By Bisping.

1929. After that... that punch, I was on cruise control.

1930. Oh... Right hand

1931. over the top by Bisping.

1932. To be very humble, I could have lost because of that punch.

1933. It didn't go my way.

1934. Georges choked me out

1935. in the 3rd round and took my belt

1936. but he's the greatest of all time

1937. you know. No regrets.

1938. This was the biggest fight of the year.

1939. One of the biggest UFC fight ever

1940. and just to be a part of it, you know, I was immensely proud.

1941. After I lost the belt to GSP, I, you know

1942. I hung around New York for a few days drinking

1943. hanging out with my family.

1944. Came home, you know, eating like a fat sod

1945. and then Anderson Silva failed the steroid test.

1946. He was out of his fight.

1947. They needed a replacement for his opponent, Kelvin Gastelum.

1948. Number 1, I think I could beat the guy.

1949. Secondly, let's get another pay day.

1950. Why not?

1951. Long story short, I lose the fight.

1952. Boom, get called for shots.

1953. I don't know if it was that shot or

1954. after taking maybe that was just the icing on the cake

1955. after taking thousands and thousands of punches

1956. and I thought, "Well, I've had the bad luck.

1957. Lightening doesn't strike twice.

1958. I'm never gonna get a detached retina in my good eye.

1959. Oh my God. I don't believe this.

1960. Everything what the doctors had warned me my entire career

1961. is now happened.

1962. I couldn't believe it.

1963. And you know, yeah, it was a detached retina

1964. but I got a vitreous detachment.

1965. This is someone's good eye, and now, in my good eye

1966. I have a condition known as a partial vitreous detachment.

1967. It's where the vitreous shrinks and separates from the retina

1968. which impairs your vision and can lead to blindness.

1969. And then I was flying to New York, was gonna film

1970. record an episode of my podcast

1971. and I watched this movie on the plane called, The Journeyman

1972. with Paddy Considine, and it's about a world champion boxer

1973. that wins a fight, goes home, he has brain damage

1974. and it's a very powerful sad story

1975. and you know, he, at one point he puts his baby in the tumble dryer

1976. because his brain's all messed, you know.

1977. He doesn't know what he's doing, you know.

1978. And I sat there watching this movie on the plane

1979. balling my eyes out, crying

1980. you know, and I just thought, "What am I doing?"

1981. You know, "This isn't worth it,"

1982. and a good friend of mine, Jason, said to me

1983. he said, "Michael," he said, "If you went blind

1984. you would give every penny you had to ever

1985. to be able to see again," you know

1986. and I thought, "He's right,"

1987. and I got off that plane and went and did my podcast

1988. and announced on my podcast that I was retired.

1989. You wanted to... to make an announcement on today's show.

1990. Unfortunately, it's not a fight that I'm announcing.

1991. I am going to announce

1992. my official retirement from mixed martial arts.

1993. Bisping is a fighter, man.

1994. You know, toward the end of his career, he won the title

1995. and he fought nothing but the best

1996. and the thing is, with Bisping he fought the best his whole career.

1997. What you do becomes your identity, and to say, "Goodbye," to it

1998. means to say goodbye to your self.

1999. Normal human beings like you and I

2000. will never know what it's like to walk through a tunnel

2001. you know, with 20,000 people

2002. cheering you or booing you or whatever the story might be.

2003. That's a high that we'll never know and never feel ever in our lifetime

2004. and that's what you were put on this earth to do

2005. and now you have to walk away?

2006. It's hard.

2007. Former middleweight champion

2008. Michael "The Count" Bisping

2009. will be inducted to the UFC Hall of Fame.

2010. It is an honour he is so deserving of

2011. and on behalf of fans around the world, my self included

2012. Michael, we thank you for everything that you have given us.

2013. A career that is truly legendary.

2014. I think Mike stands out as being, without a doubt

2015. one of the most durable and toughest guys

2016. to have ever fought inside the octagon.

2017. He's a multi-talented individual

2018. and I think people will always remember Michael Bisping as...

2019. as being somebody who made a difference in the sport of MMA.

2020. I've never in my life

2021. heard of a fighter

2022. walk into a ring in any kind of sport

2023. let alone the deadliest sport, right?

2024. Mixed Martial Arts.

2025. With one eye.

2026. Ever.

2027. If you ask Muhammad Ali.

2028. If you asked Joe Lewis if a person could walk in a ring with one eye

2029. they'd say, "You can't".

2030. But he did, and he won.

2031. Bisping is a fighter.

2032. Bisping will fight at the drop of a hat.

2033. Anybody. He doesn't care who you are

2034. how tough you think you are, how tough you really are.

2035. If you think you're better than him, you think you can beat him?

2036. Bisping's down to find out.

2037. I can beat Michael Bisping.

2038. This is the only way I can beat Michael Bisping.

2039. Betty Lou.

2040. It's easy to have a friend like that

2041. because I have so much, so much respect for the man.

2042. Calls me up to be on a radio show, and he starts it off to thank me.

2043. I could cry right now thinking about it, because...

2044. as a coach

2045. when the athletes remember what the fuck you told them

2046. when athletes remember what you do for them?

2047. It's a different animal

2048. because I did cry. I cried in the phone right there.

2049. I couldn't even talk. I was, like, I said, I could cry right now.

2050. Michael Bisping doesn't forget.

2051. Everything that he does, everything, is for that family and them kids

2052. and his missus. He's not some gangster.

2053. He's not some knucklehead.

2054. He's a family man that dreamt a dream and lived it.

2055. You know, this has changed my life

2056. in such a way you will never believe, you know

2057. but my dream was always giving a better life to my family, okay?

2058. And that's all I ever wanted.

2059. I'm really, really appreciative, so I would say, "Thank you".

2060. Just sacrificing his health, you know. Everything.

2061. So... just thank you.

2062. For the love that he has for me and for the kids

2063. that's his only motivation in life.

2064. I must've been 10 years old

2065. "I'm gonna be champion of the world one day".

2066. But that always stuck with me

2067. you know, always kept me pushing on and working hard.

2068. So many ups and downs, peaks and valleys.

2069. Beyond satisfying, but more for my family, you know

2070. because as I said, "They'd sacrificed with me".

2071. For me, the sacrifice was easy, because I'm chasing my dream.

2072. To support me, and go through the ups and downs with me

2073. yeah, it was big.