Michael Bisping

British mixed martial artist, analyst, and commentator (born 1979)

Michael Gavin Joseph Bisping ('/b//ɪ//s//p//ɪ//ŋ/; born 28 February 1979) is a British former professional mixed martial artist, current sports analyst, commentator and actor. He competed in the Middleweight and Light Heavyweight divisions in the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) and is a former UFC Middleweight Champion, a former Cage Rage Light Heavyweight Champion and The Ultimate Fighter 3 Light Heavyweight tournament winner. At UFC 78, he became the first British fighter to compete in a UFC main event. At UFC 199, he became the first British fighter to win a UFC Championship. He was inducted into the UFC Hall of Fame on 5 July 2019. Outside his UFC career, he has also embarked on an acting career, starring in films such as XXX: Return of Xander Cage (2017), Triple Threat (2019), and the upcoming Red Sonja. He also portrayed Roy Shaw in the British sports drama film My Name Is Lenny (2017). On television, he has appeared in series such as Strike Back, Twin Peaks, MacGyver, Magnum P. I. and Warrior.

Bisping was born on a British military base in Nicosia, Cyprus. He is one of five children born to Jan Konrad Bisping and Kathleen ( Armitage) Bisping and grew up in Clitheroe, Lancashire. He attended St Augustine's Roman Catholic High School, Billington. Michael's Polish paternal grandfather, Andrew (Andrzej Bobola Bisping von Gallen), was born in what is now Masaliany, Byerastavitsa Rayon, Hrodna Voblasts, Belarus, descended from German nobility who moved to Poland in the Middle Ages and was a member of the noble Polish Zamoyski family (through his mother), while Michael's English paternal grandmother, Mary Greenwood, was from Clitheroe. Michael is also related to the Bourbons of the Two Sicilies through one of his great great grandmothers Princess Maria Carolina of Bourbon Two Sicilies. Andrzej Bobola Bisping von Gallen fled with his family from Poland to England after the Soviet invasion in September 1939. Many members of the noble families were pursued and executed by Soviet Red Army during World War II, including Andrew's father, Jan, who was named after his own grandfather (Andrew's father), served in the British Army. Michael's mother is from Northern Ireland. Bisping has described himself as "English through and through". He began training Jujutsu at the age of eight. In 1994, at the age of 15, he competed as an amateur in Britain's first "no holds barred" competition, a precursor to modern MMA, called Knock Down Sport Budo (KSBO). At the age of 18, Bisping decided to abandon his martial arts training "to pursue real life". Less than a year later, Bisping began training in boxing, kickboxing, and karate on the advice of Allan Clarkin, owner of Black Knights Kickboxing, who saw potential in him. Bisping enjoyed a short but successful kickboxing career, winning the North West Area title and later the Pro British light heavyweight kickboxing title.

Bisping made his professional mixed martial arts debut at Pride & Glory 2: Battle of the Ages on 4 April 2004, taking a 0:38 submission victory over Steve Mathews. Just one month later, Bisping scored his first knockout against John Weir at UK MMA Challenge 7: Rage & Fury. In his third MMA match, Bisping was scheduled to face the experienced Renato Sobral at Cage Rage 7 but his opponent pulled out ten days before the event. Instead, Bisping defeated Mark Epstein by technical knockout and became the Cage Rage light heavyweight champion. Bisping went on to defend his championship title in a rematch against Epstein at Cage Rage 9 in a knockout victory that solidified Bisping as one of the top light heavyweight fighters in England. It also earned him the moniker "The Great British Hope", by UFC com. At The Ultimate Fight Club UK: Natural Instinct on 29 January 2005, Bisping made his cage kickboxing debut against David Brown in a light heavyweight contest. With Brown badly cut, Bisping picked up the win via doctor stoppage in round 2. Bisping made his debut for the promotion at Ultimate Force on 30 April 2005, defeating Dave Radford to win the vacant Cage Warriors light heavyweight title. Bisping then competed in another light heavyweight cage kickboxing contest, against Cyrille Diabaté at CWFC: Strike Force 1 on 21 May 2005, losing via decision after the end of the first extra round. He captured the FX3 light heavyweight title on 18 June 2005 and, for a time, reigned over the UK's major federations. In his first Cage Warriors title defense, Bisping defeated Miika Mehmet at CWFC: Strike Force 2, on 16 July 2005. In September 2005, Cage Rage stripped the light heavyweight title from Bisping due to "management issues", though Cage Warriors stated that "Bisping was willing to defend his title but is being punished by Cage Rage due to his Wolfslair and Cage Warriors links". Towards the end of 2005, Bisping again successfully defended the Cage Warriors title, this time against Jakob Lovstad and Ross Pointon in the CWFC: Strike Force series of events, leading to a record of 10 wins and no losses.

In early 2006, Bisping was featured on the UFC's The Ultimate Fighter 3 reality television series as a contestant training under Tito Ortiz. He won a preliminary bout against Kristian Rothaermel by TKO, followed by a semi final win against Ross Pointon by submission after landing a flying knee and a series of strikes. In the finals, Bisping finished Josh Haynes by TKO at 4:14 into the second round, making Bisping the second Light Heavyweight winner of The Ultimate Fighter television series.

Five months after his victory in the TUF 3 finals, Bisping was slated to fight Eric Schafer at The Ultimate Fighter 4 finale, but withdrew because of problems acquiring his visa. The fight was rescheduled and held on 30 December at UFC 66. Bisping defeated Schafer by TKO at 4:24 in the first round. On 21 April 2007, Bisping scored a TKO win over Elvis Sinosic at UFC 70 in Manchester, England. Bisping was a special guest referee at the Cage Warriors events Enter The Wolfslair on 5 March 2005 and CWFC: Strike Force 6 on 27 May 2006. On 8 September 2007, Bisping faced former Ultimate Fighter 3 rival Matt Hamill in London, England. Bisping won the fight by split decision. The decision was controversial with many believing Hamill won the fight. Bisping's next match at UFC 78 against fellow Ultimate Fighter winner Rashad Evans resulted in his first loss, via a split decision.

With an injury to Chris Weidman forcing him to pull out of the fight, Bisping stepped up on only 17 days' notice to face champion Luke Rockhold for a second time on 4 June 2016 at UFC 199. He won via knockout in the first round to become the UFC Middleweight Champion and the first British UFC champion. He was awarded Performance of the Night honours. The result was considered by many MMA media outlets to be one of the biggest upsets in the UFC title fight history, as Bisping took the fight on short notice and had been submitted in their first encounter 18 months earlier. Bisping faced Dan Henderson in a rematch on 8 October 2016 at UFC 204. Bisping won the fight via unanimous decision and retained the UFC Middleweight Championship. Both fighters were awarded Fight of the Night for their performance. On 1 March 2017 while on SportsCenter, Dana White announced that Bisping's next title defense would be against the returning former UFC Welterweight Champion Georges St Pierre sometime in 2017. However, on 11 May 2017, White announced the fight had been cancelled. The UFC and Bisping had wanted to have the fight at UFC 213, as part of International Fight Week in Las Vegas, but St Pierre announced on his Instagram page that he needed more training to meet the 185 pound weight and would not be ready to fight until November. The pairing eventually took place on 4 November 2017 in the main event at UFC 217. Bisping lost the bout via technical submission due to a rear naked choke in the third round.

Three weeks after losing the Middleweight title, on 25 November 2017 at UFC Fight Night: Bisping vs. Gastelum, Bisping faced Kelvin Gastelum as a replacement for Anderson Silva, who had been suspended by USADA due to failing a drug test. He lost the fight via knockout in the first round. On 28 May 2018, Bisping officially announced his retirement from MMA competition. In late December 2018, Bisping appeared on The Joe Rogan Experience, elaborating on his retirement from MMA, which he said was due to eye injury suffered in the fight with Kelvin Gastelum. I started having issues with my good eye as well after the Gastelum fight. I was like, this isn't worth it. The reason I retired was the Gastelum fight. On 16 March 2019, it was announced at UFC Fight Night: Till vs. Masvidal that Bisping would be inducted in the UFC Hall of Fame under the modern era wing. On 1 November 2019, he released his book Quitters Never Win: My Life in UFC.

On 6 April 2016, Bisping announced that he had landed a role in the film XXX: Return of Xander Cage. Later that month, Bisping revealed that he is a fan of the 1990s television series Twin Peaks and that he had gained a small role in the 2017 continuation of the series. He portrayed Roy Shaw in the sports drama film My Name Is Lenny. Bisping also had a short cameo at the end of the 2018 film Den of Thieves. He will reprise his role in a larger capacity for the upcoming sequel Den of Thieves 2: Pantera. In 2018, Bisping was announced as one of the four presenters of the reality competition series Hyperdrive, which would be released on Netflix on 21 August 2019. In November 2020, it was announced that Bisping would be playing the main role in a boxing movie titled The Journeyman, based on Mark Turley's book. That same month, Bisping appeared as a tournament fighter, Dolph, in the HBO Max series Warrior.

No. EventFightDateVenueCityPPV Buys1. UFC 78Evans vs. Bisping17 November 2007Prudential CenterNewark, New Jersey, U. S.400,0002. UFC 199Rockhold vs. Bisping 2 4 June 2016The ForumInglewood, California U. S.320,0003. UFC 204Bisping vs. Henderson 2 8 October 2016Manchester ArenaManchester, England290,0004. UFC 217Bisping vs. St Pierre 4 November 2017Madison Square GardenNew York City, New York, U. S.875,000Total sales1,885,000

Year Title Role Notes 2010 Hollyoaks Later Nathan McAllister Season 35 episodes 2015 Strike Back Aaron Episode: "Legacy: Part 1"2017 Twin Peaks Guard Episode: "Part 1" Dark Matter Goren Episode: "Give It Up, Princess" 2018 MacGyver Porter Episode: "UFO + Area 51"2019 Magnum P. I. Jason Coburn Episode: "The Day It All Came Together"HyperdrivePresenter10 episodes 2020 Warrior Dolph Jagger Episode: "To a Man with a Hammer, Everything Looks Like a Nail" 2021–present UFC Fight Week Himself