Fighter Profile: Michael Bisping

Overall Record: 18-3

UFC Record: 8-3

Hometown: Cyprus, England

Height: 6’2” Weight: 185

Born: February 28, 1979

Michael “The Count” Bisping is a thirty year-old mixed-martial artist who currently fights for the UFC in the middleweight (185 lb) division. Bisping specializes in kick-boxing, muay-thai, and jiu-jitsu at his training camp the Wolfslair Academy in Liverpool, England.

Bisping dabbled in professional kick-boxing before turning to MMA early in 2004. He immediately found success while fighting for Pride and Glory, Cage Warriors, FX3, and Cage Rage organizations. He compiled a perfect 10-0 record and earned the Light-Heavyweight belts for Cage Rage and Cage Warriors promotions by defeating veterans Mark Epstein and Dave Radford, all within his first ten fights.

After earning both title straps, Bisping got the call to appear of the third season of the successful “The Ultimate Fighter” reality show. “The Count” breezed through the light-heavyweight opponents, eventually knocking out Josh Haynes at the TUF 3 Finale, to earn the six-figure contract and a spot on the UFC roster.

He looked composed and impressive on the show but really didn’t come into his own until after his promotional debut. Solid stoppages over both Eric “Red” Schaffer and Elvis Sinosic brought his unbeaten streak to thirteen. Against the Australian Sinosic at UFC 70, Bisping put on a good enough show to earn “Fight of the Night” honors.

Continuing his long trek up the light-heavyweight division, Bisping would get his first legitimate test at UFC 75 in September ’07 facing his TUF rival – Matt Hammil. Both fighters fought valiantly on their feet for three rounds but even with the majority of the fans in attendance not in agreement, the judges awarded Bisping the split decision win.

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At UFC 78 – “Validation” in November 2007, Bisping entered a crucial bout versus fellow undefeated “TUF” veteran – Rashad Evans. Almost a mirror-image of his previous bout, Bisping kept the same gameplan, picking his strikes wisely on his way to what seemed to be another split decision victory. This time Bisping found out that anything can happen when putting the decision in someone else’s hands, losing his first career fight via razor-thin split decision to Evans.

Continuously taking on much larger opponents, Bisping’s body had taken a toll. He decided to take a detour by stepping down a weight class to the middleweight division where he could challenge fighters that would be closer to his fighting weight. His first 185-lb. test took place at UFC 83 in April ’08 against two-fight UFC veteran - Charles “Chainsaw” McCarthy. He passed the test with flying colors, dominating McCarthy for the entire 1st round and forcing him into early retirement after suffering an arm injury.

Now on a different path, Bisping faced a tough Jason Day at UFC 85 – “Bedlam” in June of ’08. Bisping dominated once again, knocking out Day at the 3:42 mark in the 1st round and earned his second consecutive middleweight win.

Up next was Bisping’s first headlining gig, opposite of heavy-handed Chris Leben at UFC 89 in October of ’08 in his back yard of England. Bisping as usual put his striking on display, picking Leben apart with jabs and hooks, on his way to a unanimous decision win. This win solidified his position near the top of the middleweight class.

In the spring of 2009 Bisping became the first “TUF” winner to return to the show as a coach, on the ninth season, featuring United Kingdom against United States. Bisping is now demonstrating his coaching skills by leading a collection of England’s best welterweights and middleweights to the “TUF 9 Finale” June 20th in Las Vegas.

Bisping also will be in action soon after The Ultimate Fighter season 9 wraps up when he will meet Team USA coach and former PRIDE champion - Dan Henderson. The UFC 100 bout will be featured on the main card July 11th in Las Vegas, Nevada. The winner will likely get the next chance to dethrone Anderson Silva as the UFC middleweight champion.

Recent Michael Bisping MMA News:

• Defeated Denis Kang by TKO (Strikes) at UFC 105 on November 14, 2009 - UFC 105 results

• Lost to Wanderlei Silva at UFC 110 by Unanimous Decision in Sydney, Australia on Feb 20, 2010 - UFC 110: Michael Bisping - “Contender or Pretender?” - UFC 110 results

By Nick Russell
ProFighting-fans.com Staff Writer
Published June 2009