Michael Bisping; Still t
In modern combat sports the main rival to the global supremacy of
boxing is the UFC, the organisation that has grown to be the largest
MMA promotion in the World since its inception in the 1990’s, to the
point that many armchair fans see MMA/UFC as one and the same. As
the popularity of MMA has grown in the United Kingdom the UFC has
become the dream ticket for our home-grown talent and whilst more and
more have seen themselves offered contracts few, if any, have managed to
secure more than a toe-hold within the UFC roster since the days of UK
MMA pioneer Ian ‘The Machine’ Freeman. Except Michael Bisping that
is, who has been a UFC regular since 2006, an incredible achievement
given the ruthless nature of the business.
Known initially for his stand-up skills, Lancastrian Bisping actually
started doing Japanese Jiu-Jitsu when he was eight, where he had a lot
of success, drifting into kickboxing when he was 16 and eventually
becoming the pro British Light-heavyweight champion. The industry
in general was far less evolved then and Bisping moved into full-time
employment to pay the bills but was encouraged to train for the fledgling
MMA scene, making his debut successfully at ‘The Pride and Glory’.
It was his success at ‘Cage Rage’ however that really started to get the
Bisping name noticed. At the time ‘Cage Rage’ was on an incredible
upward surge and even mentioned as a credible rival to the UFC and
Bisping quickly made a name for himself by becoming the promotions
light-heavyweight champion, stopping the very durable Mark ‘The Beast’
Epstein at Cage Rage 7 and then repeating the feat at Cage Rage 9 to
cement his burgeoning reputation.
It was at this point in his career that the UFC really started to take notice
and coined the phrase “The