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Michael Gavin Joseph Bisping (born February 28, 1979 in Cyprus) is an English mixed martial artist (MMA) from Clitheroe, Lancashire. He currently fights as a middleweight in the Ultimate Fighting Championship, and is the former Cage Warriors Fighting Championship light heavyweight champion, and former Cage Rage light heavyweight champion.
[edit] Biography[edit] Early lifeBisping was born in Cyprus in 1979, but moved to Clitheroe, Lancashire, England when he was a child. Taking an early interest in martial arts, Bisping began training in a traditional form of jujutsu known as Yawara Ryu under Paul Lloyd Davies when he was 8 years old.[1] In 1994, at the age of 15, Bisping competed as an amateur in England's first "no holds barred" competition, a precursor to modern MMA, called Knock Down Sport Budo (KSBO), organized by Davies.[2] At the age of 18, Bisping decided to abandon his martial arts training in order "to pursue real life".[3] But less than a year later Bisping began training kickboxing and karate on the advice of Alan Clarking, owner of Black Knights gym, who saw potential in the young fighter. Bisping enjoyed a short, but successful, kickboxing career, winning the North West Area title, and later the Pro British light heavyweight kickboxing title.[2] After again briefly quitting competition in 1998, Bisping returned to kickboxing to take the Pro British light heavyweight title for a second time. Soon after winning his second kickboxing title, Bisping was forced to abandon his full-time training for a "real job". Bisping worked in factories, slaughterhouses, as an upholsterer, a postman, a tiler, a plasterer,a double-glazing door salesman, and also a fairly successful DJ around the north-west club scene.[4] As his days of competition faded away, Bisping grew to miss fighting and training, and in 2003, he tracked down his old coach Paul Lloyd Davies. Davies, who was then coaching at Master Salahs mixed martial arts gym in Manchester, encouraged Bisping to visit his gym, and it was there that Bisping first learned about the new sport of mixed martial arts. After one day of sparring, Davies offered to train and manage Bisping as an MMA fighter.[5] [edit] Mixed martial artsBisping made his professional mixed martial arts debut at Pride & Glory 2: Battle of the Ages on April 4, 2004, taking a 0:38 armbar 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 became the Cage Rage light heavyweight champion at Cage Rage 7, defeating Mark Epstein by technical knockout. 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.[6] At The Ultimate Fight Club UK: Natural Instinct on January 29, 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 medical stoppage in round two. Bisping, who trains with the Wolfslair MMA Academy, the professional fight team of Cage Warriors, made his debut for the promotion at Ultimate Force on April 30, 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 Diabate at CWFC: Strike Force 1 on May 21, 2005, losing to Diabaté via decision after the end of the first extra round. He captured FX3 light-heavyweight title on June 18, 2005 and was reigning on UK's major federations. In his first Cage Warriors title defense, Bisping defeated Miika Mehmet at CWFC: Strike Force 2, on July 16, 2005. In September 2005, Cage Rage stripped the light heavyweight title from Bisping due to "management issues that Michael currently has",[7] though Cage Warriors however stated that "Bisping was willing to defend his title but is being punished by Cage Rage due to his Wolfslair and Cage Warriors links".[8] Towards the end of 2005, Bisping continued to successfully defend the Cage Warriors title against Jakob Lovstad[9], and Ross Pointon in the CWFC: Strike Force series of events, leading to a record of 10 wins and no losses. [edit] Ultimate Fighting ChampionshipIn early 2006 Bisping was featured on the UFC's The Ultimate Fighter 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 defeated 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.[10] The fight was re-scheduled and held on December 30 at UFC 66. Bisping defeated Schafer by TKO at 4:24 in the first round.[11] On April 21, 2007 Bisping scored a TKO win over Elvis Sinosic at UFC 70 in Manchester, England.[12] Sinosic came out fighting, and Bisping eagerly obliged, firing back before throwing the Australian to the canvas.[13] Bisping then launched a vicious ground and pound attack, opening a cut on Sinosic's forehead.[14] In the second round Bisping was knocked down from a knee.[15] Then Sinosic almost secured a kimura[13] before Bisping reversed and pounded away until Steve Mazzagatti stopped the bout at 1:40 of the second round.[13] Bisping was a special guest referee at the Cage Warriors events Enter The Wolfslair on March 5, 2005, and CWFC: Strike Force 6 on May 27, 2006.[16] On September 8, 2007 Bisping faced former Ultimate Fighter 3 rival Matt Hamill in London, England and won a controversial split decision after 3 rounds. Hamill pushed the pace and took Bisping down numerous times in the first two rounds, with Bisping hitting solid strikes and blocking numerous takedown attempts towards the end of the second and in the third round. One judge scored 29-28 for Bisping, another 30-27 for Hamill and the split decision of 29-28 for Bisping as the winner. The American crowd blamed the result on being in Bisping's home country, however the lone British judge voted for Hamill while both American judges scored for Bisping. Bisping's next match at UFC 78 against fellow Ultimate fighter winner Rashad Evans resulted in his first loss, via split decision - 29-28 29-28 28-29 for Evans.[17] Bisping, admitting he had luck in getting the nod over Hamill, accepted his loss to Evans. [edit] Move to middleweightAfter his loss to Rashad Evans, Bisping announced his decision to drop down to the middleweight division,[18] and on April 19, 2008 at UFC 83 Bisping made his debut as a Middleweight against Charles McCarthy. Bisping won by TKO as McCarthy was unable to continue after the first round due to a forearm injury he sustained after receiving an unanswered series of knees and uppercuts from Bisping.[19] Bisping's next fight, and second at 185 lb (84 kg), was on June 7, 2008 at UFC 85 in London, against Jason Day. Bisping was originally set to face Chris Leben, but Jason Day stepped in as Leben was incarcerated for 35 days and unable to compete.[20] Bisping won the fight in dominant fashion in the first round, securing two takedowns and applying a high paced pressure; it was his second first round TKO in a row.[21] Bisping headlined UFC 89 on October 18, in a matchup against Chris Leben, who Bisping was supposed to face in UFC 85.[20] [22] Bisping won a unanimous decision. The judges scored the fight 30-27 (twice), and 29-28 for Bisping.[23] Bisping used effective counter punching in the fight to keep the aggressive Leben at bay.[24] After the fight Leben tested positive for Stanozolol and was suspended for nine months.[25][26] After the fight with Leben, Bisping was confirmed as one of the coaches on the next season of The Ultimate Fighter.[27][28] The other coach was American Dan Henderson, whom Bisping would fight after the show ended, on July 11, 2009 at Mandalay Bay at UFC 100.[29] The fight was believed to be an eliminator for the UFC Middleweight Championship top contender spot. Michael had received a high-end Land Rover for being a coach on the show, along with Dan Henderson. On July 11 at UFC 100, Michael Bisping was knocked out by Dan Henderson in the second round with a flush right hook while Bisping was circling to his left. Henderson followed up with another hard right hand after Bisping had fallen to the ground before the fight was stopped. Bisping seemed tentative on his feet throughout the bout, wary of the power of Henderson's standup. It marked the first occasion Bisping has ever conceded a KO loss, and also only his second loss in his MMA career to date. Bisping faced Spirit MC & Pride veteran Denis Kang on November 14, 2009 at UFC 105.[30] Bisping TKO'd Kang in the 2nd round.[31] Kang dropped Bisping with a right hand in the first round which stunned Bisping.[32] Kang followed Bisping to the floor and attempted submissions, but Bisping defended well and neutralised Kang's attacks despite Kang briefly having full mount.[31] In the 2nd round Bisping secured a single-leg takedown and the complexion of the fight changed. He unleashed a vicious ground and pound attack on the Canadian, which Kang failed to recover from.[33] The fight was awarded "Fight of the Night" giving both Kang and Bisping a $40,000 bonus.[34] Bisping is expected to face former PRIDE Middleweight Champion Wanderlei Silva on February 21, 2010 at UFC 110.[35] [edit] Championships & Awards
FX3
Ultimate Fighting Championship
[edit] Mixed martial arts record
[edit] References
[edit] External links
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