Michael Bisping earns praise from greatest rival after sparring with one eye and other serious injuries
03/30/2025 07:52 AM
What Michael Bisping achieved in his 39-fight career is nothing short of remarkable.
‘The Count’ is regarded as the greatest British fighter of all time having become the first UFC champion from those shores when he won the middleweight title at UFC 199.
His accomplishments at the end of his career are only made more impressive by the fact that in order to compete inside the Octagon, Bisping had to lie his way through medical exams due to a lack of vision in his right eye.
Having retired in 2017, the 46-year-old is still battling with some health issues having gone through multiple surgeries since stepping away from the Octagon.
However, that hasn’t stopped him from doing what he does best as Bisping’s greatest rival recently revealed on social media.
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Luke Rockhold praises ‘secret weapon’ Michael Bisping after training with him
Michael Bisping fought some great opponents during his time in the UFC but if there’s one man that defined his career more than the others, it’s Luke Rockhold.
The two men shared the Octagon with each other on two occasions with Rockhold stopping the Brit back in 2014 before Bisping stepped in on short notice at UFC 199 and dethroned the middleweight champion to earn his revenge.
Whilst they still jokingly exchange a few verbal blows here and there, Bisping and Rockhold have been able to put their rivalry behind them in recent times.
This is partly due to the American training with Jason Parillo for the past several years who is a close friend and former coach of ‘The Count’.
As Rockhold prepares to make his GFL debut in an upcoming rematch with Chris Weidman, the 40-year-old shared a collection of photos and videos from his training camp where he has been working alongside Bisping.
In the caption, the former 185-pound titleholder had nothing but positive things to say about his opponent turned training partner as he praised Bisping for continuing to push himself at this point in his life.
“Brought in the secret weapon for training camp. Honestly mad respect to @bisping for still wanting to scrap after everything he's been through. Fighting truly brings out the best of us”
Michael Bisping went out at the right time
After losing the middleweight title to Georges St-Pierre at Madison Square Garden, Michael Bisping chose to roll the dice one more time with a quick turnaround against Kelvin Gastelum.
Retirement was something that he had originally planned to seriously consider several years before but all of that went on hold after he won the 185-pound gold.
Bisping announced in May of 2018 that after suffering an injury to his good (left) eye in the Gastelum fight, he would be hanging up the gloves for good.
Since then, ‘The Count’ has become a staple of the UFC’s commentary team, having been named the analyst of the year at The World MMA Awards this past December.
