Michael Bisping

Former UFC champion Michael Bisping was a guest on “Submission Radio” recently.

Bisping, who still works in MMA, did not hold back when discussing the COVID-19 pandemic and how to stop its spread.

Check out the complete interview and a full transcript below.

On UFC postponing UFC 249

“Unfortunately the world’s going through a very crazy time right now, and if we all just do as we’re bloody well told and follow the guidelines – it isn’t 5G, governments aren’t conspiring to one world order, it isn’t a conspiracy, the earth isn’t flat. We just gotta fucken stay indoors and do as we’re told, and this thing will pass. But there’s a lot of idiots out there that feel that they know better. A lot of people are insecure and they think that everyone’s against them and the world’s a big conspiracy.

“It’s not a conspiracy, there’s a fucken disease, an illness, a virus, which has originated in China and spread across the world that’s highly contagious. We gotta stay inside, do as we’re told, and in a little bit it’ll pass. Or, we can all be idiots, ignore what everyone’s telling us, ignore what the scientists are telling us.

“Because, I know what people are saying, ‘don’t believe everything you hear on the news’. I don’t. What I do, is listen and read and listen to the medical professionals, people that have dedicated their entire lives to medical science. I tend to listen to them, not some knuckleheads on the internet. So, to answer your question, yeah, we’re good. We’re not bad. It’s not ideal. I mean, I was just sitting there with my daughter a moment ago very, very bored. Every day’s the same.

“It’s like groundhog day, but, you know, listen, 80 years ago we had world war two. We had world war two and it was bad. There was bombs going off, there was people dying, people had to go to war. I think those people would be ashamed of the human race right now. All we gotta do is stay fucking inside. It’s not that hard. I understand people are struggling financially and economically, and my heart goes out to them, but as I said, in the grand scheme of things, it’s not that hard. And if we do as we’re told, this will pass. Sorry for the rant, there you go.”

If Bisping was relieved that UFC 249 got postponed

“Yeah, I’m gonna sound like a hypocrite here, but no, I wasn’t relived, I was looking forward to it. I’m bored out of my mind, I need something to watch. So, I was looking forward to sitting down with my son and my family and watching a good night of fights. Obviously when this first kicked off, the virus, when it all started really gathering momentum, over here in the states at least, I flew down to Brazil, to Brasilia, and commentated an event down there with no crowd, you know, and there was nothing too bad.

“But for this one, UFC 249, I think Dana was gonna arrange for testing for everybody. So, they were trying to do it as safe as possible. Anyways, as it turns out, it’s not happening. Probably for the best. But as I say, come on, everyone was looking forward to Khabib versus Tony. At least now hopefully we get to see it, because as we know, it was Tony versus Justin. But with that event being cancelled, I think that hopefully now we’re gonna it booked for a ridiculous sixth time.”

On how much his eye impacted his fight career at the end of his run

“It certainly impacted my fight career. My depth perception was pretty much non-existent. So, people always say, ‘how did you fight with pretty much one eye? And I always say the same answer, with great difficulty, and it was very difficult.”

“In hindsight I guess it was a blessing in disguise, because in 2013 I got all these troubles, and this is where it all started to happen, and then I knew I was on borrowed time. So, that gave me the mindset that I had to create a living outside the octagon, because I was just all in on fighting, and I was like, well, at any time I might get my license pulled away from fighting.

“So, I started working on being an analyst, being a commentator, doing my podcast, really trying to ramp up my acting career, and just whatever business endeavours I could find myself or get involved in outside of the octagon. So, as I said, it wasn’t ideal and I wish I had two fully functioning eyes, but as I say, every cloud has a silver lining.”

On damaging his other eye in China so badly that he feared he’d go fully blind

“They said, you gotta be careful because you’ve got one good eye, and if anything ever happened to that good eye, Michael, you’ll be blind. I was like, well, lightning’s not gonna strike twice. Look at how many fighters we have on the UFC roster or all around the world. Getting a detached retina due to trauma, you don’t have hear about it too often. So, I thought lightning is not gonna strike twice.

“Anyway, I fight Georges St. Pierre, I lose that fight, and he knew I was blind in one eye, he targeted it. Then, I fly to Shanghai, couple of weeks later I fight Kelvin Gastelum, I get cracked. I think I’ve had a good run and that was that. And then we go to an afterparty afterwards and I’m sitting there in this club, and every time I look this way, I get a flash of light. I was like, what was that? So I look again, another flash of light. And every time I look to the left, I get a flash of light. And I started panicking. And I was like, holy shit, I don’t believe this, I’ve got a detached retina in my good eye. And I started emotional, in a night club.

“I’ve had a couple of drinks, but I’m like, fuck, I’m thinking I’m gonna go blind. Cause if they could have fixed the eye, it’s gonna be a few weeks while the surgery repairs, so I’m gonna be blind at least for a little bit, and that’s a terrifying thought to have, to actually think you’ll go blind. So, I left this night club cause I don’t want to be sitting there and bloody tears running down my face and people thinking, oh, look at this soft cunt, he’s crying because he lost a fight. I’m like, no, I think I’m gonna go blind.

“So, I leave the club and I go back to my hotel, and a few of my mates came back a little while after to see if I was okay. Anyway, we have a good drink – you know, a very, very good drink. So, by the time I’ve sobered up, I’ve forgotten all about my eye at this point. I got to the airport. I fall asleep on the plane. It’s a long flight back to LA. And I wake up half-way through and I look to my left, and there’s that flashing light.

“So, when I land, I got to my eye doctor straight away. He’s like, yeah, you need to go see someone. So, I go in there. And whenever I’m uncomfortable, I always use humor as kind of like a mask. So, I go in to see the doc and I say, listen, doc, I think I’ve got a detached retina in my good eye. And he said, alright, well, let’s take a look, I’m gonna put some drops in you’re not gonna be able to see for a while.

“And I make a joke, I say, oh well, I guess I better get used to this view, ey? And he says, calm down, we’re not there just yet. And I was like, we’re not fucking there just yet? Jesus Christ. I was freaking out. And anyway, turns out I had a vitreous detachment.”

“So anyway, I was like, well, that’s it, the game is up, I don’t want to go blind.”

On having to fight GSP injured because he knew he’d never make that kind of money again

“I won the belt. Obviously, that comes with some extra cash. And then I had a big fight with Georges St-Pierre. When I fought Georges St-Pierre, just getting that license to fight was very hard. I won’t go into details, but they made me jump through so many hurdles.

“I had to sign disclaimers, get letters off doctors, second opinions, all kinds of stuff. And on the last week of training, just again, a sparring partner picked me up and dumped me. He went for a takedown like his life depended on it, and he landed on me and tore all the cartilage in my ribs and I couldn’t hardly move. And this was a huge fight with Georges St-Pierre, he’s a massive draw, this was going to be a massive, massive payday.

“Now, if my eye condition wasn’t like it was, I probably would have withdrawn from the fight and said, alright, we’ll do it another time. But I had to do it. So, whatever, you know, I had a shitty performance, and fair play to Georges, he beat me.”

On regretting taking the Kelvin fight after GSP

“They needed another opponent [for Kelvin Gastelum]. I was already trained for GSP, and I was like, screw it, whatever, it is what it is. I’ll fly out there, get another payday. So, I went out there. So, listen, money’s one thing and legacy is another. You can’t buy a legacy. So, I do regret doing that Kelvin Gastelum fight, because I had no business doing that. I was overtrained. In fact, I didn’t train for that fight whatsoever.

“I was overtrained from the GSP one. Then I went on the piss for a couple of weeks, and then flew out to China with my mates, you know what I mean? He was training for the biggest fight of his life, I had already been choked out a couple of weeks ago. So, the conditions weren’t right. But there was a lot of money on the table, but I knew I was almost done. And for me, that’s why I got into this, I got into it to give my family a better life. And as I said, I won’t go into the actual number, but it was a big number, it was a huge number. And I’m like, alright, well I’ll go out and collect that and I’ll fly out to China.”

On burying the hatchet with previous opponents he had issues with and seeing that they have more in common than he previously thought

“I would say most people, to be honest. I’m a different person now from when I was fighting, that’s for sure. I don’t walk around – I’m not in the weight class. Before, anybody walking around in my weight class, they were kind of my enemy, you know? And they were, they were my enemy, or my opposition. They were definitely my opposition, and I was always sizing people up. And I feel that when you meet under those circumstances, it’s a very unique set of circumstances that you might potentially fight one day, so therefore you don’t want to get too close.”

“For example, Luke Rockhold. Me and Luke Rockhold, I mean, listen, the guy’s still a bit of a tit, isn’t he? Let’s be honest. But I will say this, Daniel Cormier, DC, is a great guy, I’ve got a tone of respect for that man, and he’s like best mates with Luke Rockhold. So, I guess Luke Rockhold can’t be that bad, other-wise DC couldn’t be friends with him. So, I think if we met under different circumstances, who knows, we could be going surfing together. Not that I surf, but you know what I’m saying.”

On having a pint or a beer with Rockhold now that they’re retired

“Yeah, I don’t give a shit, mate. I don’t hold grudges against anybody. Well, there’s a couple of people back in England that if I get my hands on then I’ll wring their necks, but other than that, there’s nobody professional. Listen, those days are behind me now. I have no ill will, I wish everybody the best, I don’t have any grudges, and yeah, I’d happily share a beer with Rockhold. I remember I was commentating in Raleigh.

“It was me and DC and Brendan Fitzgerald, and DC, bit of a bad influence, trying to get me out the night before with him and Rockhold. And I’m like, mate, listen, you don’t wanna do that. I’m working in the morning. If I’m gonna be commentating, I don’t drink the night before, other-wise things get a bit messy. But yeah, listen, I’ve got no qualms about having a beer with anybody.”

Liking the feud between Israel Adesanya and Jon Jones

“Yeah, well first, Izzy’s outstanding. He’s great, undefeated, which is very marketable. He looks good, he talks good, he fights good. The guy’s a superstar. He’s got all the qualities that the UFC are looking for in a superstar, and he fights great. Okay, the last fight against Yoel, nobody wants to re-watch that one again, but that’s the way it goes. But listen, you can’t deny it was a shitty fight. Doesn’t mean he’s a shit fighter, cause he’s not a shit fighter, he’s outstanding, he’s the world champion for a reason. But, you know, now and again that’s just stylistically sometimes happens. Yoel’s a serious knockout artist, he has a lot of power and obviously has the wrestling pedigree. So, you’ve got to be careful. And it takes two to tango. So, they were both as bad as each other. It was a shitty fight, it is what it is. He got the decision, forget about that, that’s in the past, that’s all history. But no, he’s outstanding, he’s gonna have a bright future. He’s still young.”

“And I like what he’s doing with Jon Jones, I like what he’s doing. I don’t know if that fight will ever happen. It probably won’t. Not anytime soon. I think Jon’s talking about going up to heavyweight, so obviously that would put a barrier between them. But I like it. I certainly liked seeing Israel talk shit about Jon Jones. It is funny. I just sit there in the morning eating my cornflakes and get a little chuckle out of it. So, yeah, no, he’s great, he’s great. I’m a big fan.”

On Israel fighting Jon even at heavyweight

“Listen, on the feet they’d match up pretty well. I can’t see why Israel wouldn’t have at least an equal footing or potentially an advantage. Jones isn’t… I mean, we saw in his last few fights he’s not invincible, he’s not superhuman, he is beatable. Everybody’s beatable, trust me.

“And Jon, the longer he does it, the longer he goes, it’s kind of a game of odds. At some point someone’s going to beat him, and it seems to be happening more and more. I mean, the fight against Dominick Reyes – and I’m not trying to dump on Jon Jones, but I feel that Reyes won that fight. The one before, Thiago Santos, that was a close fight, and Thiago Santos had a bloody blown ACL from round one. The fight before that, Anthony Smith.

“So, you know, Jon isn’t unbeatable, and Adesanya is also undefeated. They’re both pretty undefeated in my eyes. It’s a great fight. I’d love to see it one day, but I’m not sure I would ever see Israel at heavyweight. That’s why i kind of laughed there, cause he’s certainly very tall, but he’s a light middleweight at the end of the day. So, at heavyweight, he’s gonna have a big disadvantage there.”

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