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The Story Behind Michael Bisping's Right Eye, Explained

UFC Hall of Famer, Michael 'The Count' Bisping, was known in the latter half of his career for fighting with one eye. It's something modern MMA fans would have heard the likes of Dominick Cruz poking fun at, as well as Bisping himself on the UFC commentary team. However, Bisping didn't always have an issue with the right eye.

Wrestling is the most important tool when becoming a complete MMA fighter. There have been many great wrestlers throughout the UFC's history.

In fact, Bisping spent more than half of his UFC run with two perfectly-fine, working eyes. It wasn't until he met a terrifying Brazilian in a middleweight clash in Brazil in 2013 that everything changed for the British fighter. The event marked a turn of the guard for Bisping, as he went on to have the best run of his UFC career after the injury.

Date of Birth

Feb. 28, 1979

Place of Birth

Cyprus

Nationality

British

Height

6' 1"

Year of MMA Debut

2004

Bisping was a raw, green 10-0 fighter when he was signed to compete in the third season of The Ultimate Fighter. He quickly ran through the 2006 competition, beating all three of his opponents -- Kristian Rothaermel, Ross Pointon and Josh Haynes -- to win the light heavyweight tournament.

After gaining his UFC contract, Bisping won a few more bouts at 205, including a controversial victory over Matt Hamill in London. He eventually moved down to middleweight (185 pounds) after a split decision loss to Rashad Evans in 2007's UFC 78. It was around this time that Bisping became one of the biggest heels of the sport.

Event

Opponent

Outcome

UFC 83

Charles McCarthy

TKO Win

UFC 85

Jason Day

TKO Win

UFC 89

Chris Leben

Unanimous Decision Win

Bisping was never exactly a hero in the early days of his UFC career. But it was on a stint on The Ultimate Fighter Season 9 where he truly became an MMA villain. Coaching against beloved UFC legend and former PRIDE champion, Dan Henderson, Bisping did all he could to get under the skin of the very chill American.

It drew the ire of many fans. Bisping leaned into this persona, though, as if he were in the WWE. He already had heat on him after the Hamill win. So he used this platform, magnified his exposure, and became the bad guy. Fans lapped up Henderson knocking him out cold at UFC 100, dropping an extra hammer-fist to shut him up when he was already unconscious. This is the kind of stuff fighters such as Colby Covington would model their gimmicks on decades later.

Outcome

Opponent

Result

Event

Loss

Chael Sonnen

Decision (unanimous)

UFC on Fox: Evans vs. Davis

Win

Jason Miller

TKO (knees to the body and punches)

The Ultimate Fighter: Team Bisping vs. Team Miller Finale

Win

Jorge Rivera

TKO (punches)

UFC 127

Win

Yoshihiro Akiyama

Decision (unanimous)

UFC 120

Win

Dan Miller

Decision (unanimous)

UFC 114

Loss

Wanderlei Silva

Decision (unanimous)

UFC 110

After losing to Henderson, Bisping got sent down a spiral that took him out of contendership for the middleweight title. He beat Denis Kang (TKO), but lost to Wanderlei Silva. He then went on to beat Dan Miller, Yoshihiro Akiyama, Jorge Rivera and Jason Miller.

But things didn't go as planned in the title eliminator against the wrestler, Chael Sonnen. Sonnen, a fellow heel, roughed Bisping up and emerged victorious via unanimous decision in 2012. Bisping would rebound with a win over Brian Stann right after; however, his vision (no pun intended) would forever be altered.

Date

Event

Opponent

Result

TRT Use

18 May 2013

UFC on FX: Belfort vs. Rockhold

Luke Rockhold

Win (KO head kick)

Exempted for TRT

19 Jan 2013

UFC on FX: Belfort vs. Bisping

Michael Bisping

Win (TKO head kick)

Exempted for TRT

9 Nov 2013

UFC Fight Night: Belfort vs. Henderson 2

Dan Henderson

Win (KO head kick)

Exempted for TRT

Bisping had been in the UFC for nearly seven years when he met former UFC light heavyweight champion, Vitor Belfort, at middleweight. Belfort was at the forefront of the TRT revolution of the early 2010s, where various fighters such as Belfort, Henderson, and others got TRT exemptions from athletic commissions, causing fighters to seemingly return to their primes overnight.

Belfort, in particular, had a massive physical transformation, packing on muscle as if he were a superhero. The Bisping matchup was a fight for him to get back into title contention after losing to Jon Jones up a weight class a few months prior. And make no mistake, Belfort impressed. After a back-and-forth first round, Belfort connected with a head kick that dropped Bisping.

Belfort added ground-and-pound for a TKO win. However, the bigger issue was with Bisping, as it was revealed that Bisping had a detached retina as a result of the knockout. Doctors and Bisping didn't even notice the injury until months later, which played into the severity of the injury. Bisping kept it secret for as long as he could, scared UFC wouldn't let him compete again.

• The injury led to significant vision loss in Bisping's right eye, eventually rendering it functionally blind despite multiple surgeries.

Due to Bisping's injury not being caught until months after the loss, his eye deteriorated more. He ended up being legally blind in his right eye. Bisping was encouraged to retire by doctors once the injury was discovered.

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Bisping officially had a 20/200 vision for the rest of his career. This vision is the absolute minimum that fighters can have in order to fight in MMA, so he carried on with a fake eye. Given he had a good relationship with UFC's Dana White and the top brass, it's easy to understand why they wanted him to continue, too.

Fighter

SIG. STR.

SIG. STR. %

TOTAL STR.

Anderson Silva

75 of 135

55%

108 of 316

Michael Bisping

108 of 316

34%

112 of 320

Despite the injury, Bisping fought on against medical advice. Bisping went 2-2 over his next four fights, with wins against Cung Le and Alan Belcher, while losing to Luke Rockhold and Tim Kennedy. Following the loss to Rockhold in Nov. 2014, Bisping went on the best run of his career.

Bisping rode back-to-back wins over C.B. Dolloway and Thales Leites into a high-profile fight with Anderson 'Spider' Silva in his home country of England. The Brit earned the biggest win of his career in 2016: a unanimous decision victory over five hard-fought rounds. This catapulted him into the best moment of his career.

• Bisping avenged his defeat to Luke Rockhold on short notice.
• It Was Bisping's first knockout in 10 fights.

The main event of UFC 199 was set to be Luke Rockhold defending his middleweight strap against Chris Weidman in a rematch of their UFC 194 encounter, when he took the belt from Weidman. However, Weidman pulled out about three weeks prior to the PPV. The UFC scrambled for options and settled on Bisping, who was filming a movie at the time.

Despite the short notice, Bisping defeated Rockhold in one of the largest upsets of all time, winning the title via first-round knockout. Three years after Bisping became legally blind, he was one of the unlikeliest champions ever, inspiring people to glory. To achieve this with one eye is indeed the stuff of legend.

• Henderson was Bisping's first title defense.
• The decision to fight him was controversial as Yoel Romero was considered the top contender.

Bisping was on top of the world, and it would get even better for the Englishman. He was matched up for a Henderson rematch at UFC 204. It was Bisping's first title defense at home in Manchester, although there was skepticism as Henderson looked great in a KO win over Hector Lombard. Luckily for Bisping, he got revenge that night in 2016, defeating Henderson via unanimous decision.

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Bisping's record stood at 30-7 at that point. He was then matched up with another future Hall of Famer in Georges St-Pierre the following year at New York's Madison Square Garden. GSP was back after a four-year hiatus, opting to move up from welterweight. After a back and forth fight, Bisping was eventually dropped and submitted in the third by rear-naked choke. It prematurely ended his brief championship run. What made it even more stinging was that GSP would vacate the belt and retire again.

There was a lot of scrutiny that Bisping should retire. However, he went on to fight Kelvin Gastelum in China right after. It was another short-notice fight, just two weeks after his loss to GSP. Sadly, as much as he saved the card, Bisping was knocked out by Gastelum in the first.

Bisping was vehement he would fight on despite the loss. He wouldn't stick to that sentiment for long, though, as the bout caused Bisping to retire. He was having issues with his good eye now, so he hung up the gloves, deciding the pleasure derived from MMA wasn't worth the pain anymore.

Unlike some MMA fighters who struggle once their fighting days are over, Bisping was preparing for life outside the octagon for a long time. Even when he was still an active fighter, Bisping would offer his opinions as an analyst for UFC cards.

Israel Adesanya looked stunned as he watched his friend and teammate Alexander Volkanovski get knocked out.

He debuted on the desk in 2019 for a UFC Fight Night in Brazil. Bisping also worked the Dana White Contender Series before taking on PPV duties during COVID-19 at UFC 251 in 2020. His razor-sharp wit, insightful commentary and high energy have made him a fan-favorite media personality.

Bisping even has his own YouTube channel, doing his "Believe You Me" podcast and reactions on his own, as well as with fellow analyst and UFC lightweight, Anthony Smith. In addition, Bisping currently calls some Power Slap and has done more acting in shows like Warrior.

Bisping has popped the fake eye out in a few interviews, including one with Steve-O! It's not that big a deal to Bisping anymore. He often uses it to talk about why the sport needs clean athletes, as this would prevent others from getting injured. Clearly, he is not a fan of performance enhancers, using the conversation and turning it into a bit of activism, justice and fighters' rights.

Bisping has also elaborated on the injury with the likes of Joe Rogan, affirming he doesn't see it as the bane of his career. It spurred him to greatness. And now, he can chat about it quite nonchalantly.

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