Michael Bisping discloses pick for UFC’s ‘Greatest of All Time’ in social media response to fan inquiry
Michael Bisping is confident that he has the correct answer to the age-old 'Greatest of All-Time' fighter debate.
As one of the handful of fighters who have claimed a UFC championship in their respective careers, Bisping has faced his fair share of MMA legends and believes one of his former opponents deserves the title of the 'GOAT.' In a quote tweet response to a fan asking the popular question, Bisping named his pick with one word.
As the fighter to end his middleweight title reign, Michael Bisping declared Georges St-Pierre as the best fighter of all time by tweeting the former champion's commonly-referenced initials.
With a 26-2 career record, St-Pierre is a common choice in the 'GOAT' debate. St-Pierre defended the welterweight title nine consecutive times while reigning across the division on two separate occasions and ended his career by submitting Bisping at middleweight to become one of just nine fighters in UFC history to be a two-division champion.
At the peak of his career, St-Pierre collected wins over former champions BJ Penn, Matt Hughes, Matt Serra, Carlos Condit, Jake Shields, and Sean Sherk while beating Penn and Hughes twice.
Along with St-Pierre, fans often point to Jon Jones, Anderson Silva, Demetrious Johnson, Amanda Nunes, and Khabib Nurmagomedov as candidates for the honorary title.
Who did Michael Bisping beat as UFC champion?
Michael Bisping is often credited as one of the most improbable champions in UFC history with his crowning moment at UFC 199 considered to be among the biggest upsets in MMA history.
Though Bisping spent much of his career in the top 10 of the middleweight rankings, 'The Count' was known for losing big fights in career-defining moments. However, Bisping stepped in on short notice to face Luke Rockhold at UFC 199 and knocked out the champion in the first round to win the belt at 37 years old.
After shocking the world with the upset, Michael Bisping returned four months later to defend his belt against 46-year-old Dan Henderson, a rematch of a fight seven years prior that produced one of the deadliest knockouts in the sport's short history. Despite facing adversity, Bisping denied Henderson of becoming the oldest UFC champion and successfully defended his title.
The win over Henderson would make the final win of Bisping's career as the Brit would lose to Georges St-Pierre in his next fight and follow up the performance with a knockout loss to Kelvin Gastelum. Several months after the loss to Gastelum, Bisping announced his retirement due to compiling injuries including blindness in his right eye.