Michael Bisping reveals gruesome hidden injury suffered on TUF
Michael Bisping made his break into the MMA scene on the third season of The Ultimate Fighter (TUF). 'The Count', who won season three of the reality TV series, served as a coach on the ninth and 14th installments of the show.
During TUF 14, Michael Bisping ended up winning the coaches' challenge, which was a game of air-hockey against Jason Miller. While celebrating the victory, 'The Count' suffered a fall as he attempted to get off the air-hockey table, which made for one of the funniest moments in UFC live-television history.
While hilarious, the injury left a mark on Michael Bisping. Recalling the events from the show while replying to a fan on Twitter, 'The Count' tweeted that the fall might have been one of the major reasons for his broken back.
The former middleweight champion wrote:
"It may be responsible for my broken back which is currently painful"
It may be responsible for my broken back which is currently very painful :) twitter.com/punjabipiccolo…
Skip to 15:56 for the TUF 14 coaches challenge:
Dana White recalled the hilarious events during the episode, saying:
"One minute, you're celebrating, 'I'm the king of the world.' And then, you're laying on your a**, looking like a jack*ss in front of millions of people on television."
Michael Bisping's TUF history
Not many fighters have had as storied of an MMA career as Michael Bisping. The former middleweight champion is widely singlehandedly credited for the rise of mixed martial arts in the UK.
Bisping first broke into the scene on the third season of The Ultimate Fighter, featuring Tito Ortiz and Ken Shamrock as coaches. As part of team Ortiz, 'The Count' fought his way to the finals, where he recorded a second-round TKO against Josh Haynes.
Starting to watch season 3 of the Ultimate Fighter with Ken Shamrock vs Tito Ortiz.
This is one of my favourite seasons because the rivalry between Ken and Tito was a crazy one and Michael Bisping went on and won the show.
A very underrated season! @ufc https://t.co/JvmmQYirum
The English mixed martial artist went on to coach two seasons of The Ultimate Fighter. He coached season nine against Dan Henderson, whom he met at UFC 100. Being his brash self, Bisping really got under the skin of a generally calm Henderson.
In the fight, 'Hendo' landed a right hand that floored the English fighter immediately. Henderson channeled all that pent-up anger from the season with a follow-up shot to the already unconscious Bisping.
Skip to 1:44 for the knockout:
'The Count' avenged the loss in a closely contested rematch that marked his first title defense at UFC 204, winning via unanimous decision.
His second stint as a coach was on TUF 14, where he was matched against Jason Miller. 'Mayhem' and Bisping had some fiery moments on the show, which even saw them almost scrap. This season had the infamous incident of Bisping falling after the coaches challenge.
Though his team went on to lose the show, with John Dodson knocking out T.J. Dillashaw in the finale, Bisping won his bout against 'Mayhem' in the main event.
UFC full fight video: Michael Bisping becomes champion mmafighting.com/2020/5/25/2126… https://t.co/NxtZrJn4zG
Michael Bisping later won UFC gold in a rematch with then-champion Luke Rockhold at UFC 199. He is one of 11 TUF alums to become UFC champion.