"I'm keeping one eye on Michael Bisping" - Jake Paul looking forward to knocking out UFC legend Michael Bisping
Jake Paul recently challenged MMA legend and former UFC middleweight champion Michael Bisping to face him in a professional boxing match. Bisping has repeatedly suggested that he’s unafraid of fighting Paul. 'The Problem Child' warned that he’d knock Bisping out if they were to clash inside the squared circle.
Bisping lost vision in his right eye and competed with just one eye in the latter stages of his MMA career. He announced his retirement in 2018 and revealed he’d concealed his vision loss from the athletic commissions to ensure he could compete. However, Bisping recently revealed that he’s found an athletic commission ready to grant him a license to box Jake Paul under their jurisdiction.
Speaking to ESPN MMA, ‘The Problem Child’ revealed that he’s “keeping one eye” on a potential fight against 'The Count', jibing at his eye injury. While Paul is targeting a return to the ring in August, he’s yet to finalize an opponent for the same. Addressing a possible fight against Bisping, Jake Paul stated:
“I’m keeping one eye on Michael Bisping as well, but just as a joke. It would be an easy fight, but that could be interesting – If I knock out Bisping and then Ashton [Sylve] fights [former UFC bantamweight champion] Cody Garbrandt on the undercard, we will make light work of all of them. But I don’t think they’re actually down. And obviously, I don’t know if Bisping even has a big enough name to make it lucrative.”
Watch Jake Paul’s ESPN MMA interview in the video below:
The injury and loss of vision in Michael Bisping’s right eye
Michael Bisping suffered a devastating second-round TKO loss courtesy of a head kick by Vitor Belfort at UFC on FX: Belfort vs. Bisping in January 2013. In an appearance on the Jeff FM podcast last year, Bisping explained that Belfort’s head kick caused a retinal detachment in his right eye, which he underwent surgery for. However, ‘The Count’ added that he rushed back into training and sparring.
Watch Bisping talk about the incident and ordeal below:
His decision backfired as the retina was detached yet again. He underwent multiple surgeries, but the injury got increasingly worse. Bisping alleged that the doctors ruined one of his final surgeries, adding that he completely lost vision in his right eye. Despite having lost sight in one eye, Bisping became the UFC middleweight champion when he beat Luke Rockhold at UFC 199.