"At that point I had given up on it" - Michael Bisping reveals what it was like facing Anderson Silva at the O2 Arena in London
Michael Bisping has recalled his experience of fighting former UFC middleweight champion Anderson Silva at the O2 Arena in London, England in 2016. Bisping won their back-and-forth fight, beating Silva via unanimous decision, much to the delight of his fans in attendance on the night.
In a recent interview with The True Geordie, Bisping recalled what it was like to face ‘The Spider.’ Alluding to the significance of his fight against Silva, he said:
“Yeah, for me, this was my world title fight. At that point, I think I had given up on [it], Not given up, but I'd kind of resigned myself to the fact that it wasn’t gonna happen. Do you know what I mean? Because I was near the end of my career, I had one bloody eye that I was keeping secret, and I thought I’m probably not gonna get it. And that’s okay. I’m still having a good career. I’ve still made some money. I’ve still had some great fights."
He added:
"I treated it like my world title fight. I always wanted to fight Anderson. He’d only been beaten by Chris Weidman at this point, so he was still very much in his prime. Yeah, boll**ks; O2 Arena, Anderson Silva, greatest of all time.”
Michael Bisping reiterated that fighting Anderson Silva at the iconic O2 Arena in London, England, was the biggest fight of his career at the time. He added that he was “the most disciplined” he'd even been in the training camp for that fight.
Watch Michael Bisping’s conversation with The True Geordie below:
Dana White pays his respects to Michael Bisping
Despite losing vision in his right eye courtesy of a Vitor Belfort head-kick in their 2013 fight, Michael Bisping went on to become the first, and thus far only, British UFC champion. Bisping captured the title by defeating Luke Rockhold in their rematch at UFC 199 in 2016.
Bisping last competed in MMA in 2017, announced his retirement in 2018, and was inducted into the UFC Hall of Fame in 2019. He currently works as a UFC commentator and is the subject of an incredibly successful documentary.
On that note, UFC president Dana White recently addressed the documentary and expressed his respect for Bisping, who responded in kind.
“congrats @bisping on a bad a** career worthy of a documentary. U deserve it all my brother”
congrats @bisping on a bad ass career worthy of a documentary. U deserve it all my brother https://t.co/5vVV4efmLj
“Thank you @danawhite Truly means a lot.”
twitter.com/danawhite/stat…Thank you @danawhite Truly means a lot.👊 twitter.com/danawhite/stat…