“I Thought About Bisping in My Head and…”: Sean Strickland Reveals How He Found Inspiration in UFC HOFer Michael Bisping After Getting Eye Poked at UFC Vegas 76

The UFC held yet another event in Vegas with Sean Strickland taking on Abusupiyan Magomedov in the main event of UFC Vegas 76. ‘Tarzan’ had his eye poked in the first round, but came back to finish off the fight in the second with a TKO win. In the post-show, he claimed to have drawn inspiration from Michael Bisping, following which he won the fight.

UFC Vegas 76 was Sean Strickland’s second fight of the year as he took on the unranked Magomedov. The 7th-ranked middleweight fighter had a lot on the line heading into this fight. However, he proved his doubters wrong even after a nasty eye poke. Let us see what he had to say about that.

Sean Strickland drew inspiration from Michael Bisping

When Strickland was having a difficult time tending to his eye poke, he thought about how the UFC Hall of Famer Michael Bisping won the title with just one eye. Strickland said, “It was bad, but it’s a fight. [Michael] Bisping won the title with one eye.” ‘The Count’ won his middleweight championship in 2016 with a detached retina.

The 7th-ranked middleweight revealed that Bisping’s thoughts constantly ran through his head after the eye poke. He mentioned that if the British fighter could win a championship with one eye, then an eye-poke shouldn’t be much of a challenge. Strickland added, “I am not gonna lie, I thought about Bisping. I said Bisping in my head and I said Bisping won the title with one eye [and] you can do it with an eye poke.”

‘Tarzan’ had a conversation with his inner coward

Sean Strickland was asked about how he was feeling after the nasty eye poke he suffered in the first round. He stated that he was still having double vision. Strickland said, “I am still seeing double. There’s a coward in me.” Furthermore, he mentioned the inner coward that every fighter has.

Strickland said that the inner coward was telling him to quit, but he disregarded it and continued to take the fight to the Russian-born German fighter. He added, “Everybody has this inner coward [in them]. It kind of talked me for a sec, but you have to tell it to shut up. Then it was just, ‘Let’s go and get a finish.'”

READ MORE: Years After Bizarre Stunt in China, Israel Adesanya Mocked in X-Rated Rant as Rival Sean Strickland Takes Aim at UFC Champ Over Ridiculous Claims, Fans React

Sean Strickland is now back in his winning ways as 2023 has proven to be a great year so far for the 7th-ranked middleweight fighter. We will have to wait and see how the rest of the year pans out for ‘Tarzan’.

What is your take on Strickland’s comments? Drop your comments below.

WATCH THIS STORY: Five times Sean Strickland crossed the lines