“Not Only Were My Ribs Broken…”: Michael Bisping Provides Missing Details on His Championship Loss to George St-Pierre at UFC 217

UFC fans would find it difficult to forget the fight between Michael Bisping and Georges St-Pierre at UFC 217. On November 5, 2017, at New York’s Madison Square, ‘MMA GOAT’ St-Pierre returned to UFC to take on middleweight champ Michael Bisping. Years later, ‘the count’ candidly discussed all that happened during the combat. The Englishman opened up about the multiple injuries he had to deal with before entering the octagon. St-Pierre used all of his strength in the rear naked choke and successfully submitted Bisping in round 3.

Many found the battle to be highly exciting because ‘Rush’ returned to the octagon after four long years. He is undoubtedly the GOAT of welterweight in the eyes of fans. Meanwhile, Bisping had won five straight matches at the time and was the toughest opponent for the returning legend.

Michael Bisping talks about the ‘distraction’

Years later, ‘The Count’ took to his YouTube channel, ‘Michael Bisping Podcast’, to talk about how a lot of things went wrong in the fight. The 43-year-old former middleweight champion claimed that during his bout against GSP at UFC 217, a lot of things went wrong. In addition to the physical damage ‘the count’ sustained, several other things also caused him problems.

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He described how fighting was extremely difficult for him because of his fractured ribs and one eye. Furthermore, to add to the distractions caused by injuries, his jockstrap reportedly tore. According to him, this was the worst possible distraction he had to face. He candidly spoke about how the former champion’s old jockstrap got him into a lot of trouble. Bisping said “so many things went wrong in that fight. Not only were my ribs broken or because of the tour a few days before the fight, which was bad, there was a lot of other stuff going on.“

He explained, “the jockstrap that I would have and had it for years and it was in the cupboard in the garage, and I just got that out and I should have replaced it for the fight. The jockstrap ripped and I’ve got a big metal heavy cup swinging around in my shorts right.. right before I got knocked out and it was in between rounds.

He added, “I’m like oh f**k it’ll be fine just stuck it in my underpants, and it all came loose again, and the jockstrap was swinging around in my shorts it was such a bloody distraction.”

Rise and fall of Bisping’s championship status

At UFC 199 in 2016, ‘The count’ squared off against the champion Luke Rockhold. The Englishman managed to emerge as the victor in this rematch, via a first round knockout. He became the first British UFC champion and middleweight champion as a result of this. Prior to his rematch against Rockhold, he managed to beat middleweight ‘GOAT’ Anderson Silva. At UFC 204, the Britisher faced Dan Henderson after winning the belt. He was declared the winner by a unanimous decision, successfully defending his title, and avenging his own loss years ago. Following his loss to GSP, Bisping would go on to loss to rising contender Kelvin Gastellum before calling it a career. Bisping had earlier stated that had he not lost to GSP, he would have retired without fighting Gastellum.

Today, the former champ continues to bless the fans with his ringside presence as a commentator. He also hosts his podcast ‘Believe You Me’ with fellow UFC fighter Anthony Smith. What do you think about Bisping’s impressive UFC career? Let us know in the comments.

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