A proud moment for RDX Sports and an even prouder moment for our Ambassador, Michael ‘The Count’ Bisping. This year, Rolling Stone magazine along with Fox Sports has honoured Britain’s very own with the prestigious ‘Fighter of the Year Award’.
2016 has been a rather merciless year for many; not for us, and definitely not for the current UFC Middleweight Champ of the world. If anything, this year has offered nothing but fruit, and the ripest kind.
Bisping’s come back started off with a loss to then title contender, Luke Rockhold, resulting in the most impressive 5-fight win streak ever experienced in the octagon (post Rockhold). ‘The Count’ would bounce back, beating top contenders, the Greatest of All-Time: Anderson Silva, and get a once in a life time opportunity at vengeance against bitter rival, and then middleweight champ, Luke Rockhold. While doubters claim he got lucky and that the title landed in his lap, he silenced them with a 1st round knockout vs Luke, becoming the first ever British fighter to win a title in the UFC.
Winning the belt in the manner he did could not have been any sweeter. At 37 years of age, to have finally earned that elusive Championship by knocking out the ‘most dangerous man on earth’ in the first round – with only 10-14 days’ notice in itself was a statement. The world was silenced and Mike had completely shut down his detractors.
Michael Bisping has proven time and time again that he belonged in the top 10, always at the precipice of greatness but never truly crossing. With 30 wins and 7 losses, Bisping has fought the who’s who of the divisions and mainly has lost majority fights to steroid abusers such as Chael Sonnen, Dan Henderson, Wanderlei Silva, and Vitor Belfort (who permanently disfigured his eye). Since the ban of TRT, all these fighters have experienced nothing but downfall, which makes ‘The Count’ stand out even more for his reputation of being a clean fighter.
Apart from putting Britain on the world map, Michael Bisping is also the first ever English fighter to have won a UFC title. He would go on to defend it, again, avenging a bitter loss to Dan Henderson in Manchester, RDX’s hometown.
With the most UFC wins in UFC history and the middleweight division over the likes of George St. Pierre and Anderson Silva, being the first English Ultimate Fighter Season winner, 1533 significant strikes in UFC competition (the most in divisional history), second longest time spent in the octagon – at 37, Michael Bisping is not only deserving of this prestigious award but should be considered a true inspiration and a standard of what it means to be a champion.
In the end – greatness cannot be held down, it is only a matter of time until it is recognized. We, at RDX Sport are truly honoured to be associated with such an exemplary human being such as Michael Bisping.
Congratulations Champ – You’ve come a long way and it looks like you’re just getting warmed-up!
