The following story was published on this day two years ago. It is presented to you in its original, unaltered form, courtesy of The MMA News Archives.
On This Day Two Years Ago…
[ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED MARCH 6, 2020, 4:36 PM]
Headline: Michael Bisping Feels He Would’ve Beaten Israel Adesanya In His Prime
Author: Fernando Quiles Jr.
Michael Bisping has praise for Israel Adesanya but he believes he would’ve dethroned “The Last Stylebender” in his prime.
Adesanya is set to put his UFC middleweight championship on the line for the first time. Tomorrow night (March 7), Adesanya will collide with Yoel Romero. The 185-pound title bout will serve as the main event of UFC 248 in Las Vegas, Nevada.
Bisping Says He’d Beat Adesanya If He Were Still Fighting
One person who knows a thing or two about holding UFC gold is Bisping. The now-retired UFC Hall of Famer is a former middleweight champion himself. Appearing on SiriusXM’s MMA Tonight show, Bisping said he’d beat Adesanya if he were still fighting (h/t BJPenn.com).
“Listen, and here’s the real thing, if I was still fighting, I’d take that belt off him [Israel Adesanya] pretty easily, but I’m not,” Bisping said. “So, listen, I like Adesanya — I’m a massive fan of the guy — he’s a great personality, he’s a great fighter and I’m a fan of Yoel as well, it’s going to be a good one.”
Adesanya is undefeated in his pro MMA career. He has a record of 18-0. “The Last Stylebender” captured the interim UFC middleweight gold against Kelvin Gastelum back in April 2019. He took things one step further with his Oct. 2019 TKO victory over Robert Whittaker to become the undisputed 185-pound king.
Bisping retired after being stopped by Kelvin Gastelum back in Nov. 2017. Earlier that month, Bisping was submitted by Georges St-Pierre, losing the middleweight title in the process. While “The Count” mulled his options such as a trilogy bout with Luke Rockhold, he ultimately decided it was time to move on with his life.
Of course, Bisping isn’t away from the sport of MMA entirely. He serves as a color commentator and analyst for the UFC. He also discusses several hot topics in the world of MMA on his Believe You Me podcast.
