Chael Sonnen reacts to Michael Bisping’s prosthetic eye

Chael Sonnen has praised Michael Bisping’s toughness and ability to overcome adversity.

Bisping surprised fight fans when he popped out his prosthetic eye during an edition of his Believe You Me podcast. For many, it was their first time knowing that Bisping had a fake eye. Back in Dec. 2018, “The Count” told Joe Rogan that he had a prosthetic eye after dealing with several issues stemming from a detached retina suffered in his 2013 bout with Vitor Belfort.

Sonnen, who is a former opponent of Bisping’s, took to his YouTube channel to react to the UFC Hall of Famer’s prosthetic eye.

“How many fights have you seen boxing, MMA where a guy gets his eye closed and then never goes on to win the fight?” Chael Sonnen asked. “How? Seeing where your opponent is is a very big deal, particularly peripheral vision. When a guy gets his eye shut, it’s very rare that he ever comes back and does well. Go look at Tyson Fury’s last fight. One of the reasons so many of us respected what Tyson Fury did wasn’t just the push and pull struggle of that fight, it had to do with he couldn’t see out of one eye. It’s just a really hard thing to [do]. Michael Bisping went out and won a world championship, oh and by the way didn’t even tell anybody.”

For Sonnen, Bisping’s ability to keep the circumstances to himself and push forward without complaining is admirable.

“There will be another side that, ‘oh he shouldn’t have done that, he should’ve disclosed this to the commission,'” Chael Sonnen continued. “I get that. I’m looking at it from the more barbaric standpoint I will admit to you, what a tough guy. Michael Bisping is a legitimate bad ass. And the sport has fewer and fewer of them. It’s got some very good athletes and the skills have greatly improved every time. And better athletes that aren’t going into the footballs and the basketballs, and the baseballs of the world, they’re coming into MMA. The sport’s at a real high point in that regard, but as far as the mentality of true tough guys Michael Bisping fits that bill. He is a true tough guy in and out of the cage.”

This article first appeared on BJPENN.COM on 10/7/2019.