Michael Bisping Was Once A Teenage Bareknuckle Boxer

Michael Bisping has a long stories career of rough fights in the octagon, but he’s been fighting long before his days in the UFC. It should be no surprise that one of England’s toughest imports to the UFC participated in bareknuckle boxing when he was as young as fourteen years old.

“My sensei from back in the day, he was a big pioneer, Paul Davis his name is, and basically it was mixed martial arts with no gloves,” Bisping told Inside MMA. “They had these international tournaments of four or five fights in one night— guys from all over Europe. So I used to compete against grown men. I was 14, 15, 16.”

Bisping went on to tell a story about how his coach asked him to take a kickboxing championship fight on short notice at a time where he was chasing girls instead of training in the gym. He took a beating of his life in front of his family and friends, but still won the fight.

“I went out in the first four rounds and tried to finish the fight. Didn’t finish the fight,” Bisping explained. “The next four rounds I got beat up so badly. So bad in front of all my hometown friends and family who’d come to see the fight. Turns out I did enough in the first four to win the fight so I won the fight. It was close but I learned a valuable lesson.”

Bisping has learned his lesson and trained more serious, leading to a career with the biggest combat sports company on the planet. Bisping headlines UFC Fight Night 72 along with Thales Leites in a fight that should help sort out the stacked middleweight division. Who do you think will win? Share your thoughts in the comment section below!

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