Getty Conor McGregor & Michael Bisping
On Saturday, May 23, Conor “Notorious” McGregor took aim at multiple current and former UFC champions. McGregor wrote a thread on Twitter detailing his assessment of which fighter is the greatest of all time (GOAT). The Irishman labeled former UFC Middleweight Champion Anderson “The Spider” Silva as the GOAT, and he himself the second greatest.
Notorious went on to say that former UFC Welterweight and Middleweight Champion Georges “GSP” St-Pierre was the third greatest, followed by current UFC Light Heavyweight Champion Jon “Bones” Jones. He stated that Jones was either fourth or tied with GSP at third.
During McGregor’s rankings, he took shots at multiple fighters, including GSP, Bones, current Lightweight Champion Khabib “The Eagle” Nurmagomedov and former Middleweight Champion Michael “The Count” Bisping.
In the Saturday Twitter thread, McGregor referred to Bisping as a one-eyed fighter when assessing GSP’s GOAT ranking. McGregor said, “GSP is in at 3. Much less array of finishes but champion status in 2. He is far behind though. Reasons = Left 170 after much damage taken+questionable decision. Never re-engaged 170lb successors. Bottled Anderson fight. Only moved when [one-eyed] fighter presented. Played safe.”
GSP is in at 3. Much less array of finishes but champion status in 2. He is far behind though. Reasons = Left 170 after much damage taken+questionable decision. Never re-engaged 170lb successors. Bottled Anderson fight. Only moved when one eyed fighter presented. Played safe.
GSP defeated Bisping on November 25, 2017, at UFC 217, securing The Count’s middleweight title. However, Bisping did not take kindly to McGregor’s remark, and he fired back at the Irishman.
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Bisping Responded to McGregor’s GOAT Claim, Reminded Notorious That He Beat Anderson Silva
A few days after McGregor published his GOAT thread on Twitter, Bisping responded to Notorious’ claims. The Count wrote, “Well this [one-eyed fighter] you speak of actually beat your number one, and he defended his belt so your logic doesn’t really add up. Anyway, have a good day. #facts.”
McGregor views The Spider as the greatest of all time, but Bisping reminded the Irishman that he had beaten Silva. The Count and Silva fought on February 27, 2016, during UFC Fight Night: Silva vs. Bisping. It was an epic, back-and-forth bout that was a fight-of-the-year candidate. The fight also proved to be one of The Count’s greatest performances in his mixed martial arts career.
The match highlighted Bisping’s heart and grit. Near the end of the third round, Bisping dropped his mouthguard and signaled to referee Herb Dean to stop the action so he could reinsert it.
However, because there wasn’t a clear break in the action, the referee did not pause the fight and a distracted Bisping was met by a brutal knee to the face. The Count was instantly dropped by the knee; however, the horn sounded, signaling the end of the round.
A visibly rocked Bisping went back to his corner, and he was able to gather his composure. The Count came back to win the fourth round and ultimately won a 48-47 unanimous decision. That victory helped elevate Bisping into a short-notice middleweight title fight against Luke Rockhold, which he won by first-round KO.
The Count competed in the UFC for over a decade, winning 19 bouts in the promotion out of 28. His last fight was on November 25, 2017, a loss to Kelvin Gastelum. Bisping hung up his gloves with an overall professional mixed martial arts record of 30-9, with 17 wins by KO or TKO.
Bisping Claims That He Fought With a Prosthetic Eye
McGregor’s “one-eyed fighter” comment is not unfounded. During the latter part of his fighting career, Bisping was open about issues he had with his eyes stemming from a detached retina he suffered in his TKO loss to Vitor Belfort in 2013.
On an October 2019 episode of Bisping’s Believe You Me podcast, he shocked viewers when he popped out a prosthetic eye.
Bisping has claimed that he fought in the Octagon with only one eye, however, it’s unclear when he did.
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