Michael Bisping's Eye Injury: The Untold Story Behind His UFC Career (2024)

By Arslan Saleem August 26, 2024 11:11

Photo by Josh Hedges-Getty Images

After years of perseverance, determination, and redemption, Michael Bisping's story of becoming the inaugural British UFC champion is already told. It's a cautionary tale: it centers around a potentially career-ending eye injury that altered the course of his fighting life. This is the untold story of how Michael Bisping navigated an eye injury that all but finished his UFC career and the inspiring strength he showed to weather this storm.

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Michael Bisping's Eye Injury

Nature and extent of the injury

Bisping had a detached retina in his right eye, which he suffered during his January 2013 defeat to Vitor Belfort. This injury is not to be underestimated; it meant Michael Bisping had permanently impaired vision in his right eye that bordered on blindness.

"Since 2013, my eye was pretty much impervious," Bisping said in an interview. The damage was so bad that Bisping eventually had to wear a prosthetic eyeball over his damaged eye in public appearances.

How the Injury Occurred

The injury occurred in Bisping's knockout loss to Vitor Belfort at UFC on FX 7 São Paulo, Brazil. In the second round, Belfort landed a vicious head kick that ended the match and detached Bisping's right retina.

Treatment and Road to Recovery

After the injury, Bisping received various medical treatments to save both his eyesight and potentially save what could have been career-ending damage. It took him six surgeries to get his eye back to normal. Even with those attempts, his eyesight didn't get restored completely, and doctors thought originally that it was the end of a fighting career for him.

The recovery was torturous and painful, not only physically but also mentally. Bisping had to sit out a year and avoid any activity in which his heart rate rose even slightly so that the eye would heal. It was a test of patience for the active fighter, especially sitting on the sidelines this long.

How It Impacted Bisping's UFC Career

Performance and career path effects

The eye injury essentially changed the way Bisping fought. Having lost eyesight inone eye, he had to completely change his fighting style. The loss of depth perception was an enormous hurdle for him when gauging distances correctly.

"Now, that being said, I had to totally re-assess how I fought," Bisping said. "Depth perception was challenging. I would try to reach out to things, and I'd miss them a lot of times than not on the first time, but that was okay for me because, by my second or third trial, I had it."

But despite those challenges, Bisping's career was about to take an unexpected turn. Three years later, he was still blind in his right eye when he reached the apex of his career by capturing the UFC middleweight title against Luke Rockhold.

Challenges and Setbacks

The first challenge Bisping had to surmount was doctors' clearance. He had to negotiate a battery of medical exams, which he concedes that "I just fluked and conned my way through." Bisping had told only his most intimate confidants about the degree of his eyesight problem.

Another misfortune came when Bisping withdrew from a Manchester main event with eye trouble. This incident was a huge blow for him; he thought it might be the end of his career.

Altering Fighting Style and Training

Because of the effects of his injury on him, Bisping was compelled to adjust greatly in how he fought and approached training. He did overwork a little to close the gap and establish distances, far less on his effective jab.

Bisping was always paranoid during the training camp, knowing that a commission doctor might show up and pull him due to his potential eye issue. It was another measure of more pressure and questions in his lead-ups to fights.

The Untold Story

Behind the Scenes Struggles

But the out-of-story has taken a toll on Bisping mentally and emotionally. "The mental side was the toughest part," Bisping admitted. The fighter went through spells of depression, drinking too much and grappling with the idea that he might be losing what had always defined him.

Bisping was also living with the threat of being found out. "I always worried about doing a full training camp and then getting turned away by the commission doctor." This fear, in addition to everything else, was a real source of strain on his job.

Despite the challenges, Bisping never contemplated retirement before his championship breakthrough. "Before I got the belt, the idea of retiring had never crossed my mind." That resolve to keep punching even as the fight was stacked almost completely against him is one more example of Bisping's fierce will.

With an eye injury, Bisping had to reconsider his fighting style and the type of career he envisioned having. When he returned to the team, his vision was impaired by a light-colored central retinal vein occlusion in one eye, for which no cure was available at that time and never will be.

Still, despite that adversity and his age-related decline, Bisping got something done that many figured he would not. Not only did he keep on fighting at the highest level, but he also became a UFC champion. It is one of the greatest upsets in UFC history, considering he essentially fought with just one eye en route to choking out Luke Rockhold for the middleweight belt.

The tale of Michael Bisping is one of extraordinary toughness. It also stands as a testament to his character and fighting spirit thatBisping could return from what should have been a career-ending eye injury and reach the highest level of the sport. More than knowing just how physically challenging it was for him at that stage, the journey was also all about how mentally and emotionally damaging it had been to go through. The Bisping story is inspiring proof that if you keep your head down and find a way to adapt, you can get past anything.

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