This week, the UFC Heavyweight Championship will be contested in the Octagon when the British fighter Tom Aspinal defends his title against Ciryl Gane in Abu Dhabi at UFC 321.
Now while Aspinall is widely considered one of (if not the) best in the world right now, any MMA historian knows that when it comes to the British fighters in the UFC, they run because Michael Bisping walked.
“Michael Bisping was, and still is, a massive inspiration for me,” Tom Aspinall tells Esquire Middle East, ahead his bout in Abu Dhabi on October 25.
Now retired, but forever a fan favourite, Bisping’s expletive heavy patter and aggressive in-ring style, made him the first ever UK fighter to compete on a major fight card in the UFC, and eventually became the first ever British UFC Champion, when he knocked out Luke Rockhold back in 2016, a feat he accomplished with only one eye (that’s not an exaggeration, Bisping only has one eye after getting head kicked in a bout by Vitor Belfort back in 2013).
When he officially retired in 2018, Bisping was instantly inducted into the UFC Hall of Fame, before lending his acting chops to Hollywood, alongside hosting his ultra popular podcast, Believe You Me, where he does his best sh*t talking.
Ahead of UFC 321, Bisping will bring his latest venture ‘Tales From The Octagon‘ to Abu Dhabi on October 23. The one-man comedy, Q&A hybrid show is whole different side of the fighter and something which, for a guy who’s been punched in the face thousands of times, admits, actually scares him.
Esquire: How do you feel about performing ‘Tales From The Octagon’ in the UAE?
Michael Bisping: I’m a little bit nervous, to be honest. Since it’s a totally new market, I don’t have a game plan whatsoever, so we’ll see. When you’re in front of a live audience everything just goes right out the window, and I’ve been hit in the head enough times to know that I forget everything anyway [laughs], so it wouldn’t matter even if I did have a plan.
The shows I did in the UK got a bit rowdy—in a good way—so I’m excited to see how the fans take it out here. The UAE fans are unreal, so it makes sense the UFC keeps coming out here. I do have a few jokes about Tom Aspinall lined up! But he’s got thick skin so I’m sure he can handle it.
Esquire: How did the idea of your One-Man-Show ‘Tales From The Octagon‘ come about?
Michael Bisping: One of the guys I host my podcast with is a standup comedian. One day a theatre asked us if we wanted to do a live show in the US, which turned out really well. After that a promoter from the UK asked us to do a show out there, but my standup buddy bailed at the last minute, leaving me alone on stage for ninety minutes. To say that I was terrified was an understatement.
But I’ll tell you what, it’s a pretty good way to lose some weight! If you’re overweight, book yourself into a comedey show where you have zero experience, because I was absolutely ripped by the end of it! I told my life story, I got some silly anecdotes, and how I lost an eye along the way. And now we’re bringing it to Abu Dhabi in a few weeks and I am very excited.
Esquire: Do you ever look back at your old fights, and if so, what goes through your head?
Michael Bisping: I’m not some egomaniac who goes back and watches my old fights, but sometimes they’ll pop up on some random channel and obviously I’ll watch it. I’ll see myself on the microphone after the fight, shouting total madness, and all I’m thinking is ‘who the hell is that guy?’ Especially after fighting with only one eye, screaming things like ‘I’m going to be the champion!’; all I can think is ‘where did this guy get his confidence from?‘ Things like that definitely shock me when looking back, but still… I wasn’t a fool… I was right! I did become champion, even with one eye!
Esquire: Can the phrase “it’s delusional until it works” be attributed to your fighting career and mindset?
Michael Bisping: On my way up the ranks I lost a few key matches to a lot of guys who were on steroids, and then after losing one eye the odds of winning a championship kept getting more and more stacked against me. And then I finally got a title fight on twelve days notice, I’ve had no training camp, I have one eye, every bookie had bet against me…like, what could possibly go wrong?! But it was do or die, and I knocked him out in the first round. So of course you have self doubt, I’m a human being after all, but you just got to work through it.
Esquire: How did you find the courage and optimism to continue after such an extremely paralyzing injury? For a professional athlete, nonetheless a fighter, eyesight is everything.
Michael Bisping: I found that sitting on my couch feeling sorry for myself and drinking worked really well [laughs]! But when it came to my eye, for 15 months I was told that I couldn’t even get my heart rate up, and I quickly became very depressed. Living such a sedentary lifestyle after competing the way I had for so long had the demons knocking at my door every day. I just rewatched The Sopranos and drank, which wasn’t all that terrible at first, but after a while I thought okay, time to shape up. Eventually, and very slowly, I was finally able to make my way back to the UFC. But more than anything, you have to find ways to stay positive, especially when things are going any way but yours.
Esquire: Tom Aspinall is only the third ever English UFC Champion. What do you think about his matchup against Cyril Gane? And seeing as Alex Perreira regained the Light Heavyweight title last weekend against Magomed Ankalaev, do you think Perreira moves up in weight to challenge Aspinall for the heavyweight title?
Michael Bisping: If I was Perreira, I would absolutely be gunning for the winner of Tom Aspinall vs Cyril Gane for The White House card [Editor: yes, there will be a UFC event taking place on the front lawn of The White House on June 16, 2026]. If he wins, he will be the first ever three-weight UFC champion. That would make him the most successful champion the UFC has ever seen.
On Aspinall vs Gane, I think Aspinall is the favourite for a reason. He’s a better grappler, wrestler. However, Gane is the only fighter who can match him on athleticism and agility. Heavyweights are big, strong and scary, but they’re not the fastest or the most agile. Gane is probably a better athlete and better on his feet, but he is not the superior grappler; just look at what Jon Jones did to Gane. I think Aspinall should take it to the ground, but then again, who knows? Us fighters, we got big egos, and Aspinall may want to stand with him and might get knocked out! I doubt it. But hey, this is mixed martial arts, anything can happen.
Esquire: How does it feel being the inspiration and pioneer for all MMA fighters coming out of the UK?
Michael Bisping: That’s very flattering, but I don’t think about those things. I was just trying to look out for my family and make some money. I left school at 16 and all I knew how to do was fight, I certainly wasn’t aiming to inspire the nation! It was amazing and humbling to be the first ever UK champ—I certainly won’t be the last—but I never think about those things. I’ve found that if you do start to talk about yourself in that light, people can get pretty turned off.
Esquire: Any other plans for when you’re in the UAE?
Michael Bisping: I’ve yet to ride a camel, so I need to do that.
UFC 321 takes place on Saturday, October 25, 2025 in Abu Dhabi at Yas Fight Island. Get tickets here
