Michael Bisping wanted the Army to become a boxer like Nigel Benn, but he became a UFC legend instead

MICHAEL BISPIING was staring at the prison walls as he sketched out a plan for Nigel Benn to be his boxer and join the army.

After signing up at the age of 18, Benn, a British legend, served four years in military service.

After a long and successful career as an amateur soldier, he became a professional fighter and was one of the most recognizable figures in the country.

When Bisping was in his 20s and found himself in a maximum-security prison for a bar fight he turned to Benn as an inspiration.

SunSport reported that he said, "I began to think, 'What am i going to do?'

"I kept coming back, fighting, so I decided to join the army to become professional boxer, to follow the same path that Nigel Benn.

"But that never happened. Slowly, I began to think of a crazy plan to become a mixed-martial artist.

Bisping, who was a competitor in kickboxing, jujitsu and other sports, wasn't a criminal as he grew up in Clitheroe in Lancashire. However, he admitted to getting into a few scraps on the streets.

He was jailed for one month after a brawl, while Rebecca, his wife, was seven months pregnant.

Bisping was struck rock bottom at that point and realized that his life needed to change.

While on an evening tour in the UK with his band, he stated that he had left school at 16 and thought he knew everything.

"Then you'll soon find that there is little demand for unqualified, uneducated 16-year olds.

"I quickly realized that life was not going to be easy, money was scarce, and I was constantly broke.

"Of course, when I was young, I was an idiot. I went out and got into fights, and I don't like that part of my life.

"I ended up going into prison and that was when it hit me hard. I was sitting in prison, looking around, and was surrounded with the worst of society.

"I thought to myself, "Wow, is that it?" "Is this where my life is heading? "I need to make a difference."

In 2004, Bisping's MMA debut was made in Newcastle. This was at a time that the UFC were contemplating selling the sport as the sport had failed to reach the mainstream.

This was Stateside. The landscape in Britain was worse.

Bisping, now 42 years old, reminisces: "Those were the Wild West. It's definitely come a long ways now.

"The scene was very different back then. Now it's much more professional.

"Sometimes, you'd show-up at shows in early days and there wouldn't be any doctors or ambulance crew or anything else like that.

"The safety and health rules were not strictly adhered to, shall we say. Opponents switching out every day.

"I will be truthful, that was part the appeal. It was fun. It was gritty. It was raw.

"And we felt like we were all part of something that was about to explode and become big."

Bisping was correct and the sport did explode thanks to The Ultimate Fighter's debut on TV in 2005.

Bisping was then invited to compete in the third season. He won it and booked his way into UFC where he remained until retirement.

In 2016, the middleweight finished a rollercoaster career, knocking out Luke Rockhold to win the UFC title.

Bisping, who fought Rockhold with only two weeks notice, made one homecoming defense against Dan Henderson.

In 2017, he lost the title to Georges St-Pierre, UFC legend. He then retired from his next fight against Kelvin Gastelum.

Bisping is still the British UFC champion, and an important player in bringing the sport to new heights here in the UK.

This is quite a contrast to his early underground days that helped pave the path for the most famous UFC career in British History.

Bisping stated: "Now to see where it has gone since I was involved early on, it's incredible to see and to believe I was a small part of that, helping it grow, that's what I am proud of."

"I didn’t know this sport existed. But I was 100% in it, there wasn’t any backup plan. It all worked out for me, so I continued to follow the course.

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