MICHAEL BISPING believes that the UFC's long-awaited London return will mark a turning point for the Golden Generation British fighters. However, he refuses to claim credit for having influenced them.
Eleven Brits will walk to the famous Octagon on Saturday night, the first card of its kind in the UK in over three years.
Six years ago, Michael Bisping stunned the world by KOing Luke Rockhold in order to win the UFC middleweight title
Wigan's Tom Aspinall, a Wigan strangler, has been given top billing at the O2 Arena. He will face Alexander Volkov in a heavyweight match. This will be followed by Arnold Allen's featherweight battle with Dan Hooker.
They, along with the rest of their British compatriots have admitted to being inspired by the Hall-of-Fame life of Bisping, the nation's first UFC champion.
However, The Count has downplayed his role in their rise to fame and told SunSport: "I wasn’t the first guy [representing] the UK].
"There were people before me.
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"And he [the Q&A host] replied, "Yeah but you're that guy who stuck around and really made a career of it."
"I said, "Okay, that's what I understand." But, I want to emphasize that I wasn’t the first man.
"There were others before and plenty more after me."
Bisping, despite being quick to dismiss his impact on UFC London's stars, is well aware of the positive effect he had on UFC London's growth.
CHELTENHAM SIGN UP OFFERS AND FREE CHELTENHAM BETS - ALL THE LATEST DEALS RACING THIS WEEKHe stated that he saw the impact he had when he removed the humility.
"Ofcourse, at one time, I had won the most UFC fights.
"I was definitely a fixture for quite a while and I'm proud of that.
"And I'm proud to have made an impact on the sport, and seen all these people [in action] at weekends.
"It was nice to know that the guys I had met and my coworkers back then helped us along our way.
Bisping's efforts to raise the profile of a sport that was once considered too brutal to mainstream in the UK were not just limited to the confines the octagon.
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He said, "I recall when I won the Ultimate Fighter Season Three and they opened up their UK office. I spent half of my life riding the train down to London to meet journalist after journalist.
"I would sit in a very luxurious hotel that the UFC would pay for, or in a restaurant, and I would do journalist after journalist after journalist. We are just trying to spread the word.
"This was not for a fight. "I didn't have a fight booked.
"This is me working for UFC trying expose the brand. I suppose working for myself trying to expose my own brand. Although it was hard work, I enjoyed every moment of it.
"But to see it at its current place - I take a lot of pride in it."
Michael Bisping, former UFC middleweight champion, spoke with SunSport before the release of his documentary.
BiSPING: The MICHAEL-BISPING STORY can be rented or purchased digitally starting March 21.
