Retiring Great Michael Bisping Leaves Highlight-Filled and Complicated Legacy

You can't boil down Michael Bisping.

The tributes poured in Monday after the Englishman announced his retirement from MMA after 14 years of competition. Ongoing vision problems forced his hand, but otherwise he was fairly healthy at age 39 and plenty viable with a 30-9 pro record. This was about as close as any MMA fighter gets, non-Randy Couture division, to going out on their own terms.

That top line of nuts and bolts only hint at the multitudes Bisping's career contains. Despite his long run of UFC success, he didn't fight for a title until he was 36, and he wasn't expected to win. His knockout of Luke Rockhold simultaneously earned him the middleweight title and the Upset of the Year for 2016. Those two accomplishments don't often go together. For Bisping, it couldn't have been more perfect.

There is a flip side. Some of Bisping's losses occupy just as much space in the MMA memory banks. His knockout loss to Dan Henderson will live on forever:

There's so much polarity with Bisping. He is tied for the most UFC career wins with 20. He is also the sole holder of the UFC record for knockdowns, and not on the giving end of the equation. 

He was just as memorable and polarizing outside the cage, where he was (and will remain, one assumes) a vocal fixture on UFC broadcasts, barking and cackling in that distinctive Manchester lilt.

He participated in, then later coached on, The Ultimate Fighter, making a slew of television friends and enemies along the way. He always made a point to engage opponents both real and desired in vociferous trash talk. He wasn't afraid to make it personal, even when business didn't really require it.

A man of talents inside fighting and out, always walking through his own parted sea of fans and detractors, Bisping casts a long shadow. We can all agree he reached the pinnacle of the sport, but after that it gets complicated. Where to start?

We're going to try to get a handle on his legacy by reliving some reflections and memories of The Count.

Chad Dundas is here to analyze Bisping's impact on the sport. Jonathan Snowden reminisces on Bisping's most pivotal fight. And Nathan McCarter shares his favorite memory of the Mancunian outside the cage. 

Chad Dundas: Bisping's Unique Legacy

Even in the wild and wacky world of MMA, Bisping's UFC legacy feels one-of-a-kind. If his fighting career does end here, he'll depart the sport on his own terms, after a dozen uninterrupted years in the Octagon and with a share of the company's all-time wins record in hand (at least for now).

After spending years being disrespected and underestimated by his peers, he can also boast a 17-month run with the middleweight title late in his career.

With a 30-9 overall record and high-profile feuds against some of the best fighters of his era, Bisping likely deserves consideration as a top-20 all-time UFC great.

Who could have reasonably expected that? Not many people. 

For the bulk of his career, it seemed Bisping was alone in his high opinion of himself. When he burst on to the big stage by winning season three of The Ultimate Fighter in 2006, he was regarded as a cocky and churlish heel.

Even as he became an important linchpin of the UFC's international expansion efforts, it was common for his fellow 185-pounders to call him out. Many wound up regretting it once they got their wish, as Bisping again and again proved he was better than many were willing to give him credit for being.

Eventually, that consistent success—not to mention his sheer longevity—won over the crowd, or at least earned him a begrudging respect.

He also spent his prime in the heart of UFC's testosterone replacement therapy era, and several of his key losses—Wanderlei Silva, Henderson, Chael Sonnen and Vitor Belfort—came against fighters who were eventually linked to TRT or PEDs use.

As he leaves his athletic life behind, history (and fans) may well end up remembering Bisping more fondly than anyone anticipated. In a sport as unforgiving as MMA, that's a tremendous achievement.

Jonathan Snowden: Bisping's Defining Fight

Three rounds into the biggest win of his career, Bisping found himself dazed, confused and down on the mat.

For nearly 15 minutes, he had been firmly in control of the best middleweight in UFC history, the incomparable Anderson Silva. He'd dropped the great man with a left hand in both of the first two rounds, pounded him on the ground and generally looked like he was well on his way to victory.

One moment of distraction changed all that, a knee crashing into his head as he tried to communicate with the referee and retrieve a lost mouthpiece.

The bell rang as he lay on the mat, and Silva leapt onto the cage to celebrate what appeared to be a stunning comeback victory. 

Tom Jenkins/Getty Images

But Bisping, saved by the bell, was not done yet.

Miraculously, he found his bearings. Even as a front kick to the face sent him stumbling in the last round, he held on stubbornly, ending the night with hand raised proudly in the air. Incredibly, with a UFC legend attacking with a whirlwind of angry limbs, he survived. 

It's what he did best. 

Tom Jenkins/Getty Images

Over a 13-year career, Bisping refused to yield, even when it seemed the sensible thing to do. At his best, he managed to turn fights into a contest of wills, one he rarely lost. While his body gave out, in the end, his spirit never did.

By the time he decided to hang up his gloves, the fighter who was once the most despised man in MMA, had done something once thought impossible—he'd earned almost universal respect from the entire sport.

Nathan McCarter: Winning the Title Showed Bisping's True Colors

Bisping's career is not defined by one fight or moment, but it is difficult to get away from his incredible upset performance against Rockhold that netted him the gold. Even the aftermath became one of my favorite MMA moments.

We've seen a wealth of different responses to big wins, but Bisping's was to go to his friends and family. He always recognized the sacrifices others made for him to become a great fighter, and in this moment he was ready to bring them in on his ultimate achievement. He went to the cage door and called for his family to enter and join him in celebration. 

And it wasn't just his family. Ex-UFC co-owner Lorenzo Fertitta shared a brief moment of jubilation with Bisping as he made his way around the Octagon. He then went to meet his coaches. As he continued to exert that pent-up energy, he nudged Bruce Buffer. Then his family finally got inside the cage where they embraced all together; one big family, one big embrace.

Bisping has always noted his wife's sacrifice. In 2006, he told UFC.com's Thomas Gerbasi: 

"My girlfriend couldn't be any more supportive than she has been. She knew I wasn't happy in the jobs I was in and she always wanted better for me and always knew that I was capable of much more. So when I took this move, she was right behind me and was confident that I could do well. And ultimately, she knows that I'm doing this for myself and for my family."

The moment was quintessential Bisping because it didn't come without a bit of taunting toward Rockhold or a show of national pride as he showed off his Union Jack mouthpiece to the camera.

The entirety of the UFC 199 main event post-fight jubilee was everything we know and love about Bisping, and he made sure to share it with the folks who are most special to him.