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Former UFC middleweight champion Michael Bisping suffered a retinal detachment in his right eye owing to a head kick from Vitor Belfort.
Bisping faced former UFC light heavyweight champion Vitor Belfort at UFC on FX: Belfort vs. Bisping on January 19, 2013. The fight could have earned Michael Bisping a potential title shot against then-champion Anderson Silva. However, 'The Count' suffered a devastating head kick from Belfort in round two, followed by punches. As a result, the referee stopped the contest at 1:27 of the second round.
Not only did Bisping lose the fight, but it changed him and his career forever.
The kick from Belfort is what detached Bisping's retina. The following punches only added fuel to the fire. Following the incident, 'The Count' eventually lost vision in his right eye.
According to Bisping, he has also suffered from glaucoma and cataracts. Needless to say, Michael Bisping has had a long list of problems relating to his eyes. After his fight with Kelvin Gastelum, he suffered a scare, wondering if the retina in his left eye had become detached.
Thankfully for Bisping, his left eye suffered momentary shock due to the nature of his career but could make a full recovery. It was after this fight and ensuing incident that 'The Count' decided to hang up his gloves.
Michael Bisping has stated time and again how he was always worried about fighting with one good eye. The Englishman was convinced that sooner or later, he'd fail to clear a medical test, leading to his fight getting called off.
Today, Michael Bisping wears a glass eye, one that he took off during his podcast 'Believe You Me' to show the world the extent of the damage. The sequence is straight out of a fiction or horror film sequence.
In an interview with Ariel Helwani, Bisping explained why he removed his glass eye the way he did.
You can hear Michael Bisping talk about it all in this interview with Submission Radio below:
Michael Bisping faced his toughest opponents after his eye injury
What's more impressive than the fact that Michael Bisping fought in the UFC with a damaged eye is that he faced his toughest opponents after his life-altering injury. Not only that, 'The Count' even beat most of these opponents.
Michael Bisping beat UFC legend Anderson Silva and won the middleweight title from Luke Rockhold well after his injury. Following the incident, Bisping had to alter his training and fighting style, but that wouldn't stop him from attaining UFC gold.
'The Count' even defended his title against MMA veteran Dan Henderson before losing the strap to Georges St-Pierre.
Safe to say, Michael Bisping is undoubtedly one of the toughest individuals on the planet, both physically and mentally. Today, Bisping enjoys his role as a broadcaster, analyst, and podcast host.
