The rivalry between UFC middleweights Michael Bisping and Luke Rockhold will go down as one of the greatest in sports history.
From the moment the two first met in 2014, the hatred between them was palpable and made for two classic fights.
Ahead of their first meeting at UFC Fight Night 55, Michael Bisping made a bold claim that he had already defeated Luke Rockhold during an infamous sparring session.
Photo by Matt King/Getty Images
Michael Bisping and Luke Rockhold finally explain the infamous sparring story
Ahead of their first fight, a reporter was told that the two had already shared the cage together and asked the Brit how their training together was going.
Bisping initially responded respectfully and refused to talk about their sparring sessions, but then changed his mind. “Let's just say I'm the unofficial Strikeforce champion,” Bisping joked to the reporter.
Before one of Bisping's fights in the UFC, his head coach, Jason Parillo, enlisted Rockhold's help, unaware that he was about to ignite one of the greatest rivalries in the history of the sport.
The American got the better of 'The Count' in their first meeting, but two years later, responding to a late notice from the UFC, Bisping rematched Rockhold when he was 185-pound champion.
In one of the craziest moments in sports after years of chasing the title, Bisping finally lifted the UFC belt after knocking out Rockhold in the first round of their UFC 199 fight.
Afterwards, the two continued their feud, but never had a decisive trilogy fight. As both fighters have put their UFC careers behind them, they have now put their bad blood aside and are finally respectful towards each other.
When Bisping and Rockhold recently spoke on the Jaxxon Podcast, they finally shed some light on the infamous sparring session.
'I also saved a hangover from Bisping once. I came in, I was on a trip here,” Rockhold began to explain.
“Oh, here we go with the excuses. “Oh I was drunk, oh I was hungover, I had nothing to eat, I was up all damn night,” what else have you got? Motherf*****, don't come and spar,” Bisping replied jokingly.
“I thought we were sparring with big gloves on and everyone was like, 'Oh, we're doing 4oz gloves.' This motherfucker puts me in a cage for three rounds and I'm like, 'Oh, it just got real,'” Rockhold said.
Michael Bisping explains how he used to do eye exams
For his second fight against Rockhold, Bisping fought with one eye, as he did for most fights toward the end of his career.
Of course, that always caused problems for the Brit when it came to pre-fight testing, as if the committee knew if he only had one working eye he wouldn't have been cleared to fight.
With that, he and Parillo came up with a way for him to pass the tests with a little bit of guesswork.
“I just lied flat out in every test, as if I even had a little stupid code, like me and Parillo we would say, because somehow I would pass the tests, but even on the spot, the committee on the day of the weigh-in would like to check your vision.
“I was always terrified that they would (realize)… Parillo and I had this thing where I would say, 'Okay, if he covers his eye (and asks how many fingers he's holding up), go (cough) for one finger, ( yawn) for two or whatever, we did that a few times,” Bisping explained.
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