UFC Middleweight contender Michael Bisping has been fighting with the promotion since winning the third season of The Ultimate Fighter in 2006. Over the course of his seven-plus year UFC career, Bisping has put together a record of 14-5. For each of those 19 fights, Bisping has been referred to by the nickname "The Count."
During a recent fan Q & A session, Bisping took a trip through history when asked about the origins of that moniker:
My ancestor was actually a Polish count back in the day. In the Middle Ages, I think around the 1300's he played a part in the battle, and for what he achieved, because he helped win the war, they gave him the title of count and a bunch of land.
They were living a nice life until the Germans invaded in World War II. They lined the whole family up against the wall, and shot them all dead and my granddad was the only one that made it out alive. He came to England, had my dad, and I grew up on a council estate.
Bisping laughingly ended the tale by with, "So, thanks Germany."
Bisping, the No. 5 ranked fighter in the UFC's middleweight division has not fought since he earned a unanimous technical decision over Alan Belcher at UFC 159. Following that April 2013 bout Bisping underwent two surgeries to repair a detached retina in his right eye.
Bisping has been given the all clear to begin training and is looking at a March or April return to the Octagon. He does not have a set date or opponent for his return bout, but if history is any indication Bisping will not have any trouble finding an opponent. Bisping, a mainstay in the middleweight top ten has always been a fighter that other 185-pound fighters have not hesitated to call out.
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