Welcome to The Weekly Takedown, Sports Illustrated’s in-depth look at MMA. Every Thursday, this column offers insight and information on the most noteworthy stories in the fight world.
Michael Bisping has not stepped in the Octagon since November of 2017. Yet if Bisping, a former UFC middleweight champion, somehow willed himself to a miraculous return and challenged reigning champ Israel Adesanya, he has no doubt over how the fight would finish.
“Of course, I would beat him,” Bisping said. “I’m a fighter. That’s what we’re supposed to say.”
There is no potential for that Adesanya bout, as the 43-year-old Bisping is happily retired from the cage and promoting his new film, Bisping: The Michael Bisping Story.