Michael Bisping is being sued for an alleged choking incident involving a civilian at a 24-Hour Fitness gym in California.
With a little more than a week ahead of his second title defense at UFC 217 against Georges St-Pierre, Michael Bisping is suddenly in hot water. According to a report by TMZ, the UFC middleweight champion is facing a lawsuit stemming from an alleged choking incident that happened in July.
The suit was filed by a certain Antonio Georgakopoulos, who claimed he was choked by Bisping when they ran into each other at a 24-Hour Fitness gym in Anaheim.
According to the suit, Bisping went crazy on Antonio Georgakopoulos for “taking his weights” without asking during a workout.
Antonio claims Bisping called him all sorts of names including a “little punk” and an “idiot” — and then dropped the “you don’t know who I am?” line.
After the verbal tirade, Antonio claims Bisping grabbed him by the throat and began to squeeze — cutting off oxygen. Antonio claims he was about to lose consciousness when another weight lifter intervened and broke it up.
At that point, Bisping allegedly screamed out, “Let’s take this outside.”
TMZ’s report adds that the Anaheim Police Department responded to the incident, and Bisping was arrested.
Update – TMZ has amended their report, stating that Bisping was not actually arrested and complied with the investigation. That did not result in any criminal charges, but the alleged victim is still pursuing a civil case.
As for Georgakopoulos, he is filing a lawsuit for assault, battery, and intentional infliction of emotional distress, among others.
Bisping has not responded to any calls for comments about the matter.
UFC 217 takes place on November 4th at Madison Square Garden in New York City.