Michael Bisping was on one at UFC 286 last night (Sat., March 18, 2023) inside The O2 in London, England, feeling every bit of energy emanating from his raucous and rowdy hometown crowd.
Britain’s first-ever UFC champion was ringside to call the “Edwards vs. Usman 3”-led show, taking the place of Joe Rogan as the semi-useless/annoying color commentator who talks over the brilliant John Anik way too early and way too often.
And Bisping made his presence known from the start:
“She was having some sex”
– Michael Bisping#UFC286 pic.twitter.com/SKJrpr3yWV— MMA Mania (@mmamania) March 18, 2023
“The Count” followed up that with this moments later in the broadcast:
“Look at him playing the drums on Malcolm Martin’s head…Malcolm X’s head…Malcom Gordon’s head” pic.twitter.com/g3Kz5YaQRe
— MMA Mania (@mmamania) March 18, 2023
More than just flubbing his words consistently — and going on longs rants about things like Disney Land — Bisping is now coming under fire for how he called a fight that featured a fellow United Kingdom bloak, Leon Edwards.
Gaethje — a teammate of former Welterweight champion, Kamaru Usman, who lost his trilogy to Edwards in the main event — ripped the UFC Hall of Famer for his biased commentary.
Justin Gaethje criticizes @Bisping‘s “very unprofessional” commentary in the #UFC286 main event between Leon Edwards and Kamaru Usman.
“He shouldn’t have been nowhere near a microphone during that fight.”#UFC286 | Full video: https://t.co/GhPIdqG29B pic.twitter.com/7M9vRyQlgo
— MMA Junkie (@MMAJunkie) March 19, 2023
“Yeah, I mean, I thought [Kamaru] won the fight,” Gaethje said during UFC’s 286 post-fight press conference. “But, I’m probably as biased as the judges, certainly not as biased as Michael Bisping — you shouldn’t have been nowhere near a microphone during that fight.
“I just thought it was very unprofessional,” Gaethje concluded.
Gaethje picked up his seventh “Fight of the Night” bonus earlier in the evening, bludgeoning Rafael Fiziev en route to a hard-fought majority decision victory. He has his sights set on a Dustin Poirer rematch next (more details here).
Meanwhile, you can debate if Bisping was biased toward Edwards or not, but one thing is certain: he made more than his fair share of mistakes last night … silly and serious.
Amusing or annoying?
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