The O2 Arena in London, England will be buzzing with the return of the UFC. In the booth calling the action will be a hometown hero ‘The Count’ Michael Bisping.
UFC 286 will see a UFC welterweight trilogy showdown between England’s Leon Edwards and the former division king Kamaru Usman. All the UFC 286 action goes down on March 18. live from The O2 Arena.
Former middleweight champion Bisping will be joined by the voice of the UFC Jon Anik and Hall of Fame fighter Daniel Cormier. Additionally, Megan Olivi will be on the broadcast as well as the backstage reporter. Joe Rogan typically will not call the action on UFC fight cards outside the US.
Michael Bisping and the O2
The English-born ‘The Count’ Michael Bisping is certainly no stranger to the O2 Arena in London. Throughout his UFC career, Bisping had four bouts in the arena. Starting at UFC 75 in 2007, Bisping faced off against Matt Hamill in a highly controversial decision win. Bisping would return at UFC 85 and earn a TKO win over Jason Day.
At UFC 120, Bisping defeated Physical 100 contestant Yoshihiro Akiyama. Finally, Bisping was able to defeat all-time great ‘The Spider’ Anderson Silva in 2016 headlining the O2.
Michael Bisping has been an English staple of the UFC and MMA. ‘The Count’ is among the trailblazer class of MMA fighters who helped build the sport in the nation. While he was a controversial figure, he is arguably the greatest UK MMA fighter in history.
In 2016, Michael Bisping would capture the middleweight crown against Luke Rockhold and later defended the world title against Dan Henderson. ‘The Count’ would retire shortly after in 2017.