Conceive. Believe. Achieve. 

It’s more than eight years ago now since Michael Bisping’s career defining performance in the Octagon. On that night at UFC 199 in Inglewood, California, Bisping was four months removed from a close win over Anderson Silva in his native England — a win which saw him parachuted in to a title bout with then-middleweight pacesetter Luke Rockhold, whose original opponent Chris Weidman was unable to make the date.

And in a bout that many observers predicted as being a formality given that Rockhold displayed all the hallmarks of being a dominant champion owing to flawless performances against Weidman (in which he won the title) and indeed Bisping in their clash about 18 months prior, it was the Englishman who upset the odds and pulled off what was at the time one of the most unexpected title wins in UFC history.

On Saturday night in London, two of Bisping’s compatriots — Tom Aspinall and Leon Edwards — will again seek to underline their status as mixed martial arts champions. But it was Bisping who got that ball rolling in California all those years ago.

Check it out below.

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