Michael Bisping has told an amusing story about how he and Georges St-Pierre went on a crazy night out, where they met a load of soccer stars, and got so drunk they nearly missed a seminar the next day.
The pair of icons have come a long way since their 2017 world title grudge match at Madison Square Garden.
Michael Bisping and Georges St-Pierre nearly missed a seminar following a crazy night out
After a thrilling war in the most historic venue on the planet, Michael Bisping and Georges St-Pierre did more than enough to earn each other’s respect.
Following two explosive rounds, the Canadian produced a brutal left hook, before locking in a rear-naked choke to walk away with his opponent’s middleweight world title.
In the years since, the pair have bonded, once going on a crazy night out the day before conducting a seminar at the For The Love of MMA convention in England.
The legends drank so much that Bisping forgot why he’d returned to his homeland in the first place.
WOW: ‘Quit being a bully’… Islam Makhachev told to fight Belal Muhammad by former UFC star
In a video uploaded to his YouTube channel: ‘The Count’ explained: “He’s an absolute legend. We were in Manchester a couple of years ago for a seminar at an Expo. Man, did we have a good night out. What a laugh. It was unbelievable.
“We were in a restaurant, and there was a bunch of Birmingham City Football Club players in there, and I had no idea who they were because I don’t follow football (soccer), but Daz Morris, my coach, was like, ‘There are some of the players from Birmingham City’. There were some Manchester City players as well.
“They were buzzing that me and Georges St-Pierre were in the corner of the restaurant together, and we didn’t know who they were. What a laugh.
“I was a little intoxicated, but so was Georges. I go to bed, it was a heavy night, I’m not going to lie, I was p***ed out of my head. I don’t know what I was drinking, but it went to my head.
“Anyway, we’re in the same hotel, and we’re getting picked up to go to the Expo. We’ve both flown from North America, he’s Canada, and I’m California, so jet-lag is a thing as well.
“So, I’m in bed, and I’m unconscious. Then, the hotel room phone rings, loud. I wake up all flustered, and I answer the phone, and it’s Georges St-Pierre. ‘Michael, we’ve got to go, the car is here, you’ve got to come’.
“I’m like, ‘Who’s this’? He’s like, ‘What do you mean, who’s this? It’s Georges. Come on, we’ve got to go, the car is here’.
“I’m like, ‘Go where’? He’s like, ‘The f***ing seminar’. I’m like, ‘What seminar? Where am I right now’? Then, I slowly woke up; I’m like, ‘Oh s**t, five minutes Georges, I’ll be down in a minute’.”
Georges St-Pierre credits boxing legend with helping him beat Michael Bisping as he shares mid-fight advice
While the UFC Hall of Famers are good friends now, at the time of their clash, they were anything but, with the athletes exchanging brutal verbal blows in the lead-up to their bout.
The animosity between them continued into the fight, with each man landing vicious shots.
After a tremendous first round from ‘GSP’, the Englishman bounced back, winning the second segment.
With the fight balanced on a knife edge, St-Pierre received an integral piece of advice from a boxing legend, which he used to score that all-important knockdown.
Sheesh: ‘Show the student’… Henry Cejudo targets fight with UFC icon he used to train