Michael Bisping enjoyed a successful Octagon outing in China 11 years ago today.
The UFC staged its latest event from Shanghai on Saturday, where Johnny Walker finished Zhang Mingyang in the main event to spoil the Chinese light heavyweight contender’s hopes for a major win on home soil.
The promotion has visited the country numerous times in the past, including on this day, August 23, in 2014. The UFC hosted its third event at the CotaiArena in Macau, with a familiar name returning to headline.
Two years after Cung Le brutally knocked out Rich Franklin to claim KO of the Night and KO of the Year for 2012, the second-ever Strikeforce middleweight champion returned to the venue for another main event.
On that occasion, though, Le was on the wrong end of a devastating finish…
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Michael Bisping beat Cung Le to a pulp in his final UFC fight
Michael Bisping headed to China in the summer of 2014 a few months removed from his setback against Tim Kennedy. That result left ‘The Count’ far from the title he would go on to collect in shocking fashion against Luke Rockhold two years later.
A key result in Bisping’s title ambitions came against Le at UFC Macau. With then-future champion Rockhold in attendance, the Briton successfully secured his first clash with the former Strikeforce champion by tearing through another of that organization’s standout ex-titleholders.
At 42 years old, many predicted Le to fade in the later rounds. After a strong opening round against a Bisping who was more patient than usual, that ultimately turned out to be the case.
The tide turned in round two and Bisping went on to deliver a brutal beating that left Le’s face swollen, bloody, and unrecognizable entering the fourth round. It was seconds into that frame where a brutal knee dropped the veteran and set up a predictable TKO stoppage.
While Bisping would go on to dethrone Rockhold after losing their first fight, Le did not compete in mixed martial arts again.
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Michael Bisping was on commentary for the UFC’s latest event in China
Bisping was back in China 11 years later to be on the call alongside Brendan Fitzgerald and Laura Sanko, as a number of prominent names took to the cage inside Shanghai Indoor Stadium on August 23.
Before Walker’s shock finish in the headliner, former bantamweight champion Aljamain Sterling got the better of Brian Ortega in their five-round co-main event.
There were also a few standout knockouts, including the latest memorable result for flyweight Charles Johnson, who continued to enhance his “prospect killer” moniker by coming from behind to put out Lone’er Kavanagh.
Sergei Pavlovich, Sumudaerji, and Rongzhu were among the other victors on Saturday’s card.