JRE MMA Show #119 with Michael Bisping

Bisping admits he fought roughly 10 UFC fights, and won the middleweight title, while effectively blind in one eye, repeatedly deceiving doctors to pass eye exams. The psychological pressure of hiding that and the eventual retinal/Vitreous issues are a stark example of how far elite fighters push themselves beyond safe limits.

Bisping’s worst injuries—double knee replacements, neck surgeries, rib cartilage tears—stem primarily from takedowns, wrestling scrambles, and training volume, not from head strikes. He and Rogan emphasize how wrestling grinds down joints and spines over time.

Rogan credits the ‘kneesovertoesguy’ methods—backward sled drags, tibia raises, split squats—with eliminating his chronic knee pain and strongly recommends them even for people with artificial knees. Both note that most fighters skip targeted joint‑strengthening until it’s too late.

Bisping describes dieting all the way down to near fight weight early in his career, then later doing harsh cuts to 185, feeling weaker and overtrained by fight night. They argue that the culture of extreme cutting persists mostly because everyone else does it, not because it’s optimal.

Bisping explains how coach Jason Parillo shifted his mindset from fighting angry to fighting composed, treating himself like a champion in the gym, and learning to enjoy the process instead of being consumed by stress. He credits that mental work as key to finally winning the title late in his career.