Michael Bisping, a former UFC middleweight champion, has admitted that he deliberately lied on vision tests to be allowed to fight after losing sight in one eye.
Bisping`s eye problems began in 2013 after a head kick from Vitor Belfort caused a detached retina. Despite multiple surgeries, he eventually became legally blind in his right eye. He now uses a prosthetic eye cover.
The initial detached retina from the Belfort fight was just the beginning of his eye troubles, Bisping explained on his YouTube channel.
“While training for a fight in Manchester against Mark Munoz, during intense sparring, I re-detached my retina,” Bisping recounted. He described the sparring as overly aggressive, mentioning that one partner broke a hand and another a foot.
Following another surgery, Bisping developed glaucoma, which further damaged his optic nerve and could lead to complete blindness. He underwent more surgery. In total, Bisping had six or seven eye surgeries, with the final ones revealing the irreversible loss of sight in one eye.
Despite this devastating news, Bisping never considered retiring from professional fighting.
“The day after surgery, I learned that I would never regain sight in that eye,” Bisping said. “However, I was still determined to fight. I won`t detail exactly how, but I had to tell many lies and cheat on numerous tests. It was incredibly stressful.”
Fighters are required to pass vision tests before each fight. Bisping described how he managed to circumvent these tests after becoming blind in one eye.
“I remember an elderly Indian doctor in England who genuinely thought he was testing my vision,” Bisping recalled. “My method was to memorize eye charts. To pass, you only needed to see the large letter at the top and the two below it, which is 20/200 vision on the old charts.”
“During the test, the doctor covered my bad eye first and asked what I could see. I recited the memorized letters, like D, L, M, or whatever. He didn`t even change the chart. I pretended I could only see those initial letters. He passed me, but warned me to be very careful because any damage to my good eye would result in total blindness. I acknowledged his warning but didn`t take it to heart.”
Bisping continued to find ways to pass the eye tests, even before his most significant fight against Luke Rockhold, where he won the UFC middleweight title by knockout.
“My focus was on fighting, which meant getting past doctors and tests,” Bisping stated. “Fortunately, I was able to lie and deceive people, even taking advantage of kind doctors.”
“Leaving the doctor’s office in England after passing a test, I felt triumphant. It meant I could continue fighting, provide for my family, and ultimately become world champion. I am very proud of becoming champion, especially knowing I achieved it with only one functioning eye.”
While fighting, Bisping was primarily concerned with medical clearance. However, as he transitioned to a television career, he felt the need to address the appearance of his non-functioning eye.
This led him to get a prosthetic eye cover, which he still uses. The hand-painted lens makes his eye appear normal, but he has been blind in his right eye for years.
