Bisping ‘Bored Out Of His Mind’ After UFC 249’s Cancellation

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Most members around the mixed martial arts (MMA) community are finding it difficult to pass the time. While they remain focused on protecting their families and helping to “flatten the curve” during the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, not having fights to watch is really starting to create frustration.

This includes former UFC middleweight champion and current UFC color commentator, Michael Bisping, who despite having awesome DJ equipment to screw around with is finding it very hard to fill up his day-to-day routine. That’s because Bisping was hoping to catch UFC 249 this weekend before the event was officially cancelled after multiple attempts by UFC president Dana White to keep it on schedule.

Bisping has been outspoken about the need to adhere to medical experts and national recommendations during the coronavirus spread, but that doesn’t take away from the fact that “The Count” will not be watching fights this weekend from the comfort of his own home.

“Yeah, I’m gonna sound like a hypocrite here, but no, I wasn’t relieved, I was looking forward to it,” said Bisping in a recent interview with Submission Radio. “I’m bored out of my mind, I need something to watch. So, I was looking forward to sitting down with my son and my family and watching a good night of fights.”

Bisping, who was most excited to see Khabib Nurmagomedov vs. Tony Ferguson at UFC 249 before “Eagle” ended up stranded in Russia, actually helped call UFC Brasilia last month. That was the last official UFC event and the first of many to come that will be staged behind closed doors.

“Obviously when this first kicked off, the virus, when it all started really gathering momentum, over here in the states at least, I flew down to Brazil, to Brasilia, and commentated an event down there with no crowd, you know, and there was nothing too bad,” Bisping said. “But for this one, UFC 249, I think Dana was gonna arrange for testing for everybody. So, they were trying to do it as safe as possible. Anyways, as it turns out, it’s not happening. Probably for the best. But as I say, come on, everyone was looking forward to Khabib versus Tony. At least now hopefully we get to see it, because as we know, it was Tony versus Justin. But with that event being canceled, I think that hopefully now we’re gonna it booked for a ridiculous sixth time.”

For now, Bisping will have to find another way to spend his free time during self quarantine. But if things go according to UFC’s plans the promotion could be back to staging events as soon as next month. A massive fight card is currently in the works and “The Count” may even be asked to call the fight.

“Wow. That’s a huge fight card,” Bisping said on his Believe You Me Podcast. “Three title fights. Was it UFC 217, when I fought Georges St-Pierre, was that the last time they had three title fights on a card? It might be. [Anyway], huge fight card from top to bottom so if that goes ahead on May 9th, number one I hope it does. That should do massive viewing figures.”