Michael Bisping, a former UFC middleweight champion, won the title despite being legally blind in one eye due to a detached retina and subsequent glaucoma, by memorizing eye charts and lying during vision tests to get cleared for competition.
Michael Bisping clinched a UFC title with just one eye. How? By cleverly navigating vision tests and, well, bending the truth a bit. Yep, he admitted to fudging those tests to keep fighting.
Bisping’s troubles began after Vitor Belfort’s head kick in 2013. Ouch! It left him with a detached retina. Fast forward, and he’s got a prosthetic cover over his right eye now. Multiple surgeries couldn’t save his sight.
That Belfort fight was only the beginning of his eye saga. Training for a bout in Manchester against Mark Munoz, things went south again. Sparring too hard can do that—broke hands, broken foot, and yep, re-detached retina.
More surgeries followed. Glaucoma joined the party, damaging his optic nerve. Six or seven surgeries later, Bisping got the bad news: permanent blindness in one eye. Yet, quitting wasn’t on his mind.
“I woke up post-surgery to find my eyesight gone,” Bisping shared. But retiring? Nah. He had tricks up his sleeve. “I lied a lot,” he confessed. Stressful? You bet!
Vision tests are mandatory for fighters. Bisping had his hacks, though. Memorizing eye charts did the trick. An old Indian doctor once tested him—he passed by recalling letters from memory.
Despite warnings about potential total blindness, Bisping pressed on. He even defeated Luke Rockhold to become the middleweight champ—all with one working eye.
Fighting meant dodging doctors’ scrutiny and sweet-talking them into clearing him for bouts. “I pulled wool over their eyes,” he chuckled. And it paid off—he became world champion and supported his family.
Transitioning to TV brought new challenges: aesthetics mattered now. Enter the prosthetic cover—a hand-painted lens that mimicked real vision. Truth is, he hasn’t seen out of that eye for years.
Bisping’s story is a testament to resilience and resourcefulness in the face of adversity. A career built on grit, guts, and yes, a few fibs along the way!