Former UFC Champion Michael Bisping Headed For Hall Of Fame

Former UFC champion and Ultimate Fighter winner Michael Bisping is the first inductee into the upcoming 2019 UFC Hall of Fame class. Bisping will be enshrined this July during International Fight Week in Las Vegas.

Bisping, who held the middleweight title, became the first British champion in UFC history. He'll join the "Modern Wing" of the hall of fame with Forrest Griffin, BJ Penn, Urijah Faber and Ronda Rousey. Bisping finished his career with 31 wins including victories over Dan Henderson, Anderson Silva and Luke Rockhold.

"It's hard to have the level of talent needed to compete in UFC for any amount of time, but Michael Bisping was able to have an 11-year career where he became a world champion and won The Ultimate Fighter, not many people can say that," UFC president Dana White said. "He also came back and coached The Ultimate Fighter and is now one of the best analysts on our broadcast team. Michael has been a huge part of not only building our brand, but also the sport of mixed martial arts. He absolutely deserves to be in the UFC Hall of Fame. Congratulations."

Bisping's 16 career wins at middleweight are a division record for the UFC and his 20 wins total are tied for second-most. He spent over five hours competing inside the Octagon, landing 1,384 significant strikes and 1,567 total strikes. "The Count" is just one of eight Ultimate Fighter winners to also be crowned undisputed UFC champion and he is the only one of those eight to defend the title successfully.