Michael Bisping says he had never really been one to sit back and reflect on the achievements of a career that saw the British fighter rise from the brink of enforced retirement and on to the world middleweight title, and a place in the UFC’s Hall of Fame forever more. But the past 12 months have given everyone, everywhere, more than enough time to take stock. “I’ve never sat around and watched my fights much,” said Bisping. “But there has been lots of time to fill.” Plus, for the 41-year-old, there has been the little matter of an eponymously titled documentary that’s now in the can and poised for a May release, in which Bisping is joined by the likes of Hollywood stars Vin Diesel and Mickey Rourke as they chart the course of his career. There’s been no place to hide, really, as Bisping has returned to the tapes, and to the memories such as the night of June 4, 2016, and the moment he knocked out American Luke Rockhold (16-5) to claim the middleweight belt. Just one moment among the many and varied peaks and troughs that came along in a career that ended in 2017 with a lifetime record of 30-9. “I’ve seen some of my post-fight interviews and I think, ‘Look at that guy. He was out of his mind!’,” said Bisping. “I had one functioning eye. I had injuries galore. But the thought of being champion had never left me. I always knew I was capable of it. But looking back I wonder where that extreme confidence came from? “In this sport you try to knock each other out. It’s not tiddlywinks. Everybody thought I hated Luke Rockhold. But we were competitors. Every job has a lot of d********. Maybe I was one of them. But you change.” While uncharacteristically tight lipped about the full contents of the film – “I can’t give the game away yet,” he said – the blurb on film tracking website IMDB.com claims it will follow Bisping from the times he was “working in factories, slaughterhouses, demolition companies” through his fight with Brazilian Vitor Belfort where a detached retina would “disfigure and scar the fighter forever” and on to his title triumph. Other fights featured will no doubt include the time Bisping ventured out to Macau at a time when he was convinced his fight career was in danger of shuddering to a halt. On the UFC Fight Night 48 card he took the headline fight against Vietnamese-American powerhouse Cung Le (9-3) off the back of a 2-3 run, and with the damage to his eye becoming more troublesome. “The last few years I was tiptoeing around that,” said Bisping. “The UFC wants winners. It’s a cruel fact. If you can’t win fights, the sad reality is that maybe it’s time to go find something else to do. So I was under a lot of pressure in that fight.” Bisping’s performance in that fourth-round knockout lifted his profile again – he went 3-1 and then he claimed the title. While Bisping has been loathe since to linger on just what that fight meant, he revealed he had recently gone back to the tape when trying to explain to his 10-year-old son what the fight game was all about. “He’s a sweet, innocent kid. Nothing like me,” said Bisping. “He didn’t get the s*** kicked out of him every day like me. So he doesn’t have the penchant for violence that I did. So I showed him the fight. And I fast forwarded to the end. He was like, ‘Oh my god. I could never do that to somebody!’” The past year has also given everyone – the lovers and the haters – ample opportunity to pour over MMA, what with the UFC staging 456 fights across 46 cards across a 2020 that saw the global coronavirus lay waste to many major sport promotions and events. View this post on Instagram A post shared by Mikebisping (@mikebisping) Bisping spoke to SCMP MMA from his California home during his Christmas-New Year break from the UFC cageside commentary team and he said he was loving life behind the microphone, and the time he had now to dissect the game, and the fighters he sees before him. “When you retire you always wonder about your post-athletic career but so far so good,” Bisping said. “Calling the fights is something I’m passionate about. My wife said the other day if we had a billion dollars you’d never have to work again. I said I’d still call the fights. It’s a passion. The UFC production team are fantastic is guiding us along as well. “What you really notice is that, compared to my early days, if you look at the overall standard of the fighters, the change is remarkable. Back in the day it was jiu-jitsu guy versus a wrestler or whatever. These young kids are now coming in and they know it all. They’ve got no weak areas. They are sensational athletes. Plus it is constantly evolving.” In terms of pure fighting technique changes, one thing about the contemporary fight scene that hasn’t escaped Bisping’s notice – nor that of anyone tuning in over the past 12 months – is how the likes of Australian featherweight champ Alexander Volkanovski (22-1) have turned the low calf kick into an instrument of extreme punishment. “I never threw one and I’ve never taken one – thank god,” said Bisping. “They weren’t a thing when I was around and that was only three years ago. Now we are seeing these and they are putting people on the floor. So who knows what’s going to come up in the next few years.” This weekend’s UFC Fight Island 7 marks a return to action, and the first of an initial three cards inside the anti-coronavirus “bubble” off Abu Dhabi, and when he spoke before Christmas Bisping said he’d been kicking back, working on his Believe You Me podcast, and planning the next stages of his journey. “I’m still trying to do me at the moment and to explore what I can,” he said. “I’m looking to try to find a little bit of acting work here and there but it’s a tough business. It’s probably a pipe dream but worth a shot. “I have a lot of knowledge I want to pass on but the time has to be right. I have to do it full time – to be a coach you need to be full time. At the moment I don’t have the time. “In a few years, who knows but it is something I actually dream about doing.”