Michael Bisping

Michael Bisping (born 28 February 1979) is an English mixed martial artist who competes in the middleweight division of the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC). He is a former Cage Rage Light Heavyweight Champion, and The Ultimate Fighter 3 Light Heavyweight Tournament winner. As of 8 October 2015, Bisping is ranked #7 in official UFC middleweight rankings.

Early life

Bisping was born on a British military base in Nicosia, Cyprus, and was raised in Lancashire, UK. There he began training Jujutsu at the age of 8. In 1994, at the age of 15, he competed as an amateur in Britain's first "no holds barred" competition, a precursor to modern MMA, called Knock Down Sport Budo (KSBO).

At the age of 18, Bisping decided to abandon his martial arts training "to pursue real life". Less than a year later, Bisping began training in boxing, kickboxing and karate on the advice of Allan Clarkin, owner of Black Knights Kickboxing, who saw potential in the young fighter. Bisping enjoyed a short but successful kickboxing career, winning the North West Area title and later the Pro British light heavyweight kickboxing title. After again briefly quitting competition in 1998, Bisping returned to kickboxing to take the Pro British light heavyweight title for a second time. Soon after winning his second kickboxing title, Bisping was forced to abandon his full-time training for a "real job". Bisping worked at factories, slaughterhouses and demolition companies; he was an upholsterer, postman, tiler, plasterer and salesman.

Georges St-Pierre

Georges St-Pierre (French pronunciation: ​[ʒɔʁʒ sɛ̃ pjɛʁ]; born May 19, 1981), often referred to as GSP, is a Canadian semi-retired mixed martial artist (MMA) and a three-time former Welterweight Champion of the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC), having won the title twice in 2006 and 2008, as well as an Interim title in 2007. Frequently cited as one of the greatest MMA fighters of all time, St-Pierre was ranked as the #1 welterweight in the world for several years by Sherdog and numerous other publications. In 2008, 2009, and 2010 he was named the Canadian Athlete of the Year by Rogers Sportsnet.Fight Matrix lists him as the top MMA Welterweight of all time and most accomplished fighter in MMA history. On December 13, 2013, St-Pierre vacated the title and decided to take some time off from the sport, though he left the door open for a return.

Background

Georges St-Pierre, a French-speaking Quebecer, was born on May 19, 1981 in Saint-Isidore, Quebec, to Roland and Pauline St-Pierre. St-Pierre had a difficult childhood, attending a school where others would steal his clothes and money. As a child he played hockey, skated and participated in several sports. He began learning Kyokushin karate at age seven from his father and later from a Kyokushin Karate Master to defend himself against a school bully. He took up wrestling, Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu and boxing after his karate teacher died when he was around 16 years old. Before turning pro as a mixed martial artist, St-Pierre worked as a bouncer at a Montreal night club in the South Shore called Fuzzy Brossard and as a garbageman for six months to pay for his school fees. Turning pro at age of 21 he had a black belt in Kyokushin already.

Joe Rogan

Joseph James "Joe" Rogan (born August 11, 1967) is an American podcaster, sports commentator, and stand up comedian. Rogan is the host of his own podcast titled The Joe Rogan Experience, a weekly talk show where he converses with people from various backgrounds. Also a comedian, he began performing stand up comedy in 1989 and still performs regular tours to this day. Rogan has worked for the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) since 1997, and is now a color commentator for the promotion. In addition, Rogan has had roles on the television sitcoms Hardball and NewsRadio and was the host of reality shows Fear Factor and Joe Rogan Questions Everything.

Early life

Rogan was born in Newark, New Jersey. He was raised in Newton Upper Falls, Massachusetts until age seven, followed by San Francisco, California until age 11, and then Gainesville, Florida. He is of one quarter Irish and three quarters Italian descent. Rogan's father, a police officer in Newark, has not been in contact with him since Rogan was six years old. He briefly attended the University of Massachusetts Boston.

Ultimate Fighting Championship

The Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) is a mixed martial arts promotion company. It is the largest in the world and features most of the top-ranked fighters in the sport. Based in the United States, the UFC produces events worldwide that showcase ten weight divisions and abide by the Unified Rules of Mixed Martial Arts. The UFC has held over 300 events to date. Dana White serves as the president of the UFC while brothers Frank and Lorenzo Fertitta control the UFC's parent company, Zuffa, LLC.

The first Ultimate Fighting Championship event was held on November 12, 1993 at the McNichols Sports Arena in Denver, Colorado. The purpose of the early Ultimate Fighting Championship competitions were to identify the most effective martial art in a fight, with minimal rules, between competitors of different fighting disciplines, including boxing, Brazilian jiu-jitsu, Sambo, wrestling, Muay Thai, karate, judo, and other styles. In subsequent competitions, fighters began adopting effective techniques from more than one discipline, which indirectly helped create an entirely separate style of fighting known as present-day mixed martial arts.

Michael

Michael /ˈmaɪkəl/ is a male given name that comes from the Hebrew: מִיכָאֵל / מיכאל‎ (Mīkhāʼēl, pronounced [miχaˈʔel]), derived from the question מי כאל mī kāʼēl, meaning "Who is like God?" (literally, "Who is like El?). In English, it is sometimes shortened to Mike, Mikey, Mickey, or Mick.

Female forms of Michael include Michelle, Michele, Michaela, Mechelle, Micheline, and Michaelle, although Michael is occasionally seen as a female name; women named Michael include actresses Michael Learned and Michael Michele. Another form is Mychal, which can either be a male or female name.

Patronymic surnames that come from Michael include Michaels, Carmichael, MacMichael, McMichael, Micallef, Michaelson, Mikkelsen, DiMichele, Mikhaylov, Mykhaylenko, Mikeladze, Michels, and Mitchell.

Religion

The name first appears in the Hebrew Bible in the Book of Numbers, 13:13 where Sethur the son of Michael is one of 12 spies sent into the Land of Canaan. The archangel Michael features in the Book of Daniel 12:1, and in the Qur'an as Mikhail.