Former UFC champion Michael Bisping may be retired, but he was recently involved in a fight of a different – and stranger – variety. Bisping had been tied up in a lawsuit involving an incident where he allegedly attacked a civilian.
Yet the potential trouble is all over now. According to MMA Junkie, the case was dismissed on April 22, 2019, in Orange County (California) Superior Court. The case involved a Southern California man named Antonio Georgakopoulos. He alleged ‘The Count’ crushed his windpipe following a public confrontation while exercising at a 24 Hour Fitness location.
Police declined to press charges on Bisping, so Georgakopoulos’ only shot at obtaining recourse was the suit. Georgakopoulos sued Bisping, 24 Hour Fitness, the UFC, and others involved with the UFC star on the basis of assault, battery, intentional infliction of emotional distress and other charges.
But attorneys for all of the involved parties facing these accusations did not go down without a tough battle. MMA Junkie’s report revealed Bisping’s legal counsel reportedly replied to a complaint by claiming Georgakopoulos was not entitled to collect “by virtue of his unlawful, immoral, careless, negligent and other wrongful conduct” and “by his own neglect, unnecessarily enhanced his damages, if any.”
Bisping Laughed At Lawsuit
For his part, Bisping deemed the suit “total bollocks. He described his accuser’s claims as “completely infactual (sic).” Bisping didn’t seem too worried about it while it was ongoing. He merely hinted Georgakopoulos couldn’t keep his story straight:
“From what I’ve read about it so far, there’s many, many contradictions. Obviously, it’s a lawsuit, so I don’t want to say too much, but I can just say I’m not losing too much sleep and it’s not correct.”
UFC President Dana White also addressed the situation in forceful White fashion, saying that Georgakopoulos was “a typical (expletive) who opens his mouth at the gym and then Bisping goes over.…Should have shut your (expletive) mouth in the first place. (Expletive) embarrassing. You’re a clown. Guys like this are a (expletive) embarrassment.”
An Empty Promise
Gavril T. Gabriel, Georgakopoulos’ lawyer, promised he would make White and the UFC pay for their supposed actions. Today, however, Gabriel was unavailable for comment on the dismissal of the case. No specific reason was for the dismissal was given in the court filing. That promise seemed to be a wholly empty one as a result.
Bisping retired from mixed martial arts (MMA) in May of last year. He won the UFC middleweight championship at UFC 199 in June 2016. He defended the title once over longtime rival Dan Henderson at UFC 204 later that year. Bisping later lost the belt to Georges St-Pierre at UFC 217 in November 2017.
Needless to say, ‘The Count’ has fought many of the most dangerous men in the world, so this court battle didn’t put up much opposition – just like he expected.
