Britain’s first Mixed Martial Arts champion Michael Bisping made his Manchester homecoming this weekend at the 02 Apollo in the finale of his ‘Tales from the Octagon 2’ tour.
Comedian Elliot Steel got the evening started with a controversial comedy set that was met equally with bursts of laughter and shocked gasps by the Manchester crowd.
Jokes centring around his time training in Mixed Martial Arts were the highlight of his set, as the comedian ruthlessly self-deprecated in various stories of his amateur fighting career.
Shortly after finishing his set, Tales from the Octagon 2 got underway as Clitheroe’s Michael Bisping came out to thunderous applause from his home crowd.
The UFC Hall of Famer – who had a storied 39-fight career which saw him become UFC champion with just one eye – opened with a comedy set of his own.
The 44-year-old did not pull any punches as he made jabs at several names in the sport including his wife Rebecca and long-term friend and former UFC fighter, Darren Till, who both were present in the audience.
Irish talent Ian Machado Garry was especially poked fun at, after he pulled out of his fight this weekend due to illness, following social media speculation around his relationship with wife Layla, author of “How to be a WAG”.
The first guest to join Bisping on stage was Scotland’s Paul Craig, who came prepared carrying two beers as he arrived on a skateboard.
Craig was his usual cheeky but hilarious self as he detailed stories of how he celebrates victories or keeps his well-groomed beard so sharp, all of which would be too inappropriate to detail.
The Scotsman’s crowning moment of the evening, however, came when he decided to show off his acrobatic skills and backflip in the centre of the stage.
Just days before in London he had done the same thing and supposedly landed it whilst coming within inches of breaking his neck.
The backflip in Manchester was not quite so expertly done…
After a tense countdown from ten to one, Craig launched himself into the air, only to come crashing down face-first onto the middle of the stage.
The highlight of the night came shortly after when Atherton’s Tom Aspinall walked out carrying his brand-new UFC championship belt to thousands of Brits cheering “Tommy Aspinall, Aspinall, Tommy Aspinall!”
The night served as a homecoming for the 30-year-old returning to Manchester fresh off a career-best performance knocking out fellow top heavyweight Sergei Pavlovich to become the UFC’s interim heavyweight champion.
He said: “I get a lot of messages of support, but I appreciate it the most when it’s from my people and you are my people, so I want all of you to stand up, raise a glass and have a beer with me. I love you all, thank you.”
When asked about his future, Aspinall was adamant that he wanted his next fight to be for the undisputed heavyweight championship against Jon Jones – a man widely seen as the greatest of all time in MMA.
However, Aspinall conceded that this was unlikely to happen anytime soon with Jones injured and set to face UFC veteran Stipe Miocic on his return.
Bisping’s final guest of the evening was local lad and former featherweight champion in the Professional Fighters League – another elite MMA promotion – Brendan Loughnane.
Like Aspinall, Loughnane took his time on stage to thank the people of Manchester for their support throughout his career so far, whilst also discussing what he did with the $1 million cheque that accompanied his championship belt in 2022.
Unfortunately, the evening ended rather suddenly as the crowd began to get a bit too excited as Bisping entered the crowd to get questions for a Q&A section of the show.
Whilst there were some interesting and some hilarious questions asked by members of the audience, the night quickly descended into chaos as fans rushed to the front of the 02 Apollo hoping to chat to or get a photo with Bisping.
The evening was clearly coming towards an end anyway and so as it got busier and busier at the front of the stage, Bisping decided to close out the night and, after staying and getting a few more photos, he and his guests left the stage.
Whilst it was a slightly disappointing end to the night, it felt somewhat unavoidable in a venue full of British MMA fans drinking and laughing with an icon of the sport.
Crucially, it did not undermine what was a great evening for British MMA fans and one that offered as a great pre-show as current British UFC champion Leon Edwards successfully defended his welterweight belt in Las Vegas later that evening.
