Michael Bisping appears in court over $349k contract dispute with former gym

UFC middleweight champion Michael Bisping is currently involved in a pretty significant fight outside the confines of the UFC’s Octagon. The champ is embroiled in a lawsuit with his former gym, Wolfslair, and the gym’s head honcho, Anthony McGann. McGann also served as Bisping’s manager for many years.

According to the UK’s Daily Star, this ordeal stems from a contract Bisping signed shortly before he appeared on the UFC’s long-running reality show The Ultimate Fighter back in 2005. Apparently, McGann believes Bisping still owes him $349,000 in fees stemming from this six-year contract.

Bisping left Wolfslair at the end of this contract. He alleges that the fees McGann claims to be owed stem from a new, fabricated contract that he never actually signed. When shown the contract in question, Bisping claimed that it had been “concocted” by his former manager, and that he had never seen it before.

“The contract I signed was not that big,” the champ said, while being cross examined. “It was to Wolfslair not McGann. It’s not the contract I signed. It didn’t even have my name on it – it was a template.”

With no resolution in sight, this hearing is expected to continue for some time. Stay tuned to BJPenn.com for new details as they emerge.

While this ordeal is likely dominating much of Bisping’s attention, he will also soon have to shift his focus to a middleweight title fight with the ferocious Yoel Romero. While no date or venue as been locked down for this title fight just yet, it could occur as soon as this July.

Bisping was originally expected to make his next defense opposite former welterweight champ Georges St-Pierre, but this plan was scrapped when St-Pierre announced he wouldn’t be able to take the fight until October or later.

What do you make of Michael Bisping’s current legal battle?

This article first appeared on BJPenn.com on 5/15/2017.