Michael Bisping explains how he became a fan of ‘cool as f**k’ Jorge Masvidal

There was a time, not all that long ago, when Michael Bisping and Jorge Masvidal were mortal enemies. The pair allegedly had several public run-ins, and exchanged tons of trash talk in interviews.

Today, however, Bisping and Masvidal on good terms.

So how did that happen? Well, according to Bisping, it has a lot to do with what Masvidal accomplished in 2019.

“When you meet somebody under different circumstances, like somebody who has been your enemy, if you met them in a different way you could be friends,” Bisping told MMA Fighting. “Like Luke Rockhold. I always said if Daniel Cormier can be such good friends with Luke Rockhold, he can’t be that bad of a guy. But we’re just rivals, so we’re not meant to like each other.

“But since then, [Jorge] has been awesome. How can you not be a fan of what he did last year? How can you not be a fan of what he did to Till, [Ben] Askren and then [Nate] Diaz. The way he’s handled himself the last year is just cool as f*ck. I wish him nothing but the best.”

This is not the first time Bisping has opened up on his transformed relationship with Masvidal. In a 2019 interview with ESPN, he explained how they became cordial after Masvidal’s big wins over Darren Till and Ben Askren.

“Jorge came up and he was cool as f*ck man,” Bisping said. “And I think he realized, cause when I saw him in London I walked past him. If I wanted to be an asshole there, I could’ve been an asshole. But I said, ‘hey what’s up Jorge?’ And he kind of nodded. I think that was, without saying squashing the beef type thing. But he was cool as hell man. He was cool as hell. I said congratulations, I said some kind words because how can you not?

“At the end of the day, you gotta respect that,” Bisping added. “What he did out there, that was f*cking phenomenal. Not only did he make history, the fastest knockout in UFC history. He just knocked out a 19-0 undefeated fighter in five seconds or three seconds or two seconds, whatever it was. You gotta give the man his respect and he was very gracious. He took the respect and he didn’t act like an idiot, he didn’t try and start sh*t with me. And he was actually cool, we said some nice words back and forth and I gave him a little hug at the end. So yeah, I don’t know. I guess maybe we’re cool now, you never know.”

Are you surprised Michael Bisping and Jorge Masvidal were able to squash their beef?

This article first appeared on BJPENN.com on 1/22/2020.